RECOMMENDATION OF THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY No 85/96/COL of 10 July 1996 concerning a coordinated programme of inspections in 1996 to ensure compliance with maximum levels of pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables

THE EFTA SURVEILLANCE AUTHORITY,

Having regard to the EEA Agreement, and in particular Article 109 and Protocol 1 thereof,

Having regard to the Surveillance and Court Agreement, and in particular Article 5 (2) (b) and Protocol 1 thereof,

Having regard to the Act referred to in point 54 of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement (Council Directive 90/642/EEC of 27 November 1990 on the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables, as amended) and in particular Article 4 (3) thereof,

Whereas Article 4 (2) of Directive 90/642/EEC requires the EFTA States to send to the EFTA Surveillance Authority by 1 August 1995 all necessary information on the implementation during 1994 of their national programmes of inspection to ensure compliance with maximum levels of pesticide residues set in Annex II to the said Directive; whereas the Authority has received certain information in accordance with this requirement;

Whereas Article 4 (1) of Directive 90/642/EEC requires the EFTA States to draw up forward programmes laying down the nature and frequency of the inspections to be carried out to ensure compliance with the established list of maximum levels of pesticide residues;

Whereas, by recommendation of the EFTA Surveillance Authority of 19 April 1995, concerning a coordinated programme of inspections in 1995 to ensure compliance with maximum levels of pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables, the Authority recommended the EFTA States to send to the Surveillance Authority by 1 September 1995 their intended national monitoring programmes for 1996; whereas the Authority has received certain information in response to this Recommendation;

Whereas Annex II of Directive 90/642/EEC, as amended, contains lists of harmonized maximum residue levels for certain pesticides, which should be subject to the national and coordinated programmes of inspections in 1996;

Whereas the amount of information made available to the EFTA Surveillance Authority is not sufficient to permit a complete overview of the EFTA States' completed and intended programmes of inspections;

Whereas it remains necessary to recommend general basic arrangements for the inspections for pesticide residues to be carried out by the EFTA States during 1996 in order to ensure compliance with the mandatory maximum levels of pesticide residues and to contribute to the good functioning of the European Economic Area;

Whereas it is important that information on current national quality assurance measures applied to sampling and analyses of pesticide residue levels is made available by the EFTA States as a basis for further discussion;

Whereas it would also be helpful for the establishment of future recommendations for the EFTA Surveillance Authority to be informed in advance of the EFTA States' forward programmes for 1997 for the monitoring of maximum levels of pesticide residues provided for by Directive 90/642/EEC;

Whereas the inspections and check sampling by EFTA States to ensure compliance with the maximum levels of pesticide residues set out in the list referred to in Article 1 (1) of Directive 90/642/EEC should be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Act referred to in point 20 of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement (Directive 79/700/EEC establishing Community methods of sampling for the official control of pesticide residues in and on fruit and vegetables), the Act referred to in point 37 of Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement (Directive 85/591/EEC concerning the introduction of Community methods of sampling and analysis for the monitoring of foodstuffs intended for human consumption) and the Acts referred to in points 50 and 54n on Chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement (Directives 89/397/EEC and 93/99/EEC on the official control of foodstuffs);

Whereas Liechtenstein shall comply with the provisions of the acts referred to in chapter XII of Annex II to the EEA Agreement by 1 January 2000; whereas Liechtenstein shall do its utmost to comply with the provisions of the acts referred to in that chapter by 1 January 1997; whereas therefore Liechtenstein should not be included in this Recommendation for 1996;

Whereas Norway and Iceland have been consulted within the EFTA Foodstuffs Committee assisting the EFTA Surveillance Authority on 7 November 1995,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RECOMMENDATION:

It is recommended that Norway and Iceland:

1. as a priority criterion, monitor products from a significant proportion of the groups of products set out in Annex I of Directive 90/642/EEC;

2. as a priority criterion, take a minimum number of samples reflecting production, consumption and importation into the EEA of each product regularly throughout 1996 or during the marketing season of the product, with clearly recorded origin and stage of trade or marketing;

3. as a priority criterion, analyse for residues of as many pesticides listed in Annex II to Directive 90/642/EEC as possible, bearing in mind the analytical methods employed;

4. as a priority criterion, draw up a general report on the current application of their quality assurance measures applied to sampling and analyses of pesticide residues, for information, at the same time as the report referred to in recommendation 6;

5. as a specific exercise for 1996, sample and analyse for the product/pesticide residue combinations set out in Annex, on the basis of a target number of 30 samples of each product, reflecting as appropriate, national, EEA and third country shares of the EFTA State's market and report the results, including analytical methods used and quality assurance measures, by 1 July 1997 if possible, but at the latest by 1 August 1997;

6. send to the EFTA Surveillance Authority all the information as required by Article 4 (2) of Directive 90/642/EEC and, in particular report the results of the monitoring exercise for 1995 concerning pesticides listed in Annex II to Directive 90/642/EEC;

and

7. by 1 September 1996, send to the EFTA Surveillance Authority their intended national monitoring programme for the year 1997.

Done at Brussels, 10 July 1996.

For the EFTA Surveillance Authority

Knut ALMESTAD

President

ANNEX

MRLs to be monitored in the specific exercise for 1996 set out in recommendation 5

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