Commission Regulation (EC) No 1477/1999 of 6 July 1999 amending Regulation (EEC) No 3220/90 laying down conditions for the use of certain oenological practices provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87
Date: 1999-07-06
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: chemical process, food inspection, food technology, foodstuffs legislation, wine

L 171/6

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

7. 7. 1999

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1477/1999

of 6 July 1999

amending Regulation (EEC) No 3220/90 laying down conditions for the use of certain oenological
practices provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16
March 1987 on the common organisation of the market in
wine (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1627/98 (2),
and in particular Article 15(6) thereof,

(1) Whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3220/90 (3),
as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2053/97 (4), lays
down conditions for the use of certain oenological prac-
tices provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 822/87;
whereas that Regulation should be supplemented to
include conditions for the use of urease as provided for
in Regulation (EEC) No 822/87; whereas such treatment
should be restricted to wines whose urea content could
lead to an excessive ethyl carbamate content during
ageing;

(3) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation
are in accordance with the opinion of the Management
Committee for wine,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Regulation (EEC) No 3220/90 is hereby amended as follows:

1. the following paragraph 5 is added to Article 1:

A urease, the use of which to reduce the urea content
‘5.
of wine is provided for in point 4(c) of Annex VI
to
Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, may only be used if it meets
the requirements set out in Annex V to this Regulation.’;

2. the Annex hereto is added after Annex IV.

Article 2

(2) Whereas the Scientific Committee for Food has been
consulted as regards the provisions liable to have an
effect on public health;

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 6 July 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 84, 27.3.1987, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 210, 28.7.1998, p. 8.
(3) OJ L 308, 8.11.1990, p. 22.
(4) OJ L 287, 21.10.1997, p. 15.

7. 7. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 171/7

ANNEX

‘ANNEX V

Requirements for urease

1. International code for urease: EC No 3-5-1-5, CAS No 9002-13-5.

2. Activity: urease activity (active at acidic pH), to break down urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide. The stated activity
3 per minute at 37 °C

is not less than 5 units/mg, one unit being defined as the amount that produces 1 µmol of NH
from 5 g/l urea at pH 4.

3. Origin: Lactobacillus fermentum

4. Area of application: breaking down urea present in wine intended for prolonged ageing, where its initial urea

concentration is higher than 1 mg/l.

5. Maximum quantity to be used: 75 mg of enzyme preparation per litre of wine treated, not exceeding 375 units of
urease per litre of wine. After treatment, all residual enzyme activity must be eliminated by filtering the wine (pore size
< 1 µm).

6. Chemical and microbiological purity specifications:

Loss on drying:
Heavy metals:
Pb:
As:
Total coliforms:
Salmonella spp:
Aerobic count:

less than 10 %
less than 30 ppm
less than 10 ppm
less than 2 ppm
none detectable
absent in 25 g sample
less than 5×104 cells/g.

Urease allowed for the treatment of wine must be prepared under similar conditions as the urease considered in the
opinion of the Scientific Committee for Food of 10 December 1998.’