Commission Regulation (EC) No 1566/1999 of 16 July 1999 amending Regulation (EC) No 194/97 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 1999-07-16
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: chemical salt, food contamination, food standard, human nutrition, leaf vegetable, toxic substance

17. 7. 1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 184/17

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1566/1999

of 16 July 1999

amending Regulation (EC) No 194/97 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants in food-
stuffs

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 315/93 of 8
for
February 1993 laying down Community procedures
contaminants in food (1), and in particular Article 2(3) thereof,

(1) Whereas Commission Regulation (EC) No 194/97 of 31
January 1997 setting maximum levels
for certain
contaminants in foodstuffs (2), as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 864/1999 (3), establishes maximum limits
of aflatoxins for,
inter alia, nuts and dried fruit and
cereals;

(2) Whereas the maximum limits of aflatoxin B1 and afla-
toxin total
laid down for nuts and dried fruit to be
subjected to sorting, or other physical treatment, before
human consumption or use as an ingredient in food-
stuffs have to be reconsidered before l
July 1999
according to the progress of scientific and technological
knowledge; whereas only limited information has been
submitted; whereas commitments were made to submit
more relevant information and to continue the ongoing
research; it is therefore appropriate to extend the period
of time to submit this information;

(3) Whereas it is foreseen to fix a specific limit for cereals to
be subjected to sorting or other physical
treatment,
before human consumption or use as an ingredient in
foodstuffs before l July 1999; whereas in the case of
cereals, it cannot be excluded that sorting methods or

treatments can reduce the level of
other physical
contamination of aflatoxins; that in order to be able to
check the efficiency of these methods, data justifying the
fixing of a specific maximum limit
for unprocessed
cereals were requested; whereas as the result of extensive
monitoring, no high levels of aflatoxins were detected in
cereals in the year 1998 to 1999; consequently, the
efficiency of sorting methods or other physical treat-
ments to reduce the level of contamination of aflatoxins
could not be demonstrated; taking into account the fact
that the degree of contamination can vary from year to
year, it is therefore appropriate to extend the period of
time to submit these data;

(4) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation
are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing
Committee on Foodstuffs,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

The date of ‘l July 1999' in footnotes 5 and 6 in the Annex to
Regulation (EC) No 194/97 shall be replaced by 1 ‘July 2001'.

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publica-
tion in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from 30 June 1999.

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

Done at Brussels, 16 July 1999.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 37, 13.2.1993, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 31, 1.2.1997, p. 48.
(3) OJ L 108, 27.4.1999, p. 16.