Common Position (EC) No 45/2000 of 20 July 2000 adopted by the Council, acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 251 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, with a view to adopting a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners
Date: 2000-07-20
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: approximation of laws, consumer protection, food additive, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, human nutrition

20.10.2000

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 300/45

COMMON POSITION (EC) No 45/2000

adopted by the Council on 20 July 2000

with a view to adopting Directive 2000/.../EC of the European Parliament and of the Council
amending Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners

(2000/C 300/04)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE
EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Com-
munity, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to Council Directive 89/107/EEC of 21 Decem-
ber 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member
States concerning food additives authorised for use in food-
stuffs intended for human consumption (1), and in particular
Articles 3(2) and 5(3) thereof,

(4)

(5)

(6)

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (2),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee (3),

Acting in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article
251 of the Treaty (4),

(7)

Whereas:

Food additives may be approved for use in foodstuffs
only if they comply with the general criteria laid down
in Annex II to Directive 89/107/EEC.

According to Article 5(1) of Directive 89/107/EEC, a
Member State may authorise the use of a new food
additive for a two-year period in its territory.

In accordance with requests from Member States, the
following nationally authorised additives should be
approved at Community level: propane, butane and iso-
butane; these products should be labelled according to
Council Directive 75/324/EEC of 20 May 1975 on the
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating
to aerosol dispensers (6).

The Scientific Committee on Food, established under
Commission Decision 97/579/EC (7), has been consulted
on the adoption of provisions liable to have an effect
on public health, pursuant to Article 6 of Directive
89/107/EEC,

(1)

(2)

(3)

Directive 95/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the
Council of 20 February 1995 on food additives other
than colours and sweeteners (5) lays down a list of food
additives that may be used in the Community and the
conditions for their use.

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

There have been technical developments in the field of
food additives since the adoption of Directive 95/2/EC.

The Annexes to Directive 95/2/EC are amended as follows:

1. Annex I shall be amended as follows:

Directive 95/2/EC should be adapted to take account of
these developments.

(a)

the following additive shall be inserted in the table:

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 27. Directive as amended by European
Parliament and Council Directive 94/34/EC (OJ L 237, 10.9.1994,
p. 1).

(2) OJ C 21 E, 25.1.2000, p. 42.
(3) OJ C 51, 23.2.2000, p. 27.
(4) Opinion of the European Parliament of 11 April 2000 (not yet
published in the Official Journal), Council Common Position of
20 July 2000 and Decision of the European Parliament of ... (not
yet published in the Official Journal).

(5) OJ L 61, 18.3.1995, p. 1. Directive as last amended by Directive

‘E 949 Hydrogen (*)’;

(b)

in point 3 of the note, the following shall be inserted
in the text corresponding to the symbol (*):

‘E 949’;

(6) OJ L 147, 9.6.1975, p. 40. Directive as last amended by Com-

mission Directive 94/1/EC (OJ L 23, 28.1.1994, p. 28).

98/72/EC (OJ L 295, 4.11.1998, p. 18).

(7) OJ L 237, 28.8.1997, p. 18.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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2.

in Annex II:

the following row shall be added:

4.

in Annex V the first row shall be replaced by the
following:

‘Prepacked
and/or
cut
cessed carrots

peeled E 401 Sodium quantum satis’
unpro- alginate

3.

in Annex IV:

(a)

the following shall be added in the third and fourth
columns to the row for E 445: Glycerol esters of
wood rosin:

‘Cloudy spirit drinks in accordance with
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1576/89
laying down general rules on the defi-
nition, description and presentation of
spirit drinks*

100 mg/l

Cloudy spirit drinks containing less
than 15 % alcohol by volume

100 mg/l

(*) OJ L 160, 12.6.1989, p. 1.’

‘E 1520 Propane-1,2-diol Colours, emulsifiers, antioxi-
enzymes
gly- dants
(maximum 1g/kg in the
foodstuff)’

(propylene
col)

and

Article 2

1. Member States shall adopt the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Direc-
tive by ... (*) at the latest. They shall forthwith inform the
Commission thereof.

those provisions,

When Member States adopt
they shall
contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by
such reference on the occasion of their official publication.
Member States shall determine how such reference is to be
made.

2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission
the text of the main provisions of domestic law which they
adopt in the field covered by this Directive.

Article 3

(b)

the following rows shall be added:

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

‘E 650 Zinc acetate Chewing gum 1000
mg/kg

E 943a Butane

E 943b Iso-butane

E 944 Propane

}

Vegetable oil pan quantum
spray (for pro- satis’
fessional
only)

use

Water-based
emulsion sprays

Article 4

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Done at ...

For the European Parliament

For the Council

The President

The President

(*) Eighteen months after the date of entry into force of this Directive.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 300/47

STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL’S REASONS

I.

INTRODUCTION

1. On 23 July 1999, the Commission submitted to the Council a proposal for a European
Parliament and Council Directive based on Article 95 of the Treaty, amending Directive
95/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on food additives other than colours
and sweeteners (1).

2.

3.

4.

The Economic and Social Committee delivered its opinion on 9 December 1999 (2).

The European Parliament delivered its opinion on 11 April 2000 (3). Following that opinion,
the Commission will submit an amended proposal.

The Council adopted its Common Position in accordance with Article 251 of the Treaty on
20 July 2000.

II.

PURPOSE

The aim of the draft Directive is to adapt Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours
and sweeteners (4) to recent scientific and technical developments, taking account of the requirements
of both industry and consumers.

The draft Directive aims in particular to authorise:

— the use of some new food additives which have recently been evaluated by the Scientific

Committee on Food,

— the use of certain food additives at Community level which have already been authorised
provisionally in certain Member States for a limited period of two years and which have now
been evaluated by the Scientific Committee on Food,

— certain new applications for food additives already authorised.

Thus, the draft Directive constitutes also a necessary measure to help ensure proper operation of the
internal market in the foodstuffs sector.

III. ANALYSIS OF THE COMMON POSITION

A.

GENERAL COMMENTS

In general, the Council endorsed the Commission’s approach with respect to the European
Parliament’s amendments by:

— accepting amendment 3,

— rejecting amendments 1, 2 and 6, 4 and 5.

The following specific comments can be made.

(1) OJ C 21 E, 25.1.2000, p. 42.
(2) OJ C 51, 23.2.2000, p. 27.
(3) Doc. 7671/00 CODEC 274 DENLEG 23.
(4) OJ L 61, 20.2.1995, p. 1.

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B.

SPECIFIC COMMENTS

— Amendment 3: The Commission, though having rejected this amendment in the plenary
session of the European Parliament, later on decided to consult the Scientific Committee
on Food again on additive E 467 and withdraw this item from the proposal. The Council
considers this to be justified and consequently accepts that amendment,

— Amendment 1: Even if the Council agrees that the precautionary principle is of great
importance in the foodstuffs sector, it considers that a specific Directive is not the
appropriate place to introduce such a principle of general scope. Furthermore, the Council
is of the opinion that the precautionary principle is already taken into account in this
specific area because additives are only authorised to be used in foodstuffs after having
been evaluated and declared safe by the Scientific Committee as laid down in Annex II to
Directive 89/107/EEC (1). The Council considers it appropriate to point this out in a new
recital (see recital 4),

— Amendment 5: The Council has rejected this amendment because it does not consider it to
be appropriate to prohibit additives which are already in use. The matter of the
inflammability of the three gases is taken care of by restricting the vegetable oils containing
these gases to professional use only. Furthermore, these products are to be labelled with a
warning according to Council Directive 75/324/EEC relating to aerosol dispensers (2). This
is stated in recital 6.

IV. CONCLUSIONS

The Council considers that the Common Position at one and the same time substantially meets the
most important wishes expressed by the European Parliament and takes sufficient account of recent
technological requirements and developments. The Council is of the opinion that the Common
Position reflects a sound balance between the technological requirements of the industry and
consumer expectations.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 27.
(2) OJ L 147, 9.6.1975, p. 40.