Commission Directive 2002/27/EC of 13 March 2002 amending Directive 98/53/EC laying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for the official control of the levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2002-03-13
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: food inspection, foodstuff, foodstuffs legislation, human nutrition, toxic substance

L 75/44

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

16.3.2002

COMMISSION DIRECTIVE 2002/27/EC

of 13 March 2002

amending Directive 98/53/EC laying down the sampling methods and the methods of analysis for
the official control of the levels for certain contaminants in foodstuffs

(Text with EEA relevance)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 85/591/EEC of 20
December 1985 concerning the introduction of Community
methods of sampling and analysis for the monitoring of food-
stuffs intended for human consumption (1), and in particular
Article 1 thereof,

Whereas:

Commission Regulation (EC) No 466/2001 of 8 March
2001 setting maximum levels for certain contaminants
in foodstuffs (2), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
472/2002 (3),
fixes maximum limits for aflatoxins in
spices.

Sampling plays a crucial part in the precision of the
determination of the levels of aflatoxins, which are very
heterogeneously distributed in a
lot. Commission
Directive 98/53/EC of 16 July 1998 laying down the
sampling methods of analysis and the methods of
analysis for the official control of the levels for certain
contaminants in foodstuffs (4) should be amended to
include spices.

Article 1

Annex I to Directive 98/53/EC is amended as set out in the
Annex of this Directive.

Article 2

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and
administrative provisions necessary to comply with this
Directive by 28 February 2003 at the latest. They shall forth-
with inform the Commission thereof.

those provisions,

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

Article 3

This Directive shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

It is appropriate to rectify minor errors in Directive
98/53/EC.

Done at Brussels, 13 March 2002.

The measures provided for in this Directive are in
accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee
on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(1) OJ L 372, 31.12.1985, p. 50.
(2) OJ L 77, 16.3.2001, p. 1.
(3) See page 18 of this Official Journal.
(4) OJ L 201, 17.7.1998, p. 93.

16.3.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 75/45

ANNEX

A. Annex I is amended as follows:

1. point 4.2 is replaced by the following:

‘4.2. Weight of the incremental sample

The weight of the incremental sample should be about 300 grams unless otherwise defined in point 5 of this
Annex and with the exception of spices in which case the weight of the incremental sample is about 100
grams. In the case of retail packings, the weight of the incremental sample depends on the weight of the retail
packing.’;

2. point 5.1 is amended as follows:

the word ‘spices’

is inserted in the title after the words ‘dried fruit’;

3. Table 2 under point 5.1 is amended as follows:

the product ‘spices’

is added to Table 2 as follows:

Commodity

Lot weight
(tonnes)

Weight or number of
sublots

Number of incremental
samples

Aggregate sample
weight
(kg)

‘Spices

≥ 15
< 15

25 tonnes
—

100
10-100 (*)

10
1-10’

4. point 5.2 is amended as follows:

the word ‘spices’

is added on a new line after ‘cereals (lots ≥ 50 tonnes)’;

5. the following sentence is added to point 5.2.1, fourth dash:

‘In the case of spices the aggregate sample weighs not more than 10 kg and therefore no division in subsamples is
necessary.’;

6. point 5.2.2 is amended as follows:

the words ‘and spices’ are added after ‘or other physical treatment’ in the sentence ‘For groundnuts, nuts and dried
fruit subjected to a sorting or other physical treatment’;

7. point 5.5.2.2 is rectified as follows:

‘under point 5.2’

is replaced by ‘in Table 2 under point 5.1’;

8. the following point 6 is added:

‘6. Sampling at retail stage

Sampling of foodstuffs at the retail stage should be done where possible in accordance with the above sampling
provisions. Where this is not possible, other effective sampling procedures at retail stage can be used provided
that they ensure sufficient representativeness for the sampled lot.’

B. Annex II is amended as follows:

1. point 4.3 is rectified as follows:

in the table, in the column ‘concentration range’ all ‘µg/L’ has to be replaced by ‘µg/kg’ and the concentration range
‘0,01-0,5 µg/L’ for ‘Recovery — Aflatoxin M1’ has to be replaced by ‘0,01-0,05 µg/kg’.