Notification according to Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty — Request for authorisation to maintain national provisions derogating from a Community harmonisation measure (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2003-08-05
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Germany, derogation from EU law, dyestuff, marketing

5.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 185/3

Notification according to Article 95(4) of the EC Treaty

Request for authorisation to maintain national provisions derogating from a Community harmon-
isation measure

(2003/C 185/03)

(Text with EEA relevance)

the EC Treaty of

its national provisions that

1.
By letter of 21 May 2003 the Federal Republic of
Germany notified the Commission according to Article 95(4)
of
it deems
necessary to maintain concerning the use of azodyes dero-
gating from the provisions of Directive 76/769/EEC (1)
relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain
amended by
dangerous
Directive 2002/61/EC (2) regarding the marketing and use of
azocolourants.

and preparations,

substances

as

Article 95(4) provides that ‘if, after the adoption by the
2.
Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation measure, a
Member State deems
it necessary to maintain national
provisions on grounds of major needs referred to in Article
30, or relating to the protection of the environment or the
working environment, it shall notify the Commission of these
provisions as well as the grounds for maintaining them’.

3.
According to Article 95(6), the Commission shall, within
six months of the notification, approve or reject the national
provisions involved after having verified whether or not they
are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised
restriction on trade between Member States and whether or
not they shall constitute an obstacle to the functioning of
the internal market.

4. With the second ordinance of 15 July 1994 amending
the Consumer Goods Ordinance the Federal Republic of
in certain
Germany banned the use of harmful azodyes
articles which are in prolonged contact with the body, given
that these dyes can break down into substances which are
potentially
regulation was
The
introduced to protect the consumer against health risks and

carcinogenic.

national

prohibited the use of azodyes which can form one of 20
specified amines by breaking down into one or more azo
groups for the commercial manufacture or treatment of eight
groups of articles which come into prolonged contact with the
body.

Given that textile and leather articles containing certain
5.
azodyes have the capacity to release certain aromatic amines
which may pose cancer
risks, Directive 2002/61/EC has
prohibited the use of azodyes, which may release one or
more of the 22 specified aromatic amines in concentrations
above 30 ppm in the finished articles,
in textile and leather
articles which have the potential of coming into direct and
prolonged contact with the human skin or oral cavity and
the placing on the market of some articles coloured with
such dyes, in order to protect human health.

6.
The Federal Republic of Germany intends to retain the
national ban on certain azodyes for the eight groups of articles
which come into direct and prolonged contact with the body,
textile or leather, as
in so far as these do not consist of
Directive 2002/61/EC refers only to textile and leather
articles which come into direct and prolonged contact with
human skin or the oral cavity. The national ban on azodyes
enacted in 1994 aimed to prevent any direct contact with the
body with the azodyes which could break down into carci-
the material of which the
nogenic amines,
article with which the consumer comes
into prolonged
contacte is made. The Federal Republic of Germany takes the
view that the danger to health from azodyes, which can break
down into harmful amines, also applies regardless of whether
the dyed objects are produced from textiles, leather or another
material.
an existing
protection for the consumer against harmful azodyes from
articles made of materials other than textiles and leather is
not acceptable on the grounds of health protection.

renunciation of

regardless of

considers

that

It

(1) Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approxi-
mation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of
the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and
use of certain dangerous substances and preparations (OJ L 262,
27.9.1976, p. 201).

(2) Directive 2002/61/EC of

the European Parliament and of

the
Council of 19 July 2002 amending for
the nineteenth time
Council Directive 76/769/EEC relating to restrictions on the
marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations
(azocolourants) (OJ L 243, 11.9.2002, p. 15).

The Commission reminds interested parties that possible
7.
than one
observations on the notification submitted later
month after the publication of
this Notice in the Official
Journal of the European Union are in principle unlikely to be
considered. Furthermore, the Commission reserves the right
to communicate any observations that may be submitted to
it to the Federal Republic of Germany.

C 185/4

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

5.8.2003

Further information regarding this notification can be
the Federal Republic of

8.
obtained from the authorities of
Germany:

Dr. Karl-Wolfgang Evers
Bundesministerium für Verbraucherschutz, Ernährung und
Landwirtschaft
Postfach 14 02 70
D-53107 Bonn
Tel. (49-18 88) 529 46 64
Fax (49-18 88) 529 49 67
E-mail: karl-wolfgang.evers@bmvel.bund.de

The contact point inside the European Commission is:

Claire Koeniguer
European Commission
Directorate General Enterprise
Unit E3 ‘Chemicals’
AN88 04/012
B-1049 Brussels
Tel. (32-2) 295 91 93
Fax (32-2) 295 02 81
E-mail: claire.koeniguer@cec.eu.int