2004/140/EC: Commission Decision of 11 February 2004 concerning the non-inclusion of fenthion in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing this active substance (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2004) 313)
Date: 2004-02-11
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: insecticide, market approval, plant health control, withdrawal from the market

L 46/32

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.2.2004

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COMMISSION

COMMISSION DECISION

of 11 February 2004

concerning the non-inclusion of fenthion in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the
withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing this active substance

(notified under document number C(2004) 313)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2004/140/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July
1991 concerning the placing of plant protection products on
the market (1), as last amended by Commission Directive 2003/
119/EC (2), and in particular the third and the fourth sub-
paragraph of Article 8(2) thereof,

Having regard to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3600/92 of
11 December 1992 laying down the detailed rules for the
implementation of the first stage of the programme of work
referred to in Article 8(2) of Council Directive 91/414/EEC
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the
market (3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2266/
2000 (4), and in particular Article 7(3A)(b) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

Article 8(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC provided for the
Commission to carry out a programme of work for the
examination of
the active substances used in plant
protection products which were already on the market
on 25 July 1993. Detailed rules for the carrying out of
this programme were established in Regulation (EEC) No
3600/92.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 933/94 of 27 April
1994 laying down the active substances of plant protec-
tion products and designating the rapporteur Member
States for the implementation of Commission Regulation
(EEC) No 3600/92 (5), as last amended by Regulation
(EC) No 2230/95 (6), designated the active substances

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 325, 12.12.2003, p. 41.
(3) OJ L 366, 15.12.1992, p. 10.
(4) OJ L 259, 13.10.2000, p. 27.
(5) OJ L 107, 28.4.1994, p. 8.
(6) OJ L 225, 22.9.1995, p. 1.

which should be assessed in the framework of Regu-
lation (EEC) No 3600/92, designated a Member State to
act as rapporteur in respect of the assessment of each
substance and identified the producers of each active
substance who submitted a notification in due time.

Fenthion is one of the 89 active substances designated in
Regulation (EC) No 933/94.

In accordance with Article 7(1)(c) of Regulation (EEC)
No 3600/92, Greece, being the designated rapporteur
Member State, submitted on 4 April 1996 to the
Commission the report of its assessment of the informa-
tion submitted by the notifiers in accordance with
Article 6(1) of that Regulation.

the report of

the rapporteur Member
On receipt of
State,
the Commission undertook consultations with
experts of the Member States as well as with the main
notifier Bayer CropScience as provided for in Article
7(3) of Regulation (EEC) No 3600/92.

The Commission organised two tripartite meetings with
the main data submitter and the rapporteur Member
State for this active substance on 18 April 1997 and 11
February 2003.

The assessment report prepared by Greece has been
reviewed by the Member States and the Commission
within the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and
Animal Health. This review was finalised on 4 July 2003
for
in the format of
fenthion.

the Commission review report

(3)

(4)

(5)

(6)

(7)

17.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 46/33

(8)

The dossier and the information from the review were
also submitted to the Scientific Committee for Plants
(SCP). The SCP was asked to comment on the establish-
ment of an Acceptable Daily Intake and an Acceptable
Operator Exposure Level.
In its first opinion of 2
October 1998, and based on the conclusions of the
human and environmental risk assessment,
the SCP
considered that it was not possible to complete a full
assessment in the absence of data to prove that even the
limited intended use as bait application on citrus and
olive was safe for human health and the environment.
The SCP particularly noted the very high acute risk for
birds. In that opinion, the SCP acknowledged that the
development of an innovative technique of application,
namely bait formulation including fenthion plus attrac-
tant on only a part of the crop, might be promising to
achieve limited exposure of humans and the environ-
ment; however it noted that specific studies would have
to be made available on such a type of application
before a conclusive evaluation could be made.

the limited uses considered as essential for which no effi-
cient alternatives appear currently to be available for the
control of harmful organisms.

(13) Any period of grace for disposal, storage, placing on the
market and use of existing stocks of plant protection
products containing fenthion allowed by Member States,
should be limited to a period no longer than 12 months
to allow existing stocks to be used in no more than one
further growing season.

(14)

This Decision does not prejudice any action the
Commission may undertake at a later stage for this
active substance within the framework of Council Direc-
tive 79/117/EEC of 21 December 1978 prohibiting the
placing on the market and use of plant protection
products containing certain active substances (1), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 807/2003 (2).

(15)

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

Additional information, in particular in relation to the
bait application use, has subsequently been submitted by
Bayer CropScience and has been evaluated. The addi-
tional information and its evaluation has been submitted
to the SCP. In its opinion of 17 December 2002 the SCP
concluded that the risk to birds from the proposed uses
of fenthion remained uncertain. As a result, the concerns
in relation to possible risks to birds raised in its previous
opinion remained unresolved.

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

(9)

the information
Assessments made on the basis of
submitted have not demonstrated that
it may be
expected that, under the proposed conditions of use,
plant protection products containing fenthion satisfy in
general the requirements laid down in Article 5(1)(a) and
(b) of Directive 91/414/EEC, in particular with regard to
its possible impact on birds.

(10)

Fenthion should therefore not be included in Annex I to
Directive 91/414/EEC.

(11) Measures should be taken to ensure that existing author-
isations
containing
fenthion are withdrawn within a prescribed period and
are not renewed and that no new authorisations for such
products are granted.

for plant protection products

(12)

In the light of the information submitted to the Commis-
sion it appears that, in the absence of efficient alterna-
tives for certain limited uses in certain Member States,
there is a need for further use of the active substance so
as to enable the development of alternatives. It is there-
fore justified in the present circumstances to prescribe
under strict conditions aimed at minimising risk a longer
period for the withdrawal of existing authorisations for

Fenthion shall not be included as active substance in Annex I
to Directive 91/414/EEC.

Article 2

Member States shall ensure that:

1. Authorisations for plant protection products containing

fenthion are withdrawn by 11 August 2004;

2. from 17 February 2004 no authorisations for plant protec-
tion products containing fenthion are granted or renewed
under the derogation provided for in Article 8(2) of Direc-
tive 91/414/EEC;

3. In relation to the uses listed in column B of the Annex, a
Member State specified in column A may maintain in force
for plant protection products containing
authorisations
fenthion until 30 June 2007 provided that it:

(a) ensures that such plant protection products remaining
on the market are relabelled in order to match the
restricted use conditions;

(b) imposes all appropriate risk mitigation measures to
reduce any possible risks in order to ensure the protec-
tion of human and animal health and the environment;
and

(c) ensures that alternative products or methods for such
uses are being seriously sought, in particular, by means
of action plans.

(1) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979, p. 36.
(2) OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36.

L 46/34

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

17.2.2004

The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission on
31 December 2004 at the latest on the application of this para-
graph and in particular on the actions taken pursuant to points
(a)
the
to (c) and provide on a yearly basis estimates of
amounts of fenthion used for essential uses pursuant to this
Article.

Article 3

Any period of grace granted by Member States in accordance
with the provisions of Article 4(6) of Directive 91/414/EEC,
shall be as short as possible and:

(a) for the uses for which the authorisation is to be withdrawn
on 11 August 2004, shall expire not later than 11 August
2005;

(b) for the uses for which the authorisation is to be withdrawn
by 30 June 2007, shall expire not later than 31 December
2007.

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 4

Done at Brussels, 11 February 2004.

For the Commission

David BYRNE

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

List of authorisations referred to in Article 2(3)

Column A

Member State

Spain

Greece

Italy

Portugal

Column B

Use

Bait application in citrus and peaches

Bait application in olives

Bait application in olives

Bait application in citrus and olives