Report from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on the operation of Regulation (EC) No 304/2003 concerning the export and import of dangerous chemicals
Date: 2006-11-30
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: application of EU law, chemical product, dangerous substance, exchange of information, export monitoring, import policy, report

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 30.11.2006 
COM(2006) 747 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the operation of Regulation (EC) No 304/2003 concerning the export and import of 
dangerous chemicals 

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   EN 

 
 
 
  
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

on the operation of Regulation (EC) No 304/2003 concerning the export and import of 
dangerous chemicals 

1. 

INTRODUCTION 

This report has been prepared in accordance with Article 21 of Regulation (EC) No 
304/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the export and 
import of dangerous chemicals1, hereinafter called the Regulation. The report covers 
the period from 2003 to 2005. It outlines the main provisions of the Regulation and 
the main tasks performed by the Member States, the Commission and industry, and it 
reviews implementation to date of the procedures including actions taken to improve 
the efficiency of the Regulation. The report also considers implementation problems 
that have been encountered and possible changes to the Regulation that could further 
improve its functioning. 

The  report  is  a  summary  of  the  information  available  from  the  Member  States  and 
the Commission as at 8 September. The full report is available on the Internet2. 

2. 

BACKGROUND 

2.1. 

EC Regulation 304/2003 

The Regulation came into force on 7 March 2003. Its main purpose is to implement 
the  Rotterdam  Convention  on  the  Prior  Informed  Consent  Procedure  for  Certain 
Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade, However the Regulation 
also  contains  a  number  of  provisions  that  go  significantly  beyond  the  Convention's 
requirements. Moreover the rules apply to exports to all countries, not only Parties to 
the Convention. 

2.2. 

Designated  National  Authorities  and  overall  administrative  and  legislative 
framework 

Each  Member  State  has  its  own  Designated  National  Authority  or  Authorities 
(DNA(s)),  but  the  Commission  acts  as  the  common  DNA  for  the  Community 
carrying  out  various  administrative  functions,  as  listed  in  section  2.3.  The 
Commission also coordinates the Community input on all technical issues related to 
the Convention, at meetings of the Conferences of the Parties (CoP) and at meetings 
of the Chemical Review Committee.  

More  generally, 
for  ensuring  effective 
is 
implementation  of  the  Regulation.  This  includes  handling  of  export  notifications, 

the  Commission 

responsible 

1 

2 

OJ L 63, 6.03.2003 
http://ecb.jrc.it/edex 

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import  notifications  and  the  timely  exchange  of  information  with  DNAs  and 
maintaining  and  developing  the  European  Database  on  Export  and  Import 
(EDEXIM), managed by the European Chemicals Bureau at Ispra. 

About 3.5 - 4 man years per annum are dedicated to this work. 

Regular meetings are held with EU DNAs to discuss the Regulation's implementation 
and  special  ad-hoc  expert  meetings  and  other  informal  meetings  held  to  tackle 
specific issues.  

All  Member  States  appear  to  have  the  necessary  legislation  and  administrative 
systems  for  the  implementation  and  enforcement  of  the  Regulation.  They  have 
stipulated  the  DNA(s)  responsible  for  the  administrative  functions  required  and 
provided for enforcement, including in most cases penalties for breach of the rules. 
Some Member States have different DNAs for industrial chemicals and pesticides. 

The  number  of  staff  resources  involved  in  implementation  in  each  DNA  varies 
between  0.15  to  1.25  man  years.  Most  have  been  deployed  on  handling  of  export 
notifications, followed by requests for explicit consent. 

In addition, additional resources from other authorities such as Customs offices assist 
with the implementation of the Regulation. 

2.3. 

The main operative provisions and procedures of Regulation 304/2003 

2.3.1.  Export Notification (Article 7) 

The EU export notification procedure currently applies to around 130 chemicals and 
chemical  groups  that  are  listed  in  part  1  of  Annex  I  of  the  Regulation  (as  last 
amended by Commission Regulation 777/2006). This list comprises: 

– 

– 

chemicals  that  have  been  banned  or  severely  restricted  by  Community 
legislation; 

chemicals that are subject to the PIC procedure ( 'PIC chemicals' ),except those 
that are banned for export. 

Each exporter must submit an export notification prior to the first export of a listed 
chemical at least 30 days before the export is due to take place, and at least 15 days 
before  the  first  export  in  each  subsequent  calendar  year.  Export  notification  is 
required irrespective of the intended use of the chemical and whether or not that use 
is banned or severely restricted within the EU. 

The  notification  is  made  to  the  exporter's  DNA,  which  checks  completeness  and 
forwards  it  to  the  Commission.  The  Commission  sends  the  first  notification  per 
chemical/importing country it receives each year as a Community export notification. 
The Commission registers all export notifications in EDEXIM. 

The  Commission 
is  no 
acknowledgement of receipt from the importing country. If necessary, a second copy 
of the notification is sent. 

follows  up  notifications 

in  cases  where 

there 

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A  preparation  containing  an  Annex  I  chemical  is  also  subject  to  notification,  if  the 
concentration of the chemical is such that it could trigger compulsory labelling under 
Community  legislation.  Also  included  in  the  procedure  are  articles  or  finished 
products  containing  chemicals  in  unreacted  form  that  are  subject  to  the  PIC 
procedure or are banned or severely restricted in the Community within the meaning 
of the Convention. 

2.3.2.  Export notifications received from third countries (Article 8) 

When the Commission receives an export notification about a chemical from a third 
country,  it  registers  this  in  the  EDEXIM  database  and  acknowledges  receipt..  The 
Commission forwards a copy of the notification and all available information to the 
DNA  of  the  Member  State  concerned  and,  upon  request,  provides  copies  to  other 
Member States.  

In  cases  where  a  DNA  in  a  Member  State  receives  a  notification  directly,  it  must 
send it to the Commission, and the same procedure as above is followed.  

2.3.3.  Reporting of chemicals traded (Article 9) 

The exporter of a chemical listed in Annex I has to submit annual reports to his DNA 
of the quantities of that chemical exported to each importing country. Importers have 
to provide the same information for chemicals placed on the Community market. 

Using  this  information,  DNAs  compile  aggregate  reports  and  send  them  to  the 
Commission, which publishes an overall summary. 

2.3.4. 

Submitting  PIC  notifications  of  regulatory  actions  to  the  Convention  secretariat 
(Article 10) 

The  Commission  shall  submit  notifications  of  qualifying  Community  regulatory 
actions. Member States may also submit notifications of domestic regulatory actions 
via  the  Commission  following  consultation  of  the  other  Member  States.  Where 
regulatory actions do not qualify for notification, relevant information will be sent to 
the Convention secretariat under the Convention's information exchange provisions. 

2.3.5.  Adopting  Community  import  decisions  for  chemicals  subject  to  the  PIC  procedure 

(Article 12) 

The Commission shall adopt Community import decisions for PIC chemicals, where 
appropriate including in those decisions information of relevant national measures at 
the level of Member States. 

2.3.6.  The PIC procedure and explicit consent (Article 13) 

The  PIC  procedure  currently  applies  to  41  chemicals  or  chemical  groups  listed  in 
Annex III to the Convention (reproduced in part 3 of Annex I to the Regulation). The 
import  decisions  taken  by  Parties  to  the  Convention  regarding  these  chemicals  are 
published every 6 months in the “PIC Circular”.  

The  Regulation  requires  exporters  to  comply  with  these  import  decisions.  In 
particular,  export  cannot  proceed  without  the  explicit  consent  of  the  importing 

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country,  either  through  a  positive  import  decision,  or  otherwise  obtained  from  the 
importing  country  DNA  by  the  exporting  DNA.  The  explicit  consent  procedure 
applies to chemicals that are banned or severely restricted in the Community within 
the meaning of the Convention (listed in part 2 of annex I to the Regulation, which 
currently lists 31 such chemicals or chemical groups) but are not yet included in the 
PIC procedure. 

In principle, obtaining explicit consent for a chemical is a one-off exercise. Once it 
has  been  obtained  by  one  exporter’s  DNA,  it  should  not  be  needed  for  subsequent 
exports,  by  any  EU  exporter,  unless  the  terms  of  the  consent  obtained  require 
otherwise. 

2.3.7.  Export bans (Article 14) 

Chemicals and articles listed in Annex V, the use of which is completely prohibited 
in  the  Community,  cannot  be  exported.  Currently  Annex  V  comprises  mercury-
containing  soaps,  and  10  chemicals  or  groups  of  chemicals  listed  in  the  Stockholm 
Convention  on  Persistent  Organic  Pollutants  (POPs)  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions therein. 

2.3.8.  Packaging and Labelling requirements (Article16) 

All  dangerous  chemicals  and  preparations,  whether  or  not  they  are  banned  or 
severely restricted within the EU, must be packaged and labelled for export as if they 
were to be marketed in  the Community,  i.e. the label  and  the  accompanying  safety 
data  sheet  should  bear  the  same  information,  and  where  practicable,  be  in  the 
importing country's language. In addition, the labelling requirements of the importing 
country have to be met. There are also specific requirements relating to expiry dates, 
size and packaging of containers, etc. 

2.3.9.  Updating Annex I to the Regulation (Article 22) 

The  Commission  shall  review  the  list  of  chemicals  contained  in  Annex  I  at  least 
every year on the basis of developments under Community legislation and under the 
Convention.  

3. 

OPERATION TO DATE 

3.1. 

Export notification  

Export  notifications  handled  by  Member  States  totalled  2273.  The  numbers  have 
increased  significantly  between  2003  and  2005,  from  223  to  1174  per  year.  About 
55-60% concerned substances; the remainder preparations. The number of chemicals 
involved has doubled from 24 in 2003, to 54 in 2005. The total number of importing 
countries has also increased from 70 in 2003 to 101 in 2005.  

Over  80%  of  the  total  number  of  notifications  came  from  five  Member  States 
(Germany, UK, Netherlands, France and Spain). 10 Member States (Cyprus, Estonia, 
Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Portugal and Slovakia) did 
not make any export notifications. 

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The  total  number  of  EU  export  notifications  actually  sent  by  the  Commission  was 
1717 - 126 in 2003, 680 in 2004 and 911 in 2005. 200 sent notifications could not in 
fact  be  delivered  (wrong  email  address,  post  address,  etc.).  In  a  high  proportion  of 
cases, the importing country fails to send an acknowledgement of receipt, as required 
by  the  Convention.  In  2005,  532  notifications  were  re-sent.  The  Commission  has 
expressed  its  concern  on  both  issues  at  the  Conference  of  the  Parties  to  the 
Convention (CoP). 

Acknowledgements  of  receipt  obtained  often  include  statements  that  consent  to 
import is/ is not given, irrespective of whether or not explicit consent is required or 
has  been  sought,  indicating  a  misunderstanding  in  some  importing  countries  of  the 
EU procedures. 

3.2. 

Explicit consent 

A  status  list  of  explicit  consents  is  maintained  on  EDEXIM.  Member  States  can 
directly input data, although often importing countries respond to ECB, which adds 
the information. As at 10 February 2006, EDEXIM showed 478 requests having been 
made to 95 countries for about 20 different chemicals and 70 different preparations. 
Of these requests, involving 98 importing countries, most covered chemicals listed in 
part 2 of Annex I, i.e. those that are not PIC chemicals, with two such chemicals - 
Nonylphenols  and  Nonylphenol  exthoxlates  involved  in  about  60%  of  the  cases. 
Overall  at  that  time  239  explicit  consents  had  been  obtained  and  15  requests  for 
explicit  consent  had  been  refused,  covering  12  chemicals/preparations  and  11 
countries.  The  remaining  requests,  some  of  which  had  been  made  in  2004,  still 
awaited a response. 

The  actual  number  of  cases  is  higher.  The  listing  of  explicit  consents  on  EDEXIM 
was  not  introduced  until  2004  so  that  some  early  cases  may  have  been  omitted. 
Moreover efforts have been made to delete overlapping or duplicate requests in those 
cases  where  consent  has  been  obtained,  although  a  number  remain,  largely  due  to 
some importing countries only allowing consent on a per shipment basis.  

In  many  cases,  the  delay  in  obtaining  responses  to  requests  is  caused  by  incorrect 
contact  details  for  importing  country  DNAs.  At  the  CoP,  the  Commission  has 
consistently  urged  Parties  to  ensure  that  such  information  is  kept  up  to  date  and 
encouraged  the  Convention  secretariat  to  provide  assistance  to  Parties  to  make 
import responses for chemicals subject to the PIC procedure. 

The Commission has tried to assist Member States obtain explicit consents or sought 
clarifications  from  importing  countries  when  responses  have  been  unclear  or 
provided them with additional information when requested. To facilitate responses, a 
standardised  form  for  requests  has  been  developed,  available  in  English,  French, 
Spanish and Russian. The Commission is also working on an explanatory note to be 
sent to importing countries with export notifications and requests for explicit consent 
to aid their understanding of the different procedures. 

Guidance on how best to deal with cases, including possible options for alternative 
evidence that might be accepted in the absence of any response from the importing 
country, has also been included in detailed notes for guidance. 

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3.3. 

Export notifications from third countries 

The  total  number  of  export  notifications  received  from  third  countries  recorded  on 
EDEXIM was 220. The actual figure is probably a little higher since some may have 
not been forwarded to the Commission or have otherwise gone unrecorded. Although 
notifications  should  go  directly  to  the  European  Commission,  most  Member  States 
still received notifications directly from the exporting  countries.  The  main problem 
has  related  to  notifications  from  the  USA.  Most  Member  States  have  requested  the 
US authorities to send notifications to the Commission in future.  

3.4. 

Experience with EDEXIM 

At the outset there were three versions of the database: one for the ECB/DG ENV, 
another for the DNAs of Member States, and a public “information” version. Many 
improvements have been made since then to meet users' needs. Most Member States 
consider that the system works smoothly and is very valuable as a tool for handling 
of export notifications and source of data and information. 

There  remain  some  problems,  but  many  of  these  have  been  resolved  or  are  being 
addressed. Work is well advanced in developing an "Enterprise" version that would 
enable exporters to electronically submit their export notifications for validation by 
their  DNAs.  A  special  version  is  also  under  development  for  customs  authorities, 
who need a specific system to facilitate their work in controlling exports and imports 
in  accordance  with  Article  17  of  the  Regulation.  These  plans  are  welcomed  by 
Member  States.  ECB  has  provided  users’  guides  and  training  for  users.  It  has 
organised  7  training  sessions  and  meetings  with  users  to  discuss  improvements, 
including 2 meetings with customs experts.  

3.5. 

Reporting on chemicals traded  

On  the  basis  of  reports  provided  by  Member  States,  the  Commission  has  produced 
overall summary reports for the years 2003, 2004 and 2005, all of which have been 
published  on  EDEXIM.  An  analysis  for  the  period  2003  to  2005  is  included  in 
section 3.9 of the full report.  

3.6. 

Updating of Annex I 

The  Commission  has  regularly  updated  Annex  I.  The  annex  has  been  amended  by 
Commission Regulations (EC) Nos 213/20033, 775/20044 and No 777/20065. 

3.7. 

PIC notifications made 

To date the Commission has submitted notifications of EU regulatory actions for 12 
chemicals. It has also forwarded notifications of national regulatory actions relating 
to a further 2 chemicals  

3 

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5 

OL L169, 8.7.2003, p.27 
OJ L123, 27.4.2004, p.27 
OJ L136, 24.5.2006, p.9 

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The  Commission  has  also  on  several  occasions  informed  other  countries  of 
Community regulatory actions that did not qualify for PIC notification.  

3.8. 

Import decisions for PIC chemicals 

The  Commission  has  adopted  the  following  decisions  establishing  Community 
import 
the  PIC  procedure:  Decision 
2003/508/EC6,  Decision  2004/382/EC7,  Decision  2005/416/EC8,  and  Decision 
2005/814/EC9. 

for  chemicals  subject 

responses 

to 

In addition, a number of previous import responses were extended without changes 
to all EU 25 Member States following the 2004 enlargement.  

3.9. 

Compliance and enforcement activities 

Overall there seem to have been no major infringements of the Regulation.  

Most  Member  States  reporting  infringements  did  not  impose  sanctions  but  issued 
warnings  and  planned  closer  monitoring  in  future.  In  most  cases,  non-compliance 
was either detected by the customs officers or when companies had submitted their 
yearly  reports  on  quantities  exported  and  corresponding  export  notifications  were 
found to be lacking.  

3.10.  Awareness-raising 

All  Member  States  and  the  Commission  have  provided  information  to  industry, 
usually  through  training  sessions,  seminars,  workshops,  bulletins,  etc.  Similar 
consultations and training are provided by some Member States for customs officers. 

Draft detailed  technical notes for  guidance for DNAs have been been published on 
EDEXIM.  The  Commission  has  published  a  guide  to  the  Regulation  in  all  EU 
languages.  Most  DNAs  have  created  a  web  page  on  the  Regulation  including  the 
national language version of the Regulation and the guide.  

The  Commission  has  given  presentations  to  DNAs  in  importing  countries  to  help 
improve  their  understanding  of  the  EU  procedures.  Some  Member  States  have 
engaged  in  information  programmes  with  third  countries  including  seminars  and 
study tours. 

4. 

IMPLEMENTATION PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE IMPROVEMENTS 

4.1. 

Customs controls 

Most  Member  States  consider  that  enforcement  at  border  controls  is  important  and 
that  there  is  a  need  for  closer  collaboration  and  regular  exchange  of  information 
between DNAs and customs officers.  

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OJ L174, 12.7.2003, p.10 
OJ L199, 7.6.2004, p.7 
OJ L 147, 10.6.2005, p.1 
OJ L 304, 23.11.2005, p.46 

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Article 17 of the Regulation is generally worded and is rather weak. Most Member 
States  would  like  to  see  clearer  provisions,  including  specific  obligations  on 
exporters  and  the  appropriate  tools  that  would  facilitate  the  work  of  customs  in 
controlling exports and imports.  

In response to these concerns, work is well advanced in classifying chemicals subject 
to  Annex  I  to  the  Regulation  within  the  Combined  Nomenclature  (CN)  and  in 
including  'warning  flags'  in  the  Integrated  Tariff  of  the  European  Communities 
(TARIC) against the relevant CN CN codes that would alert customs officers to the 
fact that the chemicals concerned are or could be subject to special rules. In addition, 
linked  to  the  development  of  a  customs  version  of  EDEXIM  to  meet  the  specific 
needs  of  customs  officers,  work  is  also  well  advanced  in  providing  in  TARIC  for 
unique  identification  codes  generated  by  EDEXIM  for  export  notifications  made, 
explicit  consents  obtained  etc  that  could  be  used  by  exporters  in  section  44  of  the 
export declaration form (the Single Administrative Document) to show that the rules 
have  been  respected  and  that  could  be  readily  verified  by  customs  officers  by 
checking on EDEXIM. 

However there is general agreement that for such a system to be fully effective, the 
use of these special identifier codes should be made mandatory. 

4.2. 

Explicit consent 

Several  Member  States  are  experiencing  problems  with  the  procedure,  particularly 
difficulties in getting timely responses from importing countries. In about half of the 
cases,  despite  the  efforts  of  exporting  DNAs  and  the  Commission,  no  response  to 
requests  has  been  obtained,  in  some  cases  after  many  months  or  years,  despite  the 
fact  that  often  it  is  known  that  use  of  the  chemical  is  allowed  in  the  importing 
country  concerned.  This  often  results  in  exports  being  unable  to  proceed  from  EU 
countries,  but  can  be  made  by  other  countries  (because  they  do  not  need  to  obtain 
explicit  consent  for  these  substances),  thereby  disadvantaging  EU  exporters.  The 
number of cases involving such delays is significantly higher than could have been 
foreseen  when  the  Regulation  was  adopted  and  the  work  involved  for  the  Member 
States  concerned  and  the  Commission  is  much  greater  than  anticipated.  Part  of  the 
problem is incorrect contact details; another appears to be lack of understanding of 
our procedures. The latter applies especially to chemicals that are not PIC chemicals 
and fall only in part 2 of annex I, which is often confusing to third countries.  

Providing  information  in  the  language  of  the  importing  country  might  improve  the 
situation.  Greater  efforts  to  help  importing  countries  respond  to  requests,  with  the 
Commission  being  more  involved  including  in  a  co-ordination  role,  may  also  help. 
The Commission has already taken such actions where possible and will continue to 
do so. These have had some effect. However overall the situation has not improved 
significantly and is unlikely to do so in the future without further measures. 

Some  Member  States  would  favour  abolishing  the  explicit  consent  requirement  for 
chemicals  in  part  2  of  Annex  I;  or  failing  that,  revising  the  criteria  for  including 
chemicals in that part of Annex I. However the emerging consensus is that perhaps 
the  best  solution  would  be  to  maintain  the  procedure,  but  follow  an  approach 
whereby  in  cases  where  no  response  were  to  be  received,  subject  to  certain 

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conditions  export  could  proceed  as  a  temporary  solution  while  further  efforts  are 
made to obtain consent.  

In  addition,  the  possibility  of  channelling  all  requests  for  consent  through  the 
Commission  could  be  explored  subject  to  the  necessary  resources  being  available. 
This  would  help  to  prevent  any  unnecessary  overlaps  or  duplication  of  effort  and 
may  also  help  to  avoid  possible  misunderstandings  and  confusion  in  importing 
countries.,  which  receive  export  notifications  from  the  Commission  (via  ECB)  and 
requests for consent directly from the Member States. 

4.3. 

Other points 

Greater clarity is needed in the scope of the rules relating to export notifications (and 
where  applicable  explicit  consent)  in  respect  of  preparations.  This  issue  is  already 
covered  in  the  detailed  notes  for  guidance  for  DNAs,  which  make  it  clear  that 
preparations  are  only  subject  to  the  export  notification  and  explicit  consent 
requirements  (where  applicable)  when  they  contain  a  chemical(s)  listed  in  the 
relevant  part(s) of Annex  I  of  the Regulation to the extent that its presence is such 
that it could trigger labelling, irrespective of the presence of any other substances in 
the preparation.This should be reflected in the Regulation itself. 

It has been suggested that export notifications should include information about the 
expected  quantities  of  export  each  year  so  that  the  importing  country  has  a  clearer 
overall picture. Making clearer the intended use in export notifications would also be 
helpful. Often importing countries request further information of these kinds. 

The Regulation's definition of 'exporter' can give rise to some problems in relation to 
the export notification requirement for goods that are delivered by EC manufacturers 
or  distributors  to  non-EU  based  traders  who  then  export  the  goods.  This  has  been 
addressed in the detailed notes for guidance for DNAs, but needs to be covered in the 
Regulation itself so that there is a harmonised approach.  

The procedure for handling export notifications from third countries is not optimal. 
The  majority  of  these  notifications  come  from  the  USA.  Hopefully,  once  the  US 
starts  sending  all  the  notifications  directly  to  the  Commission,  the  procedure  will 
function more smoothly.  

Several  Member  States  commented  on  the  difficulties  of  obtaining  information  on 
imports of Annex I chemicals, linking this to the procedure for export notifications 
from third countries. However such notifications normally do not relate to Annex I 
chemicals  so  information  contained  therein  is  unlikely  to  help  Member  States  in 
fulfilling  their  reporting  obligations.  One  comment  was  that  the  provision  be 
dropped.  However  such  information  aids  transparency  and  is  useful  for  monitoring 
purposes  to  assess  the  impact  and  effectiveness  of  the  Regulation  and  Community 
chemicals legislation more generally.  

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5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

Regulation  304/2003  has  been  in  operation  for  3  years.  During  this  time  the 
workload for the DNAs has increased as exporters have become more familiar with 
the  rules  and  more  chemicals  have  been  added  to  the  different  procedures.  Overall 
the amount of DNA resources involved is not significant. The administrative burden 
for exporters and the authorities remains reasonable, although some authorities have 
encountered  problems.  The  workload  will  continue  to  increase,  but  overall  this 
should not prove unduly burdensome provided that the necessary resources continue 
to be available at national and EU level. 

Overall the procedures of the Regulation have proved effective and functioned well. 
The main problem has been the delays in obtaining responses to requests for explicit 
consent. The number of such cases is much higher than could have been anticipated 
causing additional workload. It has added significantly to the administrative burdens 
on  exporters,  DNAs  and  the  Commission.  It  has  also  disadvantaged  EU  exporters 
vis-à-vis  competitors  without  necessarily  adding  to  the  protection  of  human  health 
and the environment in importing countries. The situation as regards chemicals listed 
in part 2 of Annex I is particularly problematic. 

Although  there  were  initial  problems  with  EDEXIM  caused  by  difficulties  in 
adapting the database to accommodate all the Regulation's requirements in full and 
meeting user’s needs, much progress has been made in addressing these problems. In 
particular, the planned ‘Enterprise’ version will simplify and speed up the process. 

Co-operation  between  Member  States  and  the  Commission  is  excellent.  Generally 
the information circulates smoothly between the different parties. However the flow 
of information with importing countries could be improved. 

To  date  there  appear  to  have  been  no  major  problems  of  non-compliance  with  the 
rules. 

The  importance  of  enforcement  has  been  emphasised,  in  particular  the  role  of 
customs  authorities  in  this  regard.  Closer  collaboration  with  customs  is  needed. 
There  is  also  widespread  support  for  additional  tools  to  help  facilitate  the  work  of 
customs control, particularly as regards exports. 

There are also a number of more minor issues where the scope of the rules could be 
clarified. 

EN 

11 

   EN