2007/629/EC: Commission Decision of 20 September 2007 concerning the non-inclusion of trifluralin in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing that substance (notified under document number C(2007) 4282) (Text with EEA relevance)
Date: 2007-09-20
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: dangerous substance, marketing restriction, pharmaceutical product, plant health legislation, plant health product, withdrawal from the market

L 255/42

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

29.9.2007

COMMISSION DECISION

of 20 September 2007

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

(notified under document number C(2007) 4282)

(Text with EEA relevance)

(2007/629/EC)

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty
Community,

establishing the European

Having regard to Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991
concerning the placing of plant protection products on the
market (1), and in particular
fourth subparagraph of
Article 8(2) thereof,

the

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 8(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC provides that a
Member State may, during a period of 12 years
following the notification of
that Directive, authorise
the placing on the market of plant protection products
containing active substances not listed in Annex I of that
Directive that are already on the market two years after
the date of notification, while those substances are
gradually being examined within the framework of a
programme of work.

Commission Regulations (EC) No 451/2000 (2) and (EC)
No 703/2001 (3)
lay down the detailed rules for the
implementation of the second stage of the programme
of work referred to in Article 8(2) of Directive
91/414/EEC and establish a list of active substances to
be assessed with a view to their possible inclusion in
Annex I
includes
trifluralin.

to Directive 91/414/EEC. That

list

For trifluralin the effects on human health and the envir-
onment have been assessed in accordance with the
provisions laid down in Regulations (EC) No 451/2000
and (EC) No 703/2001 for a range of uses proposed by
the notifiers. Moreover, those Regulations designate the
rapporteur Member States which have to submit
the
reports and recommendations to
relevant assessment

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991, p. 1. Directive as

last amended by

Commission Directive 2007/52/EC (OJ L 214, 17.8.2007, p. 3).
(2) OJ L 55, 29.2.2000, p. 25. Regulation as last amended by Regu-

lation (EC) No 1044/2003 (OJ L 151, 19.6.2003, p. 32).

(3) OJ L 98, 7.4.2001, p. 6.

(4)

(5)

(6)

the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in accordance
with Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 451/2000. For
trifluralin the rapporteur Member State was Greece and
all relevant information was submitted on 11 July 2003.

The assessment report has been peer reviewed by the
Member States and the EFSA within its Working Group
Evaluation and presented to the Commission on 14
March 2005 in the format of
the EFSA conclusion
regarding the peer review of the pesticide risk assessment
of the active substance trifluralin (4). This report has been
reviewed by the Member States and the Commission
within the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and
Animal Health and finalised on 16 March 2007 in the
format of the Commission review report for trifluralin.

in soil
it

and not
shows potential

During the evaluation of this active substance, a number
of concerns were identified. Trifluralin is of high toxicity
to aquatic organisms, in particular fish. It is also highly
readily biodegradable.
persistent
Moreover,
In
for accumulation.
particular, it exceeds significantly the maximum biocon-
in Directive
factor
centration
91/414/EEC for
a
indicating
potential for bioaccumulation in such organisms. Due
to its high volatility, transport through air cannot be
excluded and, despite a rapid photochemical degradation,
monitoring programmes have shown migration to places
distant from application. These concerns made it appear
that trifluralin does not meet the criteria for inclusion in
Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC.

down
laid
organisms,

(BCF)
aquatic

to submit

submitted its

The Commission invited the notifier
its
comments on the results of the peer review and on its
intention or not to further support the substance. The
notifier
comments which have been
carefully examined. However, despite the arguments put
forward by the notifier, the concerns identified could not
be eliminated, and assessments made on the basis of the
information submitted and evaluated during the EFSA
expert meetings have not demonstrated that it may be
expected that, under the proposed conditions of use,
plant protection products containing trifluralin satisfy
in general the requirements laid down in Article 5(1)(a)
and (b) of Directive 91/414/EEC.

(4) EFSA Scientific Report (2005) 28, 1-77, Conclusion regarding the
peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance
trifluralin (finalised: 14 March 2005).

29.9.2007

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 255/43

(7)

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

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

(8)

(9)

for

plant

Measures should be taken to ensure that authorisations
granted
containing
trifluralin are withdrawn within a fixed period of time
and are not renewed and that no new authorisations for
such products are granted.

protection products

Any period of grace granted by a Member State for the
disposal, storage, placing on the market and use of
existing stocks of plant protection products containing
trifluralin should be limited to 12 months in order to
allow existing stocks to be used in one further growing
season which ensures that plant protection products
containing trifluralin remain available to farmers for 18
months from the adoption of this Decision.

(10)

This Decision does not prejudice the submission of an
application for trifluralin according to the provisions of
Article 6(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC in view of a
possible inclusion in its Annex I.

(11)

The measures provided for
accordance with
Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,

in this Decision are in
Standing
the

opinion

the

of

Article 1

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

Article 2

Member States shall ensure that:

(a) authorisations

for plant protection products containing

trifluralin are withdrawn by 20 March 2008;

(b) no authorisations for plant protection products containing
trifluralin are granted or renewed from the date of publi-
cation of this Decision.

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 shall expire on 20 March
2009 at the latest.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 20 September 2007.

For the Commission

Markos KYPRIANOU
Member of the Commission