CELEX: 51990PC0591
Language: en
Date: 1990-12-17
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL REGULATION ( EEC ) CONCERNING EXPORT AND IMPORT OF CERTAIN DANGEROUS CHEMICALS

No C 17/16                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                25. 1. 91
                                                               II
                                                       (Preparatory Acts)
                                                  COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) concerning export and import of certain dangerous
                                                            chemicals
                                                      COM(90) 591 final
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 20 December 1990)
                                                         (91/C 17/20)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                           certain dangerous substances and preparations and
                                                                   prohibit the placing on the market and use of plant
                                                                   protection products containing certain active substances
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              in the Member States of the Community; whereas these
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130s                 provisions do not apply to those products when they are
thereof,                                                           intended for export to third countries;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                   Whereas international trade in certain chemicals which
                                                                   are banned or severely restricted in countries of export
Having regard       to   the   opinion   of   the   European       has caused international concern on grounds of
Parliament,                                                        protection of man and the environment;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                  Whereas measures are necessary for the protection of
                                                                   man and the environment, both in the Community and
                                                                   third countries;
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1734/88 O
concerns the export from and import into the
Community of certain dangerous chemicals;
                                                                   Whereas schemes for notification, information and prior
                                                                   informed consent concerning international trade in such
Whereas an amendment to Regulation (EEC) No                        substances have been set up within the framework of
1734/88 is necessary to implement the 'prior informed              international organizations, namely the Organization for
consent' (PIC) procedure;                                          Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the
                                                                    United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and
                                                                    the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO);
Whereas, on the occasion of this amendment, Regulation
(EEC) N o 1734/88 is also to be replaced by this Regu-
lation;
                                                                    Whereas the Community and its Member States have
                                                                    actively participated in the work of these and of other
Whereas certain     provisions of Community legislation,            international organizations relating to banned and
and in particular  Council Directives 76/769/EEC (2), as            severely restricted substances; whereas it is appropriate
last amended       by Directive 89/678/EEC( 3 )           and       that the Community acts upon the results of this work
79/117/EEC( 4 )>      as last amended by Directive                  through uniform Community procedures;
 89/365/EEC ( s ),   restrict the marketing and use of
(*)  OJ No L 155, 22. 6. 1988, p. 2.
O    OJ No L 262, 27. 9. 1976, p. 201.                              Whereas the export of chemicals to which this Regu-
(J)  OJ No L 398, 30. 12. 1989, p. 24.                              lation applies should be made subject to a common noti-
(4)  OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 36.                                 fication procedure which would permit the Community
 (») OJ No L 159, 10. 6. 1989, p. 58.                               to notify third countries with regard to such exports;
 ---pagebreak---  25. 1. 91                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 17/17
 Whereas it is necessary to ensure that the rules applicable      Whereas Annex III identifies the information which
 within the Community for the packaging and labelling of          should be included in the notification of the export to a
 banned or severely restricted chemicals should apply to          third country of a chemical listed in Annex I; whereas to
 such chemicals when destined for export;                         facilitate the amendment of Annex III, a system should
                                                                  be set up providing for close collaboration between the
 Whereas it is necessary to inform all the Member States          Member States and the Commission by means of a
 of notifications received from third countries with regard       committee for the adaptation of that Annex to technical
 to import into the Community of substances banned or             progress;
 severely restricted under the legislation of those
 countries;
                                                                 Whereas the Regulation excludes chemicals intended for
                                                                  analytical or research and development purposes;
 Whereas the common notification procedures should
 also provide a basis for an appropriate exchange of
 information within the Community, including infor-              Whereas the Commission, in the light of the operation of
 mation on the implementation of the international notifi-       this Regulation, may propose to the Council appropriate
 cation scheme;                                                  amendments thereto,
Whereas to this end the Commission will report to the
 Council and to the European Parliament, at regular              HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
 intervals, in particular on any possible reaction from the
 country of destination;
                                                                                             Article 1
Whereas the Council resolution of 16 June 1988 (*)                                          Objectives
invited the Commission to submit proposals with a view
to the possible adjustment of the Regulation so as to             1.    The purpose of this Regulation is to establish a
introduce a PIC scheme similar to that established by the        common system of notification and information for
U N E P and the FAO;                                             imports from and exports to third countries of certain
                                                                 chemicals which are banned or severely restricted on
Whereas it is proper that the citizens of the Community          account of their effects on human health and the envi-
receive no less protection than that afforded to the             ronment and to participate in the international notifi-
citizens of other importing countries participating in the       cation and 'prior informed consent' (PIC) procedure
international PIC scheme;                                        established by the United Nations Environment
                                                                 Programme (UNEP) and the Food and Agriculture
                                                                 Organization (FAO) i1).
Whereas a single contact point for Community inter-
action with the international PIC scheme is desirable in
order to coordinate and disseminate information;                 2.     This Regulation does not apply to substances or
whereas, in light of the single European market of 1993,         preparations imported or exported for the purposes of
it is necessary to establish common conditions for the           analysis or research and development where the quan-
import and export of substances covered by the PIC               tities involved are sufficiently small that they are not
scheme;                                                          likely to adversely affect human health or the envi-
                                                                 ronment.
Whereas Annex I lists the chemicals banned or severely
restricted in the Community; whereas this list should be
subject to review at intervals and amendment as                                              Article 2
necessary; whereas any such amendment to Annex I
should be made on the basis of proposals from the                                           Definitions
Commission and should be the subject of a decision by
                                                                 For the purposes of this Regulation, the following defi-
the Council by a qualified majority;                             nitions shall apply:
Whereas Annex II comprises a list of chemicals subject
to the PIC procedure, the list of countries participating        1. 'chemical subject to notification' means any of the
in the PIC procedure and the decisions of these countries            chemical substances listed in Annex I and to prep-
regarding the import of the listed chemicals; whereas                arations for which there is a labelling obligation due
these lists and decisions will be amended at intervals               to the presence of a substance listed in Annex I;
jointly by the U N E P and the FAO; whereas the
amendments should be adopted into Annex II to this
Regulation      following    their  publication    by   the
                                                                 (2) London Guidelines for the Exchange of Information on
Commission in the Official Journal of the European                    Chemicals in International Trade, Decision 14/27 of the
Communities;                                                          Governing Council of UNEP of 17 June 1987 as amended
                                                                      May 1989;
                                                                      FAO International Code of Conduct on the Distribution
                                                                      and Use of Pesticides, Rome 1986, as amended November
C) O] No C 170, 29. 6. 1988, p. 1.                                    1989.
 ---pagebreak---  N o C 17/18                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                 25. 1.91
 2. 'chemical subject to the PIC-procedure' means each              2.    As far as the participation of the Community in the
    chemical listed in Annex II, whether by itself or in a          international 'prior informed consent' procedure is
    mixture or preparation, whether manufactured or                 concerned, the Commission shall act as common
    obtained from nature, unless its concentration in the           designated authority with regard to receiving infor-
    mixture or preparation is insufficient for a labelling          mation from the competent bodies dealing with the inter-
    requirement;                                                    national PIC procedure, and for providing information
                                                                    to these bodies on common decisions which have been
                                                                    taken in close cooperation and consultation with the
 3. 'banned chemical' means a chemical which has, for               Member States. The Commission shall advise the
    health or environmental reasons, been prohibited for           relevant competent bodies of its role relating to the PIC
    all uses by final governmental regulatory action;              procedure.
 4. 'severely restricted chemical' means a chemical for                                       Article 4
    which, for health or environmental reasons, virtually
    all uses have been prohibited nationally by final                                Exports to third countries
    governmental regulatory action, but for which certain           1.    When a chemical subject to notification is exported
    specific uses remain authorized;                               for the first time following the date of the entry into
                                                                   force of Regulation (EEC) No 1734/88 (22 June 1989)
                                                                   from the Community to a third country, the designated
 5. 'export' means:                                                authority of the State from which it is exported shall
                                                                   take the necessary measures to ensure that the appro-
                                                                   priate authorities of the country of destination receive
    (a) the permanent or temporary export of products              notification of the fact. Such notification, which shall
         meeting the conditions of Article 9 (2) of the            take place prior to export must comply with the
         Treaty;                                                   requirements set out in Annex III.
    (b) the re-export of products not meeting             the      The designated authority shall send a copy of such noti-
         conditions of Article 9 (2) of the Treaty;                fication to the Commission, which shall forward it to the
                                                                   designated authorities of the other Member States and to
                                                                   the International Register of Potentially Toxic Chemicals
6. 'import' means any physical introduction of products            (IRPTC).
    into the customs territory of the Community meeting
    the conditions of Article 10 (1) of the Treaty;                The Commission shall assign a reference number to each
                                                                   notification received and communicate it immediately to
                                                                   the designated authorities of the Member States. It shall
7. 'prior informed consent' or ' P I C means the principle         periodically publish a list of these reference numbers in
    that international shipment of a chemical that is              the Official Journal of the European Communities, stating
    banned or severely restricted in order to protect              the chemical concerned, and the third country of desti-
    human health or the environment should not proceed             nation. Until a relevant reference number is published in
    without the agreement, where such agreement exists,            the Official Journal of the European Communities, the
    or contrary to the decision of the designated national         exporter shall assume that such an export has not
    authority of the importing country;                            previously taken place unless it can obtain from the
                                                                   designated authority of its Member State the relevant
                                                                   reference     number     previously     assigned  by    the
8. 'reference number' means the number assigned by the             Commission.
    Commission to each chemical subject to notification
    when it is exported for the first time to a third
    country. This number remains unchanged for every               2.    The designated authority of the relevant Member
    subsequent export of the same chemical from the                State shall inform the Commission as soon as possible of
    Community to the same third country.                           any significant reaction from the country of destination.
                                                                   The Commission shall ensure that the other Member
                                                                   States are informed as soon as possible of that country's
                                                                   reaction.
                           Article 3
                  Designation of authorities
                                                                   3.    For every subsequent export of the chemical
1.     Each Member State shall designate the authority or          concerned from the Community to the same third
authorities, hereinafter referred to as the 'designated            country the exporter shall ensure that the export is
authority' or 'designated authorities', competent for the          accompanied by a reference to the number of the notifi-
notification and information procedures laid down by               cation published in the Official Journal of the European
this Regulation. It shall inform the Commission of such            Communities pursuant to the provisions of the third
designation.                                                       subparagraph of paragraph 1.
 ---pagebreak--- 25. 1. 91                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 17/19
4.     Notification must be given afresh whenever major                 a substance or preparation not produced in the
changes are made to the Community legislation                           Community, then interim import conditions, set on
concerning the marketing and use of the substances in                   a case by case basis, may be imposed until the
question or whenever the labelling of the preparation in                Council has taken a decision on the proposed
question changes.                                                       permanent ban or severe restriction.
5.     As regards the transmission of information within         The Commission shall pay particular attention to
the meaning of paragraph 1, the Member States and the            ensuring that its response does not conflict with existing
Commission shall take account of the need to protect the         Community legislation.
confidentiality of data and ownership, both in the
Member States and in the countries of destination.
                                                                 3.      Annex II shall comprise the following:
                          Article 5
Participation in the international notification and 'prior         (i) the international list of banned and severely
                 informed consent' procedure                            restricted chemicals subject to the PIC procedure
                                                                        established by the U N E P and FAO;
1.     The Commission shall notify the competent bodies
dealing with the international PIC procedure of the
chemicals which are banned or severely restricted in the          (ii) a list of the countries participating in the PIC
Community (Annex I). It shall provide all relevant infor-               scheme; and
mation especially on the identity of the chemicals, their
dangerous properties, Community labelling requirements
and necessary precautionary measures. It shall also              (iii) the decisions of these countries (including the
identify the relevant control actions and the reasons for               Community) regarding the import of the listed
them.                                                                   chemicals.
2.     The Commission shall forward forthwith to the             The Commission shall immediately notify the Member
Member States information it receives regarding                  States of information it receives regarding changes to the
chemicals subject to the PIC procedure and the decisions         above. It shall periodically publish these changes in the
of third countries regarding the imposition of bans or            Official Journal of the European Communities.
import conditions on these chemicals. The Commission
shall evaluate in close cooperation with the Member
States the risks posed by the chemicals. It shall then           4.      The exporter is required to comply with the
inform the International Register of Potentially Toxic           decision of the country of destination participating in the
Chemicals whether import into the Community of each              PIC procedure. Member States shall take appropriate
of the chemicals shall be allowed, prohibited or                 legal measures to enable severe or dissuasive sanctions to
restricted. Before taking its decision the Commission            be imposed on persons exporting chemicals subject to the
shall consult the committee established under Article 20         international PIC procedure (Annex II) contrary to the
of Council Directive 67/548/EEC (').                             PIC decision of the country of destination. The sanctions
                                                                 should, as far as possible, be the same in all Member
                                                                 States.
When taking such a decision, the following principles
shall be observed:
  (i) in the case of a substance or preparation banned by                                    Article 6
      Community legislation: import consent shall be                                  Packaging and labelling
      refused;
                                                                  1.     Any of the chemicals listed in Annexes I and II
 (ii) in the case of a substance or preparation severely         which are intended for export shall be subject to such
      restricted by Community legislation: import consent        measures on packaging and labelling established in
                                                                 pursuance of Council Directive 67/548/EEC or, as
      shall be subject to conditions. The appropriate
                                                                 appropriate, of other Directives covering dangerous
      conditions shall be decided on a case by case basis;
                                                                 preparations (2) as are applicable in the Member State
                                                                 from which the goods are to be exported or in which
(iii) in the case of a substance or preparation not banned       they have been produced. This obligation shall be
      or severely restricted by Community legislation:           without prejudice to any specific requirements of the
      import consent shall not normally be refused.              importing third country. The label need comply with
      However, if the Commission, in consultation with           only the requirements of the importing third country
      Member States, considers that a proposal should be
      made to the Council to ban or severely restrict
                                                                 O Council Directive 78/631/EEC (OJ No L 206, 29. 7. 1978,
                                                                      p. 13), Directive 88/379/EEC (OJ No L 187, 16. 7. 1988,
(') OJ No L 196, 16. 8. 1967, p. 196/67.                              p. 14).
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 17/20                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                25. 1. 91
if such requirements ensure the label has all the health,                                Article 9
safety and environment related information which EEC
use would require.                                              If a Member State applies, with respect to substances
                                                                other than those in Annex I, a national system using
                                                                similar information procedures in respect of third
2.    The information on the label shall as far as prac-        countries of those laid down in this Regulation, it shall
ticable be given in the language(s), or in one or more of       inform the Commission, specifying the substances
the principal languages, of the country of destination or       concerned. The Commission shall forward this infor-
of the area of intended use.                                    mation to the Member States.
                          Article 7
                                                                                        Article 10
             Notification from third countries
                                                                                   Updating of Annexes
1.    Where the designated authority of a Member State
receives a notification from the competent authority of a        1.   The list of chemicals in Annex I shall be reviewed
third country concerning the export to the Community            by the Commission at intervals particularly in the light of
of a chemical whose manufacture, use, handling,                 experience gained in implementing this Regulation, with
consumption, transport and/or sale is subject to                special regard to information received pursuant to Article
prohibition or substantial legal restriction under that         9, and on the basis of developments in Community legis-
country's legislation, it shall send forthwith to the           lation concerning marketing and use and of devel-
Commission a copy of that notification together with all        opments within the framework of the O E C D , the U N E P
relevant information.                                           and the FAO. The list shall be amended as necessary by
                                                                decisions taken by the Council by qualified majority on a
                                                                proposal from the Commission.
2.    The Commission shall forward forthwith to the
Member States any notification received either directly
of indirectly, together with all available information.         2.    Amendments initiated by the U N E P and the FAO
                                                                to the list of chemicals subject to the international PIC
3.    The Commission shall periodically evaluate the            procedure and to the PIC decisions of importing
information received via the Member States or directly          countries (Annex II) shall be adopted in accordance with
from third countries and, if necessary, submit appro-           the procedure laid down in Article 21 of Directive
priate proposals to the Council.                                67/548/EEC.
                          Article 8                             3.    The amendments required for adapting Annex III
                                                                to scientific and technical progress shall be adopted in
         Exchange of information and monitoring
                                                                accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21 of
1.    Member States shall regularly forward to the              Directive 67/548/EEC.
Commission information on the operation of the notifi-
cation system provided for in this Regulation.
                                                                                        Article 11
2.    The Commission shall regularly compile a report           1.    Regulation (EEC) N o 1734/88 is hereby repealed.
on the basis of the information provided by the Member
States and forward it to the Council and the European
Parliament. This report shall consist, inter alia, of infor-    2.    References to the Regulation repealed under
mation on participation in international notification and       paragraph 1 shall be construed as references to this
PIC systems, on the cover provided by such systems and          Regulation.
on how they are complied with by third countries.
                                                                                        Article 12
3.    As regards the information supplied pursuant to
paragraphs 1 and 2, the Member States and the                   This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its
Commission shall take account of the need to protect the        publication in the Official Journal of the European
confidentiality of data and ownership.                           Communities.
 ---pagebreak--- 25. 1. 91                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                 No C 17/21
                                                                ANNEX    I
          List of chemicals banned or severely restricted to certain uses owing to their effects on human health and
                                                            the environment
                                 Chemical                                  CAS No O               Einecs No (2)
             1. Mercuric oxide                                              21908-53-2              2446547
            2. Mercurous chloride (calomel)                                 10112-91-1              2333075
            3. Other inorganic mercury compounds
            4. Alkyl mercury compounds
            5. Alkoxyalkyl and aryl mercury compounds
            6. Aldrin                                                         309-00-2              2062158
            7. Chlordane                                                       57-74-9              2003490
            8. Dieldrin                                                        60-57-1              2004845
            9. D D T                                                           50-29-3              2000243
          10. Endrin                                                           72-20-8              2007757
          11. H C H containing less than 99,0 % of the
                gamma isomer                                                  608-73-1              2101689
          12. Heptachlor                                                       76-44-8              2009623
          13. Hexachlorobenzene                                               118-74-1              2042739
          14. Camphechlor (toxaphene)                                        8001-35-2              2322833
          15. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB),           except
                mono- and dichlorinated biphenyls                            1336-36-3              2156481
          16. Polychlorinated terphenyls (PCT)                              61788-33-8              2629682
          17. Preparations with a PCB or P C T content
                higher than 0,01 % by weight
          18. Tris(2,3 dibromopropyl) phosphate                               126-72-7              2047999
          19. Tris-aziridinyl-phosphinoxide                                   545-55-1              2088925
          20. Polybrominated biphenyls (PBB)
          21. Crocidolite                                                   12001-28-4
          22. Chrysotile                                                    12001-29-5
          23. Amosite                                                       12172-73-5
          24. Anthopyllite                                                  77536-67-5
          25. Actinolite                                                    77536-66-5
          26. Tremolite                                                     77536-68-6
          27. Nitrofen                                                       1836-75-5             217-406-0
          28. 1,2-Dibromoethane                                               106-93-4             203-444-5
          29. 1,2-Dichloroethene                                              540-59-0             208-750-2
          (') CAS:        Chemical Abstracts Service.
          (2) Einecs:     European Inventory of Existing Commercial Chemical Substances.
                                                               ANNEX    II
               Chemicals subject to the international PIC procedure and the PIC decisions of importing countries
 ---pagebreak--- l^oCIBB^                             C^ffici^lJourn^lo^Lh^Euroo^nC^ornrnunin^                                   ^ 1 ^
                                          ^o^n^o^^e^^edp^s^^^toAr^cte^
         1.   Identity of the substance or preparation to be exported^
         t.t. ^ubstances^
              — name in nomenclature of the International C^nion of I^ure and Applied chemistry,
              — other names (^usual name, trade name, abbreviations,
              — ^inecs^o and O^A^^o^if available^,
              — main impurities ofthesubstance,when particularly relevant.
         t.2. preparations^
              — trade name or designation of the preparation,
              — for each substance listed in Annex I, percentage and details as specified under t.t.
         2.   Information on precautions to be taken, including category of danger and risk, and safety advice.
         3.   The name, address, telephone and telex numbers of the designated authority from whom further
              information may be obtained.
         ^t.  nummary of regulatory restrictions and reasons for them.
         ^.   expected date of export.
         D.   reference number.
         ^.   country of destination.
         The aboveinformationshouldbeprovidedonanexport notification formasshownoverleaf.
 ---pagebreak--- 25. 1.91                                       Official Journal of the European Communities                     No C 17/23
                 COMMISSION                                                                  REGULATION (EEC) No 1734/88
                    OF THE
        EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
                   EXPORT NOTIFICATION FORM FOR BANNED AND SEVERELY RESTRICTED CHEMICALS
     1. EXPORT NOTIFICATION REFERENCE NUMBER:
    2. EXPORT CONSISTS OF A BANNED OR SEVERELY RESTRICTED CHEMICAL (l)
        Name(s) of chemical:
        EinecsNo:                                                        CAS No:
    3. EXPORT CONSISTS OF A PREPARATION CONTAINING ONE OR MORE BANNED OR SEVERELY RESTRICTED
        CHEMICAL(S) 0)
        Name(s) of preparation:
        Labelling code for preparation:
        Name(s) of constituent chemical(s) banned or severely restricted
         i) % in preparation:                             EinecsNo:                         CAS No:
        ii) % in preparation:                             Einecs No:                        CAS No:
        Hi) % in preparation:                             Einecs No:                        CAS No:
    4, COUNTRY OF DESTINATION:
        Expected date of first export:
                                                   DESIGNATED NATKDNAL AUTHORITIES
                                    in the EC:                                        in the importing country:
        Representative of exporting country:                                                Official stamp
(') Box 2 or box 3 to be completed.
Note: Chemical and legal data overleaf.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 17/24                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                   25. 1. 91
                      DATA SHEET FOR A BANNED OR SEVERELY RESTRICTED CHEMICAL
              CHEMICAL NAME(S):
              Einecs No:                                       CAS No:
              LABELLING REQUIREMENTS FOR CHEMICAL
              Classification:
              Risk phrases:
              Safety phrases:
              SUMMARY OF CONTROL ACTION AND USE(S) CONTROLLED:
              REFERENCE TO EEC OR NATIONAL LEGISLATION:
              REASONS SUPPORTING THE CONTROL ACTION:
              ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
           Note: If a preparation contains more than one chemical which is banned or severely restricted in the EC,
           data sheets on the additional chemicals must be attached hereto.