Document ID: 31982L0243

COUNCIL DIRECTIVE of 31 March 1982 amending Directive 73/405/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to methods of testing the biodegradability of anionic surfactants (82/243/EEC)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, and in particular Article 100 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas Council Directive 73/405/EEC (4) must be adapted to take account of the latest developments in science and technology, thus necessitating: - the updating of the references relating to the methods listed in Article 2,
- the addition to Article 2 of a further method of measurement which is in use in the United Kingdom,
- the improvement of the "confirmatory test procedure" provided for in the event of a dispute;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 4 of Council Directive 73/404/EEC of 22 November 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to detergents (5), suitable tolerances for the measurement of biodegradability should be determined in order to take due account of the unreliability of test methods which could result in rejection decisions with important economic consequences ; whereas a rejection decision may therefore only be taken where the results obtained with a test method specified in Article 2 of Directive 73/405/EEC reveal a biodegradability of less than 80 %;
Whereas some confusion has arisen as to the scope of Directive 73/405/EEC and it is necessary to make quite clear that the Directive applies only to surfactants used in detergents ; whereas it is also necessary to make quite clear that it is the level of biodegradability of the anionic surfactants contained in a detergent, and not the level of biodegradability of the detergent itself, which is dealt with in Article 2;
Whereas the necessary amendment and amplification of the Annex to Directive 73/405/EEC will be carried out under the procedure provided for in Article 3a thereof,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
Article 1
Directive 73/405/EEC is hereby amended as follows: 1. The following is added to Article 1 : "present in detergents such as those referred to in Article 1 of Directive 73/404/EEC".
2. Articles 2 and 3 are replaced by the following:
"Article 2
Pursuant to Article 4 of Directive 73/404/EEC relating to, detergents, Member States shall prohibit the placing on the market and use on their territory of a detergent if the biodegradability of the anionic surfactants contained therein is less than 80 % determined in accordance with one of the following methods: - the OECD method, published in the OECD technical report of 11 June 1976 on the "Proposed Method for the Determination of the Biodegradability of Surfactants used in Synthetic Detergents",
- the method in use in Germany, established by the "Verordnung über die Abbaubarkeit (1) OJ No C 112, 14.5.1981, p. 4. (2) OJ No C 172, 13.7.1981, p. 111. (3) OJ No C 310, 30.11.1981, p. 7. (4) OJ No L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 53. (5) OJ No L 347, 17.12.1973, p. 51. anionischer und nichtionischer grenzflächenaktiver Stoffe in Wasch- und Reinigungsmitteln" of 30 January 1977, published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, 1977, Part I, page 244, as set out in the Regulation amending that Regulation of 18 June 1980, published in the Bundesgesetzblatt, 1980, Part I, page 706,
- the method in use in France, approved by Decree of 28 December 1977 published in the Journal officiel de la République française of 18 January 1978, pages 514 and 515, and experimental standard T 73-260 of June 1981 published by the "Association française de normalisation" (AFNOR),
- the method in use in the United Kingdom called the "Porous Pot Test" and described in Technical Report No 70 (1978) of the Water Research Centre.
Article 3
Under the procedure laid down in Article 5 (2) of Directive 73/404/EEC, the laboratory opinion on anionic surfactants shall be based on the reference method (confirmatory test procedure) described in the Annex to this Directive.'
3. The following Article shall be inserted:
"Article 3a
The amendments required for adapting the Annex to technical progress shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7b of Directive 73/404/EEC. "
4. The Annex is replaced by the Annex to this Directive.
Article 2
Member States shall bring into force the provisions necessary to comply with this Directive within a period of 18 months following its notification and shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
Article 3
This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 31 March 1982.

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