Commission Regulation (EC) No 645/2000 of 28 March 2000 setting out detailed implementing rules necessary for the proper functioning of certain provisions of Article 7 of Council Directive 86/362/EEC and of Article 4 of Council Directive 90/642/EEC concerning the arrangements for monitoring the maximum levels of pesticide residues in and on cereals and products of plant origin, including fruit and vegetables, respectively

• CELEX: Regulation (EC) No 645/2000
• Articles: 6

Article 1

1. Commission recommendations made in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(2)(b) of Directive 86/362/EEC and Article 4(2)(b) of Directive 90/642/EEC may cover periods between one and five years.

2. In order to permit the effective year-to-year management of multiannual monitoring programmes, the Commission may submit annual confirmatory and supplementary draft recommendations; these shall be submitted to the Standing Committee on Plant Health as provided for in Article 7(2)(b) of Directive 86/362/EEC and Article 4(2)(b) of Directive 90/642/EEC.

Article 2

In order to facilitate the proper functioning of the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 7 of Directive 86/362/EEC and of Article 4 of Directive 90/642/EEC respectively, the Commission shall:

1. coordinate the activities of the Member States in so far as the requirements for generating, recording, handling and transmitting information on monitoring and monitoring programmes is concerned, as appropriate by means of guidance notes of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, in particular guidelines concerning quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis(5) and the working document for guidance to the Member States with regard to implementation of the Commission recommendations concerning coordinated Community monitoring programmes(6);

2. make financial contributions, within the appropriate allocations available in the European Community budget:

(a) to the regular organisation of proficiency tests, in principle every two years, of all laboratories performing analyses in order to assure the quality, accuracy and comparability of the information sent by the Member States to the Commission and to the other Member States annually and collated and compiled for publication by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362/EEC and Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642/EEC;

(b) to the organisation of the development of quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis, in the form of guidance notes of the Standing Committee on Plant Health, and to the organisation of the regular review, in principle at two-yearly intervals in specialist meetings, of the application of such procedures in the residue analytical laboratories of the Member States in order to assure the quality, accuracy and comparability of the information sent by the Member States to the Commission and to the other Member States annually and collated and compiled for publication by the Commission in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362/EEC and Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642/EEC;

(c) to the yearly organisation of studies, consultations and other preparations necessary to allow the Commission to work progressively towards a system which could permit the estimation of actual pesticide dietary exposure from monitoring data, as required by the second subparagraph of Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362/EEC and of Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642/EEC; and

(d) to the organisation of other actions at Community level necessary for the proper implementation of paragraphs 2 and 3 of Article 7 of Directive 86/362/EEC and of Article 4 of Directive 90/642/EEC respectively which may be identified by the Commission and the Standing Committee on Plant Health.

Article 3

1. The Commission shall designate the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the financial contributions provided for in Article 2(2) by means of a decision adopted in accordance with the procedures set out in Article 12 of Directive 86/362/EEC and of Article 10 of Directive 90/642/EEC.

2. The Commission decision, provided for in paragraph 1, shall in particular set out:

- the name of the beneficiary or beneficiaries of the Community financial contribution,

- the total cost of the action to be undertaken, and the contributions of the parties involved in undertaking the action, including the European Community,

- a summary description of the action to be undertaken,

- a timetable for the completion of the action.

Article 4

Member States shall ensure that the analytical results sent to the Commission and to the other Member States annually, in accordance with the provisions of Article 7(3) of Directive 86/362/EEC and Article 4(3) of Directive 90/642/EEC have been obtained by laboratories which:

- are in compliance with the requirements of Article 3 of Directive 93/99/EEC, and

- make every effort to implement the quality control procedures for pesticide residue analysis provided for in Article 2(2)(b) of this Regulation.

In addition, Member States shall ensure that participation in the coordinated Community programme shall be restricted to laboratories which have participated in a previous, or which shall participate in the next round of the relevant Community proficiency tests provided for in Article 2(2)(a) of this Regulation.

Article 5

1. The Commission shall appoint special, suitably qualified officials to monitor in the Member States, together with the national authorities, the carrying out of the national and Community monitoring programmes for pesticide residues in and on foodstuffs of plant origin. This includes sampling and the performance of the relevant laboratories.

2. The officials will visit the national authorities in each of the Member States, who will cooperate with the Commission's designated officials and give all necessary assistance to enable them to accomplish their tasks. The programmes of the visits shall be organised and carried out in collaboration with the Member State concerned. In any event, the national authorities shall remain responsible for the carrying out of the control operations.

3. The Commission shall arrange for these visits with the national officials within a suitable time-frame. In addition to experts from the Member State visited, the Commission's experts may be accompanied during the visits by one or more experts from one or more other Member States. During the visits, the Member State expert or experts appointed by the Commission shall comply with the Commission's administrative rules.

4. After each visit, the Commission shall prepare a written report. The Member State visited will be given the opportunity to comment on this report.

5. The Commission shall regularly notify by written report all Member States, in the Standing Committee on Plant Health, on the outcome of the visits to each Member State. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament. The Commission shall also make the reports publicly available on a regular basis.

6. The provisions of this Article shall be re-examined by 31 October 2001.

Article 6

This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 April 2000.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 28 March 2000.

For the Commission

David Byrne

Member of the Commission

(1) OJ L 221, 7.8.1986, p. 37.

(2) OJ L 194, 27.7.1999, p. 36.

(3) OJ L 350, 14.12.1990, p. 71.

(4) OJ L 290, 24.11.1993, p. 14.

(5) OJ L 128, 21.5.1999, p. 30.

(6) OJ L 128, 21.5.1999, p. 48.