2004/248/EC: Commission Decision of 10 March 2004 concerning the non-inclusion of atrazine in Annex I to Council Directive 91/414/EEC and the withdrawal of authorisations for plant protection products containing this active substance (Text with EEA relevance) (notified under document number C(2004) 731)

• CELEX: Directive 91/414/EEC
• Articles: 5

Article 1

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

Article 2

Member States shall ensure that:

1. authorisations for plant protection products containing atrazine are withdrawn by 10 September 2004;

2. from 16 March 2004 no authorisations for plant protection products containing atrazine are granted or renewed under the derogation provided for in Article 8(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC;

3. in relation to the uses listed in column B of the Annex, a Member State specified in column A may maintain in force authorisations for plant protection products containing atrazine until 30 June 2007 provided that it:

(a) ensures that such plant protection products remaining on the market are relabelled in order to match the restricted use conditions;

(b) imposes all appropriate risk mitigation measures to reduce any possible risks in order to ensure the protection of human and animal health and the environment; and

(c) ensures that alternative products or methods for such uses are being seriously sought, in particular, by means of action plans.

The Member State concerned shall inform the Commission on 31 December 2004, at the latest, on the application of this paragraph and in particular on the actions taken pursuant to points (a) to (c) and provide, on a yearly basis, estimates of the amounts of atrazine used for essential uses pursuant to this Article.

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:

(a) for the uses for which the authorisation is to be withdrawn on 10 September 2004, shall expire not later than 10 September 2005;

(b) for the uses for which the authorisation is to be withdrawn by 30 June 2007, shall expire not later than 31 December 2007.

Article 4

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 10 March 2004.

For the Commission

David Byrne

Member of the Commission

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

(2) OJ L 325, 12.12.2003, p. 41.

(3) OJ L 366, 15.12.1992, p. 10.

(4) OJ L 259, 13.10.2000, p. 27.

(5) OJ L 107, 28.4.1994, p. 8.

(6) OJ L 225, 22.9.1995, p. 1.

(7) Opinion of the Scientific Committee on Plants on specific questions from the Commission concerning the evaluation of atrazine in the context of Council Directive 91/414/EEC - SCP/ATRAZINE/002-Final - adopted on 30 January 2003.

(8) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979, p. 36.

(9) OJ L 122, 16.5.2003, p. 36.

Schedules & Appendices

ANNEX

List of authorisations referred to in Article 2(3)

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