Amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 307/2012
Article 1
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 307/2012 is amended as follows: (1) Article 5 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 5 Substance listed in Part C of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006 1. Until the adoption of standard data formats pursuant to Article 39f of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, the Authority shall only consider valid a file, presented in an electronic format, which allows downloading, printing and searching of documents. After the adoption of standard data formats, the file shall be presented in accordance with those standard data formats to be considered valid. Where the Authority considers a file not valid, it shall inform the food business operator or interested party that has submitted the file and the Commission of the reasons why it considers that file not valid. 2. The Authority shall only take into consideration, for the purposes of the decision referred to in Article 8(5) of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, files submitted within 24 months from the entry into force of a decision listing a substance in Part C of Annex III to that Regulation, pursuant to Article 8(2) thereof.’; (2) the following Articles are inserted: ‘Article 5a Pre-submission advice At the request of a food business operator or any other interested party, the staff of the Authority shall provide advice on the rules applicable to, and the content required for, the submission of a file containing the scientific data aiming to demonstrate the safety of a substance listed in Part C of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006. Food business operators and other interested parties may request pre-submission advice for a potential submission from the day of the adoption of an opinion by the Authority under Article 8(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, which identifies the possibility of harmful effects on health associated with the intake of a substance. Such pre-submission advice shall be provided in accordance with Article 32a of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which shall apply mutatis mutandis . Article 5b Notification of studies 1. Food business operators and other interested parties shall notify to the Authority, without delay, the title, the scope, and the starting and planned completion dates of any study commissioned or carried out by them to demonstrate the safety of a substance listed in Part C of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, as well as the laboratory or testing facility located in the Union carrying out that study. 2. Laboratories and other testing facilities located in the Union shall also, without delay, notify the Authority of the title and the scope of any study commissioned by food business operators and other interested parties, carried out by such laboratories or other testing facilities to demonstrate the safety of a substance listed in Part C of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, its starting and planned completion dates, as well as the name of the food business operator or interested party who has commissioned that study. 3. Studies notified in accordance with this article shall be included by the Authority in the database referred to in Article 32b(1) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. Article 5c Transparency Where the Authority is to deliver an opinion on a substance under scrutiny listed in Part C of Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1925/2006, on the basis of a valid file, it shall: (a) make public the data submitted in that file in accordance with Article 38(1)(c) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which shall apply mutatis mutandis ; (b) consult stakeholders and the public, pursuant to Article 32c(2) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which shall apply mutatis mutandis , on the basis of the non-confidential version of the data submitted in accordance with this Regulation. Article 5d Confidentiality Upon the submission of a file, the food business operator or other interested party may request the treatment as confidential of certain parts of the information or data submitted. Such a confidentiality request shall be accompanied by a verifiable justification that demonstrates that the disclosure of such information or data significantly harms the interests of the requestor, within the meaning of Article 39(2) and (3) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002, which shall apply mutatis mutandis .’