Proposal for a Council Decision on the position to be adopted, on behalf of the European Union, in the EEA Joint Committee, concerning an amendment to Annex II to the EEA Agreement

In order to ensure the requisite legal security and homogeneity of the Internal Market, the EEA Joint Committee is to integrate all the relevant EU legislation into the EEA Agreement as soon as possible after its adoption.

The draft Decision of the EEA Joint Committee (annexed to the proposed Council Decision) aims to amend Annex II (Technical regulations, standards, testing and certification) to the EEA Agreement in order to incorporate Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 788/2012 of 31 August 2012 concerning a coordinated multiannual control programme of the Union for 2013, 2014 and 2015 to ensure compliance with maximum residue levels of pesticides and to assess the consumer exposure to pesticide residues in and on food of plant and animal origin.

Regulation (EC) No 1213/2008 concerning a coordinated multiannual Community control programme for pesticide residues 2009-2011 is incorporated into the EEA Agreement with certain adaptations for the EEA EFTA States. These adaptations should be carried over to Regulation (EU) No 788/2012.

The adaptations concern the number of pesticides to be monitored by Iceland and the number of samples of each product to be taken and analysed by Iceland and Norway. They take into account, in particular, the limited laboratory capacity for pesticide residue analysis in Iceland.

EUR-Lex: COM(2013)101: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2013:101:FIN

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