Commission Decision of 26 February 2008 amending Decision 2006/601/EC on emergency measures regarding the non-authorised genetically modified organism ‘LL RICE 601’ in rice products (notified under document number C(2008) 743) (Text with EEA relevance) (2008/162/EC)

Article 1 U.K.

Decision 2006/601/EC is amended as follows:

1.

Article 2 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 2 Conditions for first placing on the market

1. Member States shall allow the first placing on the market of the products referred to in Article 1 only if the consignment of those products is accompanied by the following documents:

(a) a statement from the food business operator responsible for the consignment that the products do only contain rice, from the 2007 or a subsequent harvest, that was subject to the plan of the USA Rice federation aiming to remove “LL RICE 601” from the US export channels; and

(b) the original of an analytical report issued by a laboratory referred to in Annex II confirming that the products do not contain the genetically modified rice “LL RICE 601”. The analytical report shall be accompanied by an official document issued by the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in accordance with the protocol described in Annex II.

2. If a consignment is split, copies of the documents referred to in paragraph 1 shall accompany each part of the split consignment up to and including the wholesale stage. Those copies shall be certified by the competent authority of the Member State on whose territory the splitting has taken place.’

2.

Article 3 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 3 Other control measures

1. Member States shall take appropriate measures, including random sampling and analysis carried out in accordance with Annex I concerning the products referred to in Article 1 presented for importation or already on the market in order to verify the absence of genetically modified rice “LL RICE 601”. They shall inform the Commission of positive (unfavourable) results through the Rapid Alert System for food and feed.

2. Member States shall by 26 July 2008 at the latest submit to the Commission a report of all analytical results of official controls on consignments of products referred to in Article 1.’

3.

Paragraph 1 of Article 5 is replaced by the following:

‘1. All costs resulting from issuing the accompanying documents pursuant to Article 2(2) shall be borne by the food business operator responsible for the consignment or its representative.’

4.

Article 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 6 Review of the measures

The measures provided for in this Decision shall be reviewed by 26 August 2008 at the latest.’

5.

In the heading of the Annex the word ‘Annex’ is replaced by ‘Annex I’.

6.

The text in the Annex to this Decision is added as Annex II.