Specifications for food additives including colours and sweeteners listed in Annex II and III to Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 are laid down in the Annex to this Regulation.
Directives 2008/60/EC, 2008/84/EC and 2008/128/EC are repealed with effect from 1 December 2012.
Foodstuffs containing food additives that have been lawfully placed on the market before 1 December 2012, but do not comply with this Regulation, may continue to be marketed until stocks are exhausted.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 December 2012.
However, the specifications laid down in the Annex for additives steviol glycosides (E 960) and basic methacrylate copolymer (E 1205) shall apply from the date of entry into force of this Regulation.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 9 March 2012.
For the Commission
The President
José Manuel Barroso