WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/Notif.98.494
16 October 1998
(98-4007)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:  THE NETHERLANDS
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible: Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports
Agency or authority designated to handle comments regarding the notification shall be
indicated if different from above: EC WTO-TBT enquiry point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X ], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [   ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Vitamin preparations
containing vitamin K
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document: Draft Amendment to the
Exemption Order (Commodities Act) on Vitamin Preparations
6. Description of content:  It is desirable to administer vitamin K drops in order to prevent
haemorrhaging in infants who are completely or mainly breast-fed.  Vitamin K plays an
important role in blood clotting. In the first months of life, infants produce insufficient
vitamin K and take in insufficient vitamin K via breast-feeding.  Preparations which aim toaddress this need must however, pursuant to Article 5(1)(b) of the Exemption Order
(Commodities Act) on Vitamin Preparations, employ the statement "a balanced diet
contains sufficient vitamins".  In the case of vitamin K supplements, this statement is
incorrect, as explained above.  This draft amendment to the Exemption Order (Commodities
Act) on Vitamin Preparations aims to remove this inconsistency.
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where applicable:
See point 6.
8. Relevant documents:
- Article 10(1) of the Order (Commodities Act) on the Preparation and Handling of
Foodstuffs;  and
- the Exemption Order (Commodities Act) on Vitamin Preparations.
9. Proposed date of adoption:
Proposed date of entry into force: } 16 December 1998
10. Final date for comments:  15 December 1998
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X ] or address, e-mail and telefax number of
the other body:           