WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.97.773
17December 1997
ORGANIZATION
(97-2554)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: NETHERLANDS
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Ministry ofHealth, Welfare andSports
Agency orauthority designated tohandle comments regarding thenotification shall be
indicated ifdifferent from above: National enquiry Point
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Meat, minced meat and
meatproducts
5. Title, number ofpages andlanguage(s) ofthenotified document: Draft Commodities
ActDecree onMeat, Minced Meat andMeat Products (8pages, inEnglish)
6. Description ofcontent: TheDutch government hasdecided tosimplify foodstuffs
legislation considerably. Thestatutory rules formeat, minced meat andmeat products
aretherefore highly de-regulated andre-enacted inthedraftCommodities ActDecree on
Meat, Minced Meat andMeat Products. TheMeat andMeat Products Decree
(Commodities Act) 1987 iswithdrawn bythisdraft. Furthermore, indications are
reserved bythisdraft(notcompulsory!) formeat products consumed inawidecircle of
consumers andthedraftcontains provisions required toprotect public health.
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7. Objective andrationale, including thenature ofurgent problems where applicable: A
commodity designated asmeat, minced meat, (mixed) beefandpork mince, (raw)
minced steak andthedesignation 'lean'formeat, minced meat andmeat products
engenders inawide circle ofconsumers apermanent expectation regarding the
composition ofthecommodity. Itistherefore stipulated bythedraft thatthose
indications andthedesignation, ifnecessary (notcompulsory!), mayonlybeusedinsofar
asthecommodity thusindicated meets theconsumer 'spermanent expectation.
Thedraft Decree allows thetrade inallsafecommodities, irrespective oftheir
composition anddoesnotprescribe theuseofcertain designations. With theabove in
mind, thedraftdoesnotcontain aclause ofmutual recognition.
8. Relevant documents: Meat andmeatproducts Decree (Commodities Act)1987
9. Proposed dateofadoption:
Proposed dateofentry intoforce:1June1998
10. Final dateforcomments: 23February 1998
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress, e-mail andtelefax number
ofother body: