9.2.2018   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 36/15

(1)

Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 lays down general tasks and requirements for European Union reference laboratories (‘EU reference laboratories’) for food and feed and for animal health. In accordance with that Regulation EU reference laboratories are responsible, in particular, for providing national reference laboratories with details of analytical methods and for the coordination of the application of such methods. The EU reference laboratories for food and feed are listed in Part I of Annex VII to that Regulation. In the field of contaminants in feed and food, an EU reference laboratory for heavy metals in feed and food, an EU reference laboratory for mycotoxins, an EU reference laboratory for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) and an EU reference laboratory for dioxins and PCBs in feed and food have been designated.

(2)

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) of the European Commission currently hosting the EU reference laboratory for heavy metals in feed and food, the EU reference laboratory for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and the EU reference laboratory for mycotoxins in feed and food since 2006, has informed the Directorate General for Health and Food Safety that it will no longer continue to host these EU reference laboratories as from 1 January 2018.

(3)

In these areas the effectiveness of official controls and other control activities depend on the quality, uniformity and reliability of the methods of analysis and analytical results performed by the official laboratories and there is a continued need to promote uniform practices in the use of analytical methods. It is necessary to maintain an EU reference laboratory in these areas and therefore to designate new EU reference laboratories. In addition, as since 2006, new priorities have been identified in the field of metals, nitrogenous compounds, processing contaminants and plant toxins, it is necessary to widen the scope of activities and tasks of the new EU reference laboratories to be designated.

(4)

The scope of activities and tasks of the current EU reference laboratory for heavy metals in feed and food should therefore be extended to all metals and nitrogenous compounds in feed and food, of the current EU reference laboratory for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) to all processing contaminants and of the current EU reference laboratory for mycotoxins in feed and food to mycotoxins and plant toxins in feed and food.

(5)

Therefore the Commission launched on 23 January 2017 a call for applications to select and designate an EU reference laboratory for the abovementioned areas. The selected laboratory National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) should be designated as EU reference laboratory for metals and nitrogenous compounds in feed and food, the laboratory National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark (Denmark) as EU reference laboratory for processing contaminants and the laboratory RIKILT (Stichting Wageningen Research) (The Netherlands) as EU reference laboratory for mycotoxins and plant toxins in feed and food.

(6)

Given the growing importance of chlorinated persistent contaminants other than PCBs and dioxins, brominated persistent contaminants and fluorinated persistent contaminants for the safety of feed and food, it is also appropriate to extend the scope of the EU reference laboratory for dioxins and PCBs in feed and food to all halogenated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in feed and food. Therefore the EU reference laboratory for dioxins and PCBs in feed and food should be renamed in EU reference laboratory for halogenated persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in feed and food to reflect this extension of scope.

(7)

Part I of Annex VII to Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 should therefore be amended accordingly.

(8)

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on Plants, Animals, Food and Feed,