Maximum level of radioactive contamination in foodstuffs

This Regulation lays down maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency.

ACT

Council Regulation (Euratom) No 3954/87 of 22 December 1987 laying down maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency [See amending acts].

SUMMARY

The following text contains a consolidation of existing Regulations governing the admissibility for consumption of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs which have been subjected to radioactive contamination.

The Regulations set out the procedure to be followed for determining the maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs which may be placed on the market following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency.

Where the Commission has received information about the existence of an accident or any other case of radiological emergency during which the maximum permitted levels are likely to be reached or have been reached, it shall adopt a Regulation rendering applicable those maximum levels. The period of validity of such a Regulation shall be as short as possible and shall not exceed three months. The Commission shall submit to the Council a proposal for a Regulation to adapt or confirm the provisions of the abovementioned Regulation within one month of its adoption. When so doing it shall take account of the opinion of experts, the basic standards laid down in accordance with the Treaty and the principle that all exposures shall be kept as low as reasonably achievable in order to protect public health. The period of validity of this second Regulation is also limited; the period may be revised at the request of a Member State or on the initiative of the Commission.

The maximum permitted levels laid down in the Regulations may be revised or supplemented in the light of expert opinion.

Foodstuffs and feedingstuffs not in compliance with the maximum permitted levels shall not be placed on the market.

RELATED ACTS

Proposal for a Council Regulation (EURATOM) laying down maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of foodstuffs and of feedingstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency (Codified version) [COM(2007) 302 final - Official Journal C 191 of 17.8.2007]

Regulation (Euratom) No 944/89 of 12 April 1989 laying down maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination in minor foodstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency [Official Journal L 101 of 13.4.1989]

This Regulation establishes the list of minor foodstuffs, i.e. those which are consumed least. For these foodstuffs the maximum permitted levels are considerably higher (ten times higher than those under the heading 'Other foodstuffs except minor foodstuffs' in Regulation (Euratom) No. 3954/87).

Regulation (Euratom) No 770/90 Commission Regulation of 29 March 1990 laying down maximum permitted levels of radioactive contamination of feedingstuffs following a nuclear accident or any other case of radiological emergency. [Official Journal L 83 of 30.03.1990].

Last updated: 22.11.2007