Commission Decision of 26 January 2005 imposing special conditions on the import of pistachios and certain products derived from pistachios originating in, or consigned from Iran (notified under document number C(2005) 117) (Text with EEA relevance) (2005/85/EC) (repealed)

Article 1

1. Member States may import

• pistachios falling within CN code 0802 50 00, and

• roasted pistachios falling within CN codes 2008 19 13 and 2008 19 93,

originating in, or consigned from Iran, only where the consignment is accompanied by the results of official sampling and analysis, and the health certificate in Annex I, completed, signed and verified by a representative of the Iranian Ministry of Health. The health certificate shall be valid for import carried out no more than four months after the issue date of the health certificate.

2. Products covered by paragraph 1 may only be imported into the Community through one of the points of entry listed in Annex II.

3. Each consignment of products covered by paragraph 1 shall be identified with a code which corresponds to the code on the sampling results of the official sampling and analysis and health certificate referred to in paragraph 1.

4. The competent authorities in each Member State shall ensure that products covered by paragraph 1 are subject to documentary checks to ensure that the requirement for the health certificate and sampling results referred to in paragraph 1, are complied with.

5. The competent authorities in each Member State shall take a sample for analysis from each consignment of products covered by paragraph 1 for analysis of aflatoxin B1 and total aflatoxin before release onto the market from the point of entry into the Community.

Member States shall submit to the Commission every three months a report of all analytical results of official controls on consignments of products covered by paragraph 1. This report shall be submitted during the month following each quarter (April, July, October, and January).

6. Any consignment which is to be subjected to sampling and analysis should be held before release onto the market from the point of entry into the Community for a maximum period of 15 working days. The competent authorities of the importing Member State shall issue an accompanying official document establishing that the consignment has been subjected to official sampling and analysis and indicating the result of the analysis.

7. If a consignment is split, copies of the health certificate and accompanying official documents referred to in paragraphs 1 and 6 and certified by the competent authority of the Member State on whose territory the splitting has taken place, shall accompany each part of the split consignment up to and including the wholesale stage.

Article 2

This Decision shall be kept under review in the light of information and guarantees provided by the competent authorities of Iran and of the results of the tests carried out by Member States in order to assess whether the special conditions set out in Article 1 provide a sufficient level of protection of public health within the Community and whether they are still necessary.

Article 3

All costs resulting from sampling, analysis, storage and issuing of accompanying official document and of copies of health certificate and accompanying documents pursuant to Article 1(4) to (7) shall be borne by the food business operator responsible for the consignment or its representative.

Also all costs related to official measures taken by the competent authorities as regards non-compliant consignments of pistachios and certain products derived from pistachios originating in or consigned from Iran shall be borne by the food business operator responsible for the consignment or its representative.

Article 4

Decision 97/830/EC is repealed.

Article 5

The Decision shall apply from 1 February 2005.

Member States shall take the measures necessary to comply with this Decision. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Done at Brussels, 26 January 2005.

For the Commission

Markos Kyprianou

Member of the Commission