Article 8(2) of Directive 91/414/EEC provides that a Member State may, during a period of 12 years following the notification of that Directive, authorise the placing on the market of plant protection products containing active substances not listed in Annex I that are already on the market two years after the date of notification, except where a decision has been taken not to include a substance in Annex I.

For the active substances covered by the first stage the Commission will ensure that as many decisions as possible are taken before July 2003, acknowledging however that for a number of active substances a decision can not be taken before 2005. Additional time is needed to evaluate the further data required by the Commission before it can be decided whether these active substances satisfy the safety requirements of Directive 91/414/EEC and the Commission will ensure that the extension of the time period will be as short as possible.

Active substances for which a commitment to further prepare the necessary dossier has not been notified, should not be included in Annex I to Directive 91/414/EEC and Member States should withdraw all authorisations for plant protection products containing such active substances.

For uses for which additional technical evidence has been provided demonstrating the essential need for further use of the active substance and the absence of an efficient alternative, temporary measures should be provided to enable the development of alternatives. For a number of uses such information has been presented and evaluated by the Commission with Member State experts. Derogations should be given only for cases, which appear justified and as not giving rise to concern, and should be restricted to the control of harmful organisms, for which no efficient alternatives exist.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health,