Brussels, 05/08/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission cannot provide a response to the Belgian authorities plans to ban fluoride and other products containing it, until the country sends it a text of the Royal Decree adopted for implementing the measure. Only an examination of this document would allow the Community executive to take a position, which initially appears to go against the provisions of Directive 46/2000 on food complements applicable to the whole of the European Union from 21 July 2003 (see EUROPE 1 August p 5) and which, furthermore, could infringe internal market rules. Asked about possible responses to this action, Thorsten Münch, spokesman fort the European Commissioner for Health, David Byrne, provided the following explanations.
In August 2000, the Belgian authorities notified the Commission of a draft Royal Decree that aimed to amend the decision of 3 March 1992 on putting foodstuffs and nutrients on the markets that contained nutrient additives. The amendment intended to withdraw fluoride from the list of nutrients that are legally allowed in Belgium. As a result of the European Directive 98/34 that enabled the Commission to block draft national regulations if the Community were already working on the same subject, the Commission requested the Belgian authorities to temporarily defer adoption of the text, as a European Directive on food supplements was being prepared. The deadline, which the Belgian authorities were obliged to observe which kept the situation unchanged, has now expired. The Commission cannot block the Belgian initiative any longer than 21 July 2003, the date on which the European Directive on food supplements comes into force.
The Commission may have to examine whether Belgian legislation is compatible with Article 28 of the Treaty (free movement of goods) and decide whether internal market regulation could be breached. Sources close to Commission legal services believe that the unjustified nature of the Belgian ban could be used because at a Community level, potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride can be used in the preparation of food supplements. This, however, remains solely conjecture until the Commission formally receives notification about the Belgian initiative.