Laboratories performing dioxin analyses should be obliged to report results exceeding the maximum permitted limits provided for in Directive 2002/32/EC not only to the feed business operator but also to the competent authority in order to improve transparency; this obligation does not exempt the feed business operator from his obligation to inform the competent authority.

The designation under which a dietetic food is sold is accompanied by a suitability statement for the particular nutritional use and the specific group of the population to whom the food is intended, e.g.: gluten-free food for celiac people, processed cereal-based food for young children, infant formulae for infants from birth etc.

An analysis of the textiles imports in the eight categories under double checking and of the two categories that were subject to agreed growth levels excluded from the dual monitoring , from China and other main suppliers in 2006 and 2007 show that China has increased its import share in value in all ten categories.

Taking 2005 as the reference year, as ABI did, leads to a misleading analysis, because 2005 was the year when short-term interest rates were at their lowest: the yield on 12-month ordinary Treasury bills was 2,21 %, 1,69 % below the rate determined by the Agreement.

At the same time, as regards food safety, the rules governing the maximum levels of contaminants in foodstuffs and animal feed were updated in 2006, as were those relating to contamination thresholds, the levels of maximum concentration and the rules on methods of analysing and monitoring food and feed.

Whereas Commission Directive 90/128/EEC of 23 February 1990 relating to plastic materials and articles intended to come into contact with foodstuffs (2), as amended by Directive 92/39/EEC (3), provides the possibility of carrying out the migration tests either on foodstuffs or on food simulants, whilst Council Directive 82/711/EEC (4) requires the migration tests to be carried out only on food simulants unless the method of analysis which enables migration into foodstuffs to be established has been adopted officially; whereas this discrepancy is capable of affecting the proper application of the Directives and whereas it is therefore nec ...[+++]essary to eliminate it;