Derogations from Article 2

1. By way of derogation from Article 2, Latvia, Finland and Sweden may authorise the placing on their respective market for the final consumer, within their annual quota as set in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council ( 8 ) , of wild caught salmon ( Salmo salar ) and products thereof originating in the Baltic region with levels of dioxins and/or DL-PCBs and/or NDL-PCBs higher than those set out in point 4.1.5 of Annex I, provided that:

a system is in place to ensure that final consumers, are fully informed of the national dietary recommendations with regard to the restrictions on the consumption of wild caught salmon from the Baltic region and products thereof by identified vulnerable groups of the population in order to avoid potential health risks;

Latvia, Finland and Sweden continue to apply the necessary measures to ensure that wild caught salmon and products thereof not complying with point 4.1.5 of Annex I are not marketed in other Member States;

Latvia, Finland and Sweden report yearly to the Commission the measures they have taken to effectively inform final consumers of the dietary recommendations and to ensure that wild caught salmon and products thereof not compliant with the maximum levels are not marketed in other Member States and provide evidence of the effectiveness of those measures.

2. By way of derogation from Article 2, Finland and Sweden may authorise the placing on their respective market, within their annual quota as set in Regulation (EU) No 1380/2013, wild caught Baltic herring larger than 17 cm ( Clupea harengus membras ), of wild caught char ( Salvelinus spp.), wild caught river lamprey ( Lampetra fluviatilis ) and wild caught trout ( Salmo trutta ) and products thereof originating in the Baltic region with levels of dioxins and/or DL-PCBs and/or NDL-PCBs higher than those set out in point 4.1.5 of Annex I, provided that:

a system is in place to ensure that final consumers are fully informed of the dietary recommendations with regard to the restrictions on the consumption of wild caught Baltic herring larger than 17 cm, wild caught char, wild caught river lamprey and wild caught trout from the Baltic region and products thereof by identified vulnerable groups of the population in order to avoid potential health risks;

Finland and Sweden continue to apply the necessary measures to ensure that wild caught Baltic herring larger than 17 cm, wild caught char, wild caught river lamprey and wild caught trout and products thereof not complying with point 4.1.5 of Annex I are not marketed in other Member States;

Finland and Sweden report yearly to the Commission the measures they have taken to effectively inform the identified vulnerable sections of the population of the dietary recommendations and to ensure that fish and products thereof not compliant with the maximum levels is not marketed in other Member States and provide evidence of the effectiveness of those measures.

3. By way of derogation from Article 2, the following Member States may authorise the placing on their respective market for the final consumer of the following traditionally smoked meat and smoked meat products, smoked in their territory with levels of PAHs higher than those set out in point 5.1.6 of Annex I, provided that those products dot not contain more than 5,0 μg/kg for benzo(a)pyrene and 30,0 μg/kg for the sum of benzo(a)pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene:

Ireland, Croatia, Cyprus, Spain, Poland and Portugal: traditionally smoked meat and meat products;

Latvia: traditionally smoked pork, hot smoked chicken meat, hot smoked sausages and hot smoked game meat;

Slovakia: salted traditionally smoked meat, traditionally smoked bacon, traditionally smoked sausage (klobása), where ‘traditionally smoked’ means developing smoke by burning woods (wood logs, wood sawdust, wood chips) in a smokehouse;

Finland: traditionally hot smoked meat and meat products;

Sweden: meat and meat products smoked over glowing wood or other plant materials.

Those Member States and concerned food business operators shall continue to monitor the presence of PAHs in traditionally smoked meat and smoked meat products referred to in the first subparagraph and shall ensure that good smoking practices are implemented where possible, without losing typical organoleptic characteristics of those products.

4. By way of derogation from Article 2, the following Member States may authorise the placing on their respective market for the final consumer of the following traditionally smoked fish and smoked fishery products, smoked in their territory with levels of PAHs higher than those set out in point 5.1.7 of Annex I, provided that those smoked products do not contain more than 5,0 μg/kg for benzo(a)pyrene and 30,0 μg/kg for the sum of benzo(a)pyrene, benz(a)anthracene, benzo(b)fluoranthene and chrysene:

Latvia: traditionally hot smoked fish;

Finland: traditionally hot smoked small fish and fishery products made from small fish;

Sweden: fish and fishery products smoked over glowing wood or other plant materials.

Those Member States and concerned food business operators shall continue to monitor the presence of PAHs in traditionally smoked fish and smoked fishery products referred to in the first subparagraph and shall ensure that good smoking practices are implemented where possible, without losing typical organoleptic characteristics of those products.

COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2023/915 of 25 April 2023 on maximum levels for certain contaminants in food and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1881/2006 ANNEX I ANNEX II