16. 1. 98 Official Journal of the European Communities L 10/31 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 16 December 1997 on the allocation of quantities of controlled substances allowed for essential uses in the Community in 1998 under Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/94 on substances that deplete the ozone layer (Only the Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian and Spanish texts are authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (98/67/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 3093/94 of 15 December 1994 on substances that deplete the ozone layer ('), and in particular to Articles 3, 4 and 7 thereof, Whereas, because of concerns for the ozone layer, the Community has already phased out the production and consumption of certain controlled substances; Whereas essential uses have to be decided for chloro- fluorocarbons (Articles 3.1 and 4.1); other fully halo- genated chlorofluorocarbons (Articles 3.2 and 4.2); halons (Articles 3.3 and 4.3); carbon tetrachloride (Articles 3.4 and 4.4); 1,1,1 trichloroethane (Articles 3.5 and 4.5); and HBFCs (Articles 3.7 and 4.7); Whereas the criteria used for assessing essential uses are in line with Decision IV/25 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol and are: () OJ L 333, 22. 12. 1994, p. 1. 1. that a use of a controlled substance should qualify as ‘essential’ only if: (a) it is necessary for the health, safety, or is critical for the functioning of society (encompassing cultural and intellectual aspects); and (b) there are no technically and economically feasible alternatives or substitutes that are acceptable from the standpoint of environment and health; 2. that production and consumption, if any, of a controlled substance for essential uses should be permitted only if: (a) all economically feasible steps have been taken to minimise the essential use and any associated emis- sion of the controlled substance; and (b) the controlled substance is not available in suffi- cient quantity and quality from existing stocks of banked or recycled controlled substances, also bearing in mind the needs of developing countries for controlled substances; Whereas Decision VII/9 of the Parties to the Montreal Protocol authorises the levels of production and con- sumption necessary to satisfy essential uses of controlled