L 141/24 Official Journal of the European Communities 4.6.1999 COMMISSION DECISION of 3 June 1999 on protective measures with regards to contamination by dioxins of certain animal products intended for human or animal consumption (notified under document number C(1999) 1500) (Text with EEA relevance) (1999/363/EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Council Directive 89/662/EEC of 11 December 1989 concerning veterinary checks in intra- Community trade with a view to the completion of the internal market ('), as last amended by Directive 92/ 118/EEC (?), and in particular Article 9(4) thereof, Having regard to Council Directive 90/425/EEC of 26 June 1990 concerning veterinary and zootechnical checks applicable in intra-Community trade in certain live animal and products with a view to the completion of the internal market (}), as last amended by Directive 92/ 118/EEC, and in particular Article 10(4) thereof, (1)  Whereas on 27 May 1999, the Belgian authorities have informed the Commission of a case of heavy contamination of compound feedingstuffs with dioxins; whereas these feedingstuffs have been distributed to a considerable number (approxi- mately 25 %) of domestic fowl farms in Belgium beginning after 15 January 1999; whereas the origin of this contamination is not yet ascertained; (2) Whereas beginning from 26 May 1999, the Belgian authorities have put under restriction all the domestic fowl holdings which received these feedingstuffs; whereas the Belgian authorities have prohibited the slaughter of poultry for 1 June 1999 only; whereas, products intended for human or animal consumption derived from animals reared in those farms before that date might be still on the market; whereas at present the Belgium authorities have not yet taken all appropriate measures to ensure that those products are withdrawn from the market; (3  Whereas it appears that this feedingstuff, live animals which were fed with these feedingstuffs and products derived from these animals have been traded to other Member States and third countries; (40 Whereas other animal species may have been fed with these contaminated feedingstuffs, whereas it is necessary to establish a monitoring plan to evaluate ) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989, p. 13. % OJ L 62, 15.3.1993, p. 49. (%) OJ L 224, 18.8.1990, p. 20. 0] 0J the presence of contamination of dioxins in prod- ucts of animal origin; Whereas the body of toxicological and epidemio- logical evidence today have led the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) of the World Health Organisation (WHO) to consider TCDD a class 1 carcinogen (highest class in IARC ranking); whereas the WHO has recommended that a Tolerable Daily Intake (TDI) of 1-4pg/Kg bw/day be respected for dioxins; whereas no limits for dioxins contamination have been set for individual commodities and food products; whereas data on background levels of contamination exist; whereas, in the absence of international or community or national limits for dixoins, the data on background levels should be used as reference by the authori- ties; Whereas Council Directive 92/59/EEC of 29 June 1992 on general product safety has set up the Rapid Alert System (*); Whereas Council Directive 1999/29/EEC of 22 April 1999 on the undesirable substances and prod- ucts in animal nutrition (°) establishes that feed materials may only be put into circulation in the Community if they are sound, genuine and of merchantable quality; Whereas, in the light of the above, it is necessary to take urgent measures in order to protect consum- ers’ health; whereas, however, it has not yet been possible to trace the exact source of the contamina- tion nor to trace the distribution of all potentially contaminated products thus necessitating the application of such measures to all poultry products of Belgian origin and products produced in other Member States which might have received the same feedingstuffs or poultry products of Belgian origin; Whereas the measures provided for in this Decision are in accordance with the opinion of the Standing Veterinary Committee, L 228, 11.8.1992, p. 24. L 115, 4.5.1999, p. 32.