20.3.2012 Official Journal of the European Union L 80/19 COMMISSION DECISION of 1 March 2012 concerning the national provisions notified by the German Federal Government maintaining the limit values for lead, barium, arsenic, antimony, mercury and nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances in toys beyond the entry into application of Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the safety of toys (Only the German text is authentic) (Text with EEA relevance) (2012/160/EU) THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 114(4) and (6) thereof, Whereas: FACTS On 20 January 2011, the German Federal Government requested the Commission, pursuant to Article 114(4) TFEU, the permission to retain the existing provisions provided in German law for the five elements: lead, arsenic, mercury, barium and antimony, as well as for nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances released from toy material, beyond the date of entry into force of Annex I, Part III, to Directive 2009/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 June 2009 on the safety of toys (') (hereinafter ‘the Directive). Article 114(4) and (6) TFEU Article 114(4) and (6) TFEU provides: ‘4, If, after the adoption by the Council or by the Commission of a harmonisation measure, a Member State deems it necessary to maintain national provisions on grounds of major needs referred to in Article 36, or relating to the protection of the environment or the working environment, it shall notify the Commission of these provisions as well as the grounds for main- taining them. 6. The Commission shall, within six months of the notifications (...), approve or reject the national provisions involved after having verified whether or not they are a means of arbitrary discrimination or a disguised restriction to trade between Member States and whether or not they shall constitute an obstacle to the functioning of the internal market. () O] L 170, 30.6.2009, p. 1. In the absence of a Decision by the Commission within this period the national provisions referred to in para- graphs 4 (...) shall be deemed to have been approved. When justified by the complexity of the matter and in the absence of danger for human health, the Commission may notify the Member State concerned that the period referred to in this paragraph may be extended for a further period of up to six months.’ The Directive The Directive lays down rules on the safety of toys and on their free movement in the European Union. According to Article 54, Member States shall bring into force national provisions complying with this Directive by 20 January 2011, and they shall apply them as from 20 July 2011. Part IIl of Annex II to the Directive will be applicable as from 20 July 2013. The Directive contains, in Annex II, Part III, point 8§, specific values for nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances. These substances shall be prohibited for use in toys intended for use by children under 36 months or in other toys intended to be placed in the mouth if the migration of the substances is equal to or higher than 0,05 mg/kg for nitrosamines and 1 mg/kg for nitro- satable substances. Point 13 of Part III of Annex II to the Directive contains specific migration limits for several elements, including lead, arsenic, mercury, barium and antimony. Three different migration limits exist, related to the type of toy material: dry, brittle, powder-like or pliable toy material, liquid or sticky toy material and scraped-off toy material. The following limits shall respectively not be exceeded: 13,5, 3,4 and 160 mg/kg for lead, 3,8, 0,9 and 47 mg/kg for arsenic, 7,5, 1,9 and 94 mg/kg for mercury, 4 500, 1 125 and 56 000 mg/kg for barium, and 45, 11,3 and 560 mg/kg for antimony. The German national provisions The German Consumer Goods Ordinance (Bedarfsgegen- standeverordnung) sets requirements for nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances. These provisions were adopted in 2008, in the context of the absence of specific EU provisions on nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances