L 101/14 Official Journal of the European Union 21.4.2005 (Acts whose publication is not obligatory) COMMISSION COMMISSION DECISION of 18 April 2005 on emergency measures regarding the non-authorised genetically modified organism Bt10 in maize products (notified under document number C(2005) 1257) (Text with EEA relevance) (2005/317[EC) THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Having regard to Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety(!), and in particular Article 53(1) thereof, Whereas: 1 Articles  4(2) and 16(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed () provide that no genetically modified food or feed shall be placed on the Community market unless it is covered by an authorisation granted in accordance with that Regulation. Articles 4(3) and 16(3) of the same Regulation lay down that no genetically modified food and feed shall be authorised unless it has been adequately and sufficiently demon- strated that it does not have adverse effects on human health, animal health or the environment and that it does not mislead the consumer or the user, and differ from the food or feed it is intended to replace to such an extent that its normal consumption would be nutri- tionally disadvantageous for humans or animals. On 22 March 2005, the authorities of the United States of America (the US authorities) informed the Commission that maize products contaminated with the genetically modified maize called Bt10 (the () OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 1642/2003 (O] L 245, 29.9.2003, p. 4). () O] L 268, 18.10.2003, p. 1. () contaminated products), which have not been authorised for placing on the market in the Community, were likely to have been exported to the Community since 2001 and to continue to be exported. In addition, these autho- rities informed the Commission that those products were not authorised for placing on the market in the United States of America either. Without prejudice to the control obligations of the Member States, the measures to be adopted further to the likely imports of contaminated products should be subject to a comprehensive and common approach allowing rapid and effective action to be taken and avoiding disparities between Member States in the treatment of the situation. Article 53 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 provides for the possibility to adopt appropriate Community emergency measures for food and feed imported from a third country in order to protect human health, animal health or the environment, where the risk can not be contained satisfactorily by means of measures taken by the Member States concerned. Although the contamination of products was reported by Syngenta, which is the company that developed the genetically modified maize Bt10, to the US authorities in December 2004, no data enabling a safety assessment of the genetically modified maize Bt10 by the European Food Safety Authority (the Authority) according to the standards laid down in Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 were provided by Syngenta or the US authorities. According to the Authority (), in the absence of this information, the safety of Bt10 has yet to be confirmed. (}) Statement of the European Food Safety Authority issued on 12 April 2005.