To provide a high level of protection of the environment, detergents not fulfilling requirements laid down by this Regulation should not be placed on the market.

These control measures shall not oblige manufacturers to repeat tests made by laboratories fulfilling the conditions indicated in Article 8(2), or to pay for any repeat or additional test, provided the initial test has shown compliance of detergents, or surfactants used as ingredients in detergents, with this Regulation.

Detergents are already subject to certain Community provisions concerning their manufacture, proper handling, usage and labelling, in particular with reference to Commission Recommendation 89/542/EEC and Commission Recommendation 98/480/EC of 22 July 1998 concerning good environmental practice for household laundry detergents(9);

Detergents may be in any form (liquid, powder, paste, bar, cake, moulded piece, shape, etc.) and marketed for or used in household, or institutional or industrial purposes.

Member States' competent authorities should be able to apply control measures to detergents on the market, but should avoid repeating tests made by the competent laboratories.

For heavy-duty detergents, the number of standard washing machine loads of "normally soiled" fabrics, and, for detergents for delicate fabrics, the number of standard washing machine loads of lightly-soiled fabrics, that can be washed with the contents of the package using water of medium hardness, corresponding to 2,5 millimoles CaCO3/l;

Instead, such surfactants are deemed to be disinfectants and the detergents of which they are ingredients are subject to the labelling provisions for disinfectants of Annex VII A.

Commission Recommendation 89/542/EEC of 13 September 1989(8), as regards labelling provisions concerning detergents and cleaning products, should also be included in the single text.

This requires the introduction of a new set of tests based on EN ISO standards and OECD guidelines, which governs the granting of direct permission for placing detergents on the market.

The existing legislation on biodegradability of surfactants in detergents only covers primary biodegradability(12) and it is only applicable to anionic(13) and non-ionic(14) surfactants;

The OECD method published in the OECD's technical report of 11 June 1976 on the "Proposed Method for the Determination of the Biodegradability of Surfactants in Synthetic Detergents".

In particular, the amendments or additions necessary for applying the rules of this Regulation to solvent-based detergents shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 12(2).

The packaging of detergents shall indicate the content, in accordance with the specifications provided for in Annex VII A. It shall also indicate instructions for use and special precautions, if required.

If no data are available on residue identity, the information referred to in point 4.2.1 may be requested, depending on the potential risk, the importance and the quantity of the surfactant used in detergents.

Member States' competent authorities may apply, as appropriate, all necessary control measures to detergents placed on the market which ensure the compliance of the product with the provisions of this Regulation.

Surfactants in detergents shall be considered as biodegradable if the level of biodegradability (mineralisation) measured according to one of the five following tests(1) is at least 60 % within twenty-eight days:

The information on use patterns given in this section shall be sufficient to allow an approximate but realistic estimate of function and environmental exposure to the surfactant as associated with its use in detergents.

On 25 November 1999 the Scientific Committee on Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment issued an opinion on biodegradability of surfactants in detergents and relevance of test-methods for regulatory control in this area.

Such derogations may allow, limit or severely restrict the placing on the market and the use of surfactants as ingredients in detergents, depending on the results of the complementary risk assessment, as defined in Annex IV.

As confirmed by the Commission White Paper on the strategy for a future Chemical Policy, appropriate measures concerning detergents should ensure a high level of environmental protection, especially of the aquatic environment.

Under this Regulation, surfactants and detergents containing surfactants that meet the criteria for ultimate aerobic biodegradation as laid down in Annex III may be placed on the market without further limitations relating to biodegradability.

It should be the responsibility of manufacturers to refrain from marketing detergents not complying with this Regulation and to have at the disposal of the national authorities the technical files for all substances and preparations covered by this Regulation;

It is appropriate to recall that other horizontal legislation is applicable to detergent surfactants, in particular Council Directive 76/769/EEC of 27 July 1976 on the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to restrictions on the marketing and use of certain dangerous substances and preparations(16) by which the marketing and use of dangerous substances covered by this Regulation might be banned or restricted, Council Directive 67/548/EEC of 27 June 1967 on the approximation of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous substances(17), Commission Directive 93/67/EEC of 20 July 1993 laying down the principles for assessment of risks to man and the environment of substances notified in accordance with Council Directive 67/548/EEC(18), Regulation (EEC) No 793/93, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 of 28 June 1994 laying down the principles for the assessment of risks to man and the environment of existing substances(19);

Standards of accreditation, good laboratory practice and animal protection concerning the laboratories that are competent and authorised to provide the necessary service for checking compliance of detergents with the requirements of this Regulation and its Annexes

Applications shall include a technical file supplying all the information and justifications necessary for evaluating the safety aspects related to the specific use of surfactants in detergents failing to comply with the biodegradability limits, as set out in Annex III.

Paragraphs 1 to 5 are without prejudice to existing national rules according to which graphic representations of fruits which may lead the user into error as to the use of liquid products, shall not appear on the packaging in which the detergents are put up for sale to the consumer.

Provisions should also be laid down regarding the placing on the market in exceptional cases of surfactants in detergents failing ultimate biodegradability tests and this should take place on the basis of all relevant information to ensure environmental protection and on a case by case basis.

Directive 1999/45/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 31 May 1999 concerning the approximation of the laws, regulations and administrative provisions of the Member States relating to the classification, packaging and labelling of dangerous preparations(10) applies to detergents.

For detergents intended to be used in the industrial sector, and not made available to members of the general public, the abovementioned requirements do not have to be fulfilled if the equivalent information is provided by means of technical data sheets, safety data sheets, or in a similar appropriate manner.

In cases where surfactants are used in detergents which were placed on the market before the entry into force of the above standard, existing tests that were performed using the best scientific knowledge available, and that were performed to a standard comparable to those of the standards mentioned in Annex I may be accepted on a case-by-case basis.

Since the objective of this Regulation, to ensure the internal market in detergents, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, if there is no common technical criteria throughout the Community, and can therefore be better achieved at Community level, the Community may adopt measures, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty.