1. Under each sectoral food law, substances that have been authorised to be placed on the Community market shall be included on a list the content of which is determined by the said law (hereinafter referred to as the Community list). The Community list shall be updated by the Commission. It shall be published in the

Official Journal of the European Union

2. ‘Updating the Community list’ means:

(a) adding a substance to the Community list;

(b) removing a substance from the Community list;

(c) adding, removing or changing conditions, specifications or restrictions associated with the presence of a substance on the Community list.

CHAPTER II

COMMON PROCEDURE

Article 3

Main stages of the common procedure

1. The common procedure for updating the Community list may be started either on the initiative of the Commission or following an application. Applications may be made by a Member State or by an interested party, who may represent several interested parties, in accordance with the conditions provided for by the implementing measures referred to in Article 9(1)(a) (hereinafter referred to as the applicant). Applications shall be sent to the Commission.

2. The Commission shall seek the opinion of the European Food Safety Authority (hereinafter referred to as the Authority), to be given in accordance with Article 5.

However, for the updates referred to in Article 2(2)(b) and (c), the Commission shall not be required to seek the opinion of the Authority if the updates in question are not liable to have an effect on human health.

3. The common procedure shall end with the adoption by the Commission of a regulation implementing the update, in accordance with Article 7.

4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, the Commission may end the common procedure and decide not to proceed with a planned update, at any stage of the procedure, if it judges that such an update is not justified. Where applicable, it shall take account of the opinion of the Authority, the views of Member States, any relevant provisions of Community law and any other legitimate factors relevant to the matter under consideration.

In such cases, where applicable, the Commission shall inform the applicant and the Member States directly, indicating in its letter the reasons for not considering the update justified.

Article 4

Initiating the procedure

1. On receipt of an application to update the Community list, the Commission:

(a) shall acknowledge receipt of the application in writing to the applicant within 14 working days of receiving it;

(b) where applicable, shall as soon as possible notify the Authority of the application and request its opinion in accordance with Article 3(2).

The application shall be made available to the Member States by the Commission.

2. Where it starts the procedure on its own initiative, the Commission shall inform the Member States and, where applicable, request the opinion of the Authority.

Article 5

Opinion of the Authority

1. The Authority shall give its opinion within nine months of receipt of a valid application.