Article 5 Evaluation reports by the reference laboratoryF2

The reference laboratory shall submit a full evaluation report to the F3Food Safety Authority for each application, or for each group of applications, within three months from the date of receipt of a valid application as referred to in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003 and the payment of the fee.

However, if the reference laboratory considers the application to be very complex, it may extend that period by an additional month. The reference laboratory shall inform the F4appropriate authority, the F5Food Safety Authority, and the applicant when the period is extended.

The time limits provided for in this paragraph may be further extended with the agreement of the Food Safety Authority, whenever the reference laboratory requests supplementary information which cannot be provided by the applicant and/or cannot be evaluated by the reference laboratory within those time limits.

However, the time limit for the reference laboratory to submit the evaluation report to the Food Safety Authority shall not exceed the time limit for Food Safety Authority to provide its opinion, as provided for in Article 8(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1831/2003.

The evaluation report provided for in paragraph 1 shall include in particular:

The evaluation report provided for in paragraph 1 may be amended by the reference laboratory at the request of the appropriate authority or the Food Safety Authority where:

An evaluation report shall not be required for:

Notwithstanding paragraph 4, the appropriate authority, the reference laboratory or the Food Safety Authority may, on the basis of legitimate factors relevant to the application, consider that a new evaluation of the methods of analysis is necessary. In such cases the applicant shall be informed by the reference laboratory.