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1. The Authority shall give an opinion within six months of the receipt of a valid application as to whether the product and its intended use complies with Article 4(1). The Authority may extend the said period. In such a case it shall provide an explanation for the delay to the applicant, the Commission and the Member States.

2. The Authority may, where appropriate, request the applicant to supplement the particulars accompanying the application within a time limit specified by the Authority which in no event shall exceed 12 months. Where the Authority requests supplementary information, the time limit laid down in paragraph 1 shall be suspended until such time that this information has been provided. Likewise, this time limit shall be suspended for the time allowed to the applicant to prepare oral or written explanations.

3. In order to prepare its opinion, the Authority shall:

(a) verify that the particulars and documents submitted by the applicant are in accordance with Article 7(3) in which case the application shall be regarded as valid;

(b) inform the applicant, the Commission and the Member States if an application is not valid.

4. In the event of an opinion in favour of authorising the evaluated product, the opinion shall include:

(a) any conditions or restrictions which should be attached to the use of the evaluated primary product either as such and/or as derived smoke flavourings in or on specific foods or food categories;

(b) an assessment as to whether the analytical method proposed in accordance with point 4 of Annex II is appropriate for the intended control purposes.

5. The Authority shall forward its opinion to the Commission, the Member States and the applicant.

6. The Authority shall make its opinion public, after deletion of any information identified as confidential in accordance with Article 15.