# Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 594/2013Show full title

Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 594/2013 of 21 June 2013 amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 as regards            marketing standards in the fruit and vegetables sector and correcting that Implementing Regulation         

        - Previous
        - Next

U.K.

# Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 594/2013                     

# of 21 June 2013

# amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 as regards marketing standards in the fruit and vegetables sector and correcting                        that Implementing Regulation                     

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural                           markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation)(1), and in particular point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 121and Article 127 in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,                        

Whereas:

(1)Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules                              for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and                              vegetables sectors(2) provide for marketing standards for fruit and vegetables.

(2)Certain fruit and vegetable products may have a size or other features that do not conform to the applicable marketing standards,                              due to their special organoleptic characteristics or for other reasons. A traditional cultivation and local consumption may                              nonetheless be well-established in respect of those products. To ensure that products which are deemed to be fit for consumption                              by local communities but which do not conform to the Union marketing standards are not prevented from being marketed locally,                              those products can be exempted from the Union marketing standards by a Commission Decision taken at the request of the Member                              State concerned. It is appropriate to clarify that such products may be sold by the retail trade of that Member State, and                              exceptionally even outside the region concerned.

(3)Third countries of which the conformity checks have been approved under Article 15 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011                              are allowed to adopt conformity certificates in respect of compliance with specific marketing standards. In order to facilitate                              trade and to reduce the administrative burden, those third countries should be allowed to issue certificates of conformity                              for all fruit and vegetables.

(4)During the E-coli crisis in 2011 it became apparent that it is not always possible to identify the producers of lots of fruit                              and vegetables. For the purpose of traceability, the general marketing standard needs to be amended so as to allow a better                              identification of producers.

(5)In 2011 the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)                              revised the UN/ECE standards on apples and pears. In order to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade, the specific standards                              for apples and pears provided for in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should be aligned with the new UN/ECE standards.                              At the same time it is appropriate to remedy some inconsistencies and imperfections in the marketing standards for peaches                              and nectarines and those for citrus fruit.

(6)Certain mandarins other than satsumas and clementines that are currently grown, in particular Mandoras and Minneolas, are                              edible at a lower sugar/acid ratio than the one which has been laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, aligning                              the Union marketing standard to the UN/ECE standard. To give producers time to adapt to the UN/ECE standard by replanting                              rootstocks, a lower sugar/acid ratio should temporarily be allowed.

(7)Israel is a third country of which the conformity checks have been approved under Article 15 of Implementing Regulation (EU)                              No 543/2011. Israel may therefore issue conformity certificates. For the sake of market transparency and in accordance with                              public international law, it should be clarified that the territorial coverage of the certificates is limited to the territory                              of the State of Israel excluding the territories under Israeli administration since June 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the                              Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.

(8)In order to ensure a correct application of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, some obvious errors relating to references                              and dates should be corrected.

(9)Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should therefore be amended and corrected accordingly.

(10)In order to allow Member States, traders and packers to prepare for the new provisions introduced in relation to the marketing                              standards, this Regulation should apply as from 1 October 2013. However, since the correction of obvious errors should have                              a retroactive effect which duly respects the legitimate expectations of those concerned, the corrections of Implementing Regulation                              (EU) No 543/2011 should apply as from the date of entry into force of that Implementing Regulation.

(11)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common                              Organisation of Agricultural Markets,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

## Article 1U.K.Amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 is amended as follows:

In Article 4(1), point (c) is replaced by the following:

products recognised in a Commission Decision taken at the request of a Member State in accordance with the procedure referred                                          to in Article 195(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as products of a given region which are sold by the retail trade of that                                          region or, in exceptional and duly justified cases, of that Member State, in case of well established traditional local consumption;”                                    

In Article 15, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:

“1.At the request of a third country, the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195(2) of Regulation                                    (EC) No 1234/2007, approve checks on conformity to marketing standards carried out by that third country prior to import into                                    the Union.”                           

Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.

Annex IV is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation.

## Article 2U.K.Correction of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011

Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 is corrected as follows:

In Article 12(5), the dates "30 June 2009" and "1 July 2009" are replaced by "21 June 2011" and "22 June 2011" respectively;

In Article 26(4), "paragraph 3" is replaced by "paragraph 2";

In the second subparagraph of Article 126(2), "Article 96(1)" is replaced by "Article 96(2)".

## Article 3U.K.Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the *Official Journal of the European Union*.                  

It shall apply from 1 October 2013. However, Article 2 shall apply from 22 June 2011.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 21 June 2013.

*For the Commission*                            

*The President*                            

José Manuel Barroso                            

## ANNEX IU.K.

Annex I to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 is amended as follows:

In Part A (General marketing standard), point 4 is replaced by the following:

### “4.**Marking**

#### A.*Identification*

The name and the address of the packer and/or the dispatcher.                           

This mention may be replaced:                           
                -  for all packages with the exception of pre-packages, by the officially issued or accepted code mark representing the packer                                       and/or the dispatcher, indicated in close connection with the reference ‘Packer and/or Dispatcher’ (or equivalent abbreviations);                                  
                -  for pre-packages only, by the name and the address of a seller established within the Union indicated in close connection                                       with the mention ‘Packed for:’ or an equivalent mention. In this case, the labelling shall also include a code representing                                       the packer and/or the dispatcher. The seller shall give all information deemed necessary by the inspection body as to the                                       meaning of this code.                                  

#### B.*Origin*

Full name of the country of origin(3). For products originating in a Member State this shall be in the language of the country of origin or any other language                                 understandable by the consumers of the country of destination. For other products, this shall be in any language understandable                                 by the consumers of the country of destination.”                           

Part B (Specific marketing standards) is amended as follows:

Part 1 (marketing standard for apples) is amended as follows:

in Section VI, point B is replaced by the following:

### “B.**Nature of produce**

                            -  ‘Apples’ if the contents are not visible from the outside.                                                    
                            -  Name of the variety. In the case of a mixture of apples of distinctly different varieties, names of the different varieties.                                                    
                            -  The name of the variety can be replaced by a synonym. The name of the mutant or a trade name(4) can only be given in addition to the variety or the synonym.”                                                    

the Appendix is replaced by the text in the Appendix to this Annex;

Part 2 (marketing standard for citrus fruit) is amended as follows:

point B (maturity requirements) of Section II (provisions concerning quality) is amended as follows:
                            -  in the second paragraph, the second indent, relating to "minimum total soluble solids content", is deleted; 
                            -  in the table, the third column, relating to "minimum sugar content (oBrix)", is deleted;                                                    
                            -  in the table, in the row relating to "other mandarin varieties and their hybrids" ,in the fourth column, relating to "minimum                                                      sugar/acid ratio",the following footnote is added:                                                     “For the varieties Mandora and Minneola the minimum sugar/acid ratio is 6.0:1 until the end of the marketing year commencing                                                         1 January 2023.”                                                    

in point D (commercial specifications) of Section VI (provisions concerning marking), the second sub-indent of the second                                                indent is replaced by the following:                                             
                            -  “Size code(s) followed, optionally, by a minimum and maximum size or count;”;                                                    

Part 5 (marketing standard for peaches and nectarines) is amended as follows:

in point C (classification) of Section II (provisions concerning quality), the words "The following slight skin defects" in                                                point (ii) Class I and the words "The following skin defects" in point (iii) Class II are replaced by "The following slight                                                defects" and "The following defects" respectively;                                             

in Section III (provisions concerning sizing), the words "(if sized)" are deleted;

Part 6 (marketing standard for pears) is amended as follows:

point B (nature of produce) of Section VI (provisions concerning marking) is replaced by the following:

### “B.**Nature of produce**

                            -  'Pears' if the contents of the package are not visible from the outside.                                                    
                            -  Name of the variety. In the case of a mixture of pears of distinctly different varieties, names of the different varieties.                                                    
                            -  The name of the variety can be replaced by a synonym. A trade name(5) can only be given in addition to the variety or the synonym.”                                                    

the non-exhaustive list of large-fruited and summer pear varieties in the appendix is amended as follows:
                            -  the second paragraph of the introductory part is replaced by the following:  “Some of the varieties listed in the following may be marketed under names for which trade mark protection has been sought                                                         or obtained in one or more countries. The first and second columns of the table hereunder do not intend to include such trade                                                         names. References to known trade marks have been included in the third column for information only.”                                                    
                            -  in the third column of the table, the word "trade names" is replaced by "trade marks"; 

In Part 9 (marketing standard for table grapes), the appendix is deleted.

### Appendix to Annex I

#### “‘Appendix**Non-exhaustive list of apple varieties**

Fruits of varieties that are not part of the list must be graded according to their varietal characteristics.

## ANNEX IIU.K.

### “‘ANNEX IV

#### **THIRD COUNTRIES WHERE THE CONFORMITY CHECKS HAVE BEEN APPROVED UNDER ARTICLE 15 AND THE PRODUCTS CONCERNED**

1

OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.                           

2

OJ L 157, 15.6.2011, p. 1.                           

3

The full or commonly used name shall be indicated."

4

A trade name can be a trade mark for which protection has been sought or obtained or any other commercial denomination."

5

A trade name can be a trade mark for which protection has been sought or obtained or any other commercial denomination."