Commission Regulation (EC) No 912/2001
of 10 May 2001
laying down the marketing standard for beans
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables(1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 911/2001(2), and in particular Article 2(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) Beans are listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as products for which standards are to be adopted. Regulation No 58 of the Commission laying down common quality standards for certain products listed in Annex I B to Regulation No 23 on the progressive establishment of a common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2561/1999(4), has been the subject of multiple amendments and no longer ensures legal clarity.
(2) The rules in question should therefore be recast and Regulation No 58 repealed. To that end, for reasons of transparency on the world market, account should be taken of the standard for beans recommended by the Working Party on Standardisation of Perishable Produce and Quality Development of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE).
(3) Applying these standards should result in products of unsatisfactory quality being removed from the market, bringing production into line with consumer requirements and facilitating trade relationships based on fair competition, thereby helping improve the profitability of production.
(4) The standards are applicable at all stages of marketing. Transportation over long distances, storage for a certain length of time or handling operations may bring about deterioration due to the biological development of the products or their tendency to perish. Account should be taken of such deterioration when applying the standards at the marketing stages which follow dispatch. Since products in the "Extra" class must be sorted and packaged with particular care, only lack of freshness and turgidity is to be taken into account in their case.
(5) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The marketing standards for beans falling within CN code 0708 20 shall be as set out in the Annex.
The standard shall apply at all stages of marketing under the conditions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
However, at stages following dispatch, the products may show in relation to the provisions of the standard:
- a slight lack of freshness and turgidity, and
- for products graded in classes other than the "Extra" class, slight deterioration due to their development and their tendency to perish.
Article 2
Regulation No 58 is repealed.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from the first day of the third month following its entry into force.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 10 May 2001.