COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 2676/90 of 17 September 1990 determining Community methods for the analysis of wines
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 of 16 March 1987 on the common organization of the market in wine (1), as amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1325/90 (2), and in particular Article 74 thereof,
Whereas Article 74 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 prescribes the adoption of methods of analysis for establishing the composition of the products indicated in Article 1 of that Regulation and of rules for checking whether these products have been subjected to treatments in violation of authorized oenological pratice;
Whereas, inasmuch as the Community has not yet laid down maximum levels for substances whose presence indicates that certain oenological practices have been used and has not yet adopted tables enabling analysis data to be compared, there is good reason to authorize Member States to determine such maximum levels;
Whereas Article 13 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87 provides for an analytical test, including at the least an assessment of the characteristics, as listed in the Annex to that Regulation, of the quality wine psr in question;
Whereas the verification of the particulars on documents concerning the products in question calls for the introduction of uniform methods of analysis to ensure that accurate and comparable information is obtained; whereas, consequently, these methods should be compulsory for all commercial transactions and all verification procedures; whereas, however, in view of the trade's limited facilities, a restricted number of usual procedures should be admitted enabling the requisite factors to be determined rapidly and with reasonable accuracy;
Whereas, as far as is possible, generally recognized methods such as those developed under the 1954 International Convention for the Unification of Methods of Analysis and Appraisal of Wines, which are published in the Recueil des méthodes internationales d'analyse des vins (Compendium of international methods for the analysis of wines) by the International Office of Vine and Wine, may usefully be retained;
Whereas the Community methods of analysis applicable to wine were laid down in Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1108/82 (3); whereas scientific progress has made it necessary to replace certain of the methods by some that are more suitable, to modify others, and to introduce new methods, particularly those approved since the aforesaid Regulation by the International Office of Vine and Wine; whereas, because of the profusion and complexity of these changes, all the analyses should be reassembled in a new Regulation, and Regulation (EEC) No 1108/82 should be repealed;
Whereas, in order to ensure the comparability of the results obtained by applying the analytical methods referred to in Article 74 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, steps should be taken to refer, in regard to the accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility of these results, to the definitions laid down by the International Office of Vine and Wine;
Whereas, in order to recognize the scientific advances on the one hand and the technical equipment of official laboratories on the other, and with the aim of increasing the efficiency and profitability of these laboratories, there is good reason to allow automated analytical methods to be applied under certain conditions; whereas it is important to specify that, where a dispute arises, the automated methods may not replace the reference methods and the usual methods;
Whereas the results of a density measurement using the automated method based on the principle of the frequency oscillator are, in respect of their accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility, at least as good as the results obtained by the methods listed in section 1 of the Annex to the present Regulation for measuring the density or specific gravity; whereas it is therefore indicated, by virtue of Article 74 (3) of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87, that this automated method shall be considered as equivalent to the said methods listed in the Annex to the present Regulation;
Whereas the procedure described in Chapter 25 under point 2.2.3.3.2 in the Annex hereto for analysing the total sulphur dioxide content of wines and grape musts of a presumed content of less than 50 mg/l results in better extraction of that substance compared to the methods described in Chapter 13 under point 13.4 of the Annex to Regulation (EEC) No 1108/82; whereas the result is higher total sulphur dioxide contents of the products analysed, which may exceed, in particular, in the case of certain grape juices, the maximum limit laid down; whereas, in order to avoid difficulties in the disposal of grape juice already prepared at the time of entry into force of this Regulation and until such time as the production processes are adapted to result in more complete de-sulphiting of grape musts with fermentation arrested by the addition of alcohol, the procedure described in the abovementioned Regulation should be allowed to be used during a transitional period;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Wine,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
1. The Community methods for the analysis of wine making it possible, in the context of commercial transactions and all control operations, to:
- establish the composition of the products listed in Article 1 of Regulation (EEC) No 822/87,
- check whether these products have been subjected to treatments in violation of authorized oenological practice,
are those set out in the Annex to this Regulation.
2. For substances for which reference methods and usual methods are prescribed, the results obtained by the use of the reference methods shall prevail.
Article 2
For the purposes of applying this Regulation:
(a) the repeatability shall be the value below which the absolute difference between the two single test results obtained on identical test material, under the same conditions (same operator, same apparatus, same laboratory and a short interval of time), may be expected to lie with a specified probability;
(b) the reproducibility shall be the value below which the absolute difference between two single test results obtained identical test material, under different conditions (different operators, different apparatus and/or different laboratories and/or different time), may be expected to lie with a specified probability.
The term 'single test result' shall be the value obtained when the standardized test method is applied fully and once to a single sample.
Unless otherwise stated, the probability shall be 95 %.
Article 3
1. Automated analytical methods shall be acceptable, under the responsibility of the Director of a laboratory on condition that the accuracy, repeatability and reproducibility of the results are at least equivalent to those of the results obtained by the analytical methods listed in the Annex.
Where a dispute arises, the methods listed in the Annex may not be replaced by automated methods.
2. The automated method for measuring density based on the principle of the frequency oscilliator shall be considered as equivalent to the methods listed in section 1 of the Annex to the present Regulation.
Article 4
Wherever mention is made of water for solution, dilution, or washing purposes, this shall mean distilled water or demineralized water of equivalent purity. All chemicals shall be of analytical reagent quality except where otherwise specified.
Article 5
Regulation (EEC) No 1108/82 is repealed.
However Article 1 (4) of that Regulation shall apply until 31 December 1990.
Article 6
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply with effect from 1 October 1990.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 17 September 1990.