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COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 899/87
of 30 March 1987
laying down quality standards for cherries and strawberries
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72 of 18 May 1972 on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables (1), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 1351/86 (2), and in particular Article 2 (3) thereof,
Whereas the quality standards for cherries and strawberries are laid down in Annexes I/8 and I/9 of Commission Regulation No 58 (3); whereas those standards were amended by Regulations (EEC) No 51/65 (4) and (EEC) No 844/76 (5);
Whereas a change has occured in the production and marketing of these products particularly as regards the requirements of consumer and wholesale markets; whereas the common quality standards for cherries and strawberries should therefore be changed to take those new requirements into account;
Whereas such changes entail alteration of the definition of the supplementary quality class as laid down by Council Regulation (EEC) No 1194/69 (6); whereas accoint should be taken, in defining that class, of the economic importance to producers of the products concerned and of the need to meet consumer requirements;
Whereas the standards are applicable at all stages of marketing; whereas transportation over a long distance, storage for a certain length of time or the various handling operations may bring about deterioration due to the biological development of the products or their tendency to perish; whereas, therefore, account should be taken of such deterioration when applying the standards at the marketing stages following dispatch; whereas, since the products in the 'Extra' class have to be particularly carefully sorted and packaged, only lack of freshness or turegescence is to be taken into into account only in their case;
Whereas in the interest of clarity and certainty as to legal requirements for ease of use the standards thus changed should be consilidated in a single text;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The quality standards for cherries falling within subheading 08.07 C of the Common Custums Tariff and for strawberries falling within subheading 08.08 A of the Common Customs Tariff are set in Annexes I and II hereto.
These standards shall apply at all marketing stages, under the conditions laid down in Regulation (EEC) No 1035/72.
However, at the stages following dispatch the products may show, in relation to thestandards prescribed,
- a slight lack of freshness and turgescence,
- for the products graded in the class other than the 'Extra' class, slight alternation due to their development and their tendency to perish.
Article 2
Regulation No 58 is hereby amended as follows:
- in Article 1, 'cherries' and 'strawberries' shall be deleted,
- Annexes I/8 and I/9, specifying the quality standards for cherries and strawberries respectively, shall be deleted.
Article 3
Council Regulation (EEC) No 1194/69 is hereby amended as follows:
- in Article I, 'cherries' and 'strawberries' shall be deleted,
- Annexes IV and V concerning cherries and strawberries respectively shall be deleted.
Article 4
This Regulation shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 30 March 1987.