COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 730/1999
of 7 April 1999
laying down the marketing standard for carrots
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 2520/97(2), and in particular Article 2(2) thereof,
Where carrots are listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as products for which standards are to be adopted; whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 920/89 of 10 April 1989 laying down quality standards for carrots, citrus fruit and dessert apples and pears(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2536/98(4), has been the subject of multiple amendments and no longer ensures legal clarity;
Whereas the rules in question should therefore be recast and Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 920/89 repealed; whereas, to that end, for reasons of transparency on the world market, account should be taken of the standard recommended for carrots by the Working Party on Standardisation of Perishable Produce and Quality Development of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);
Whereas the effect of these standards must be to remove products of unsatisfactory quality from the market, gear production to satisfying consumer requirements and facilitate trade relations on the basis of fair competition, thereby helping to make production more profitable;
Whereas the standards are applicable at all stages of marketing; whereas transport over a great distance, storage for a certain lengh of time or the various handling operations to which the products are subjected may bring about deterioration due to the biological development of the products or their tendency to perish; whereas account should be taken of such deterioration when applying the standards at the marketing stages which follow dispatch; whereas, as products in the "Extra" class have to be particularly carefully sorted and packaged, only lack of freshness and turgidity is to be taken into account in their case;
Whereas 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 standard for carrots falling within CN code 0706 10 00 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 standards:
- a slight lack of freshness and turgidity,
- for products graded in classes other than the "Extra" class, slight deteriorations due to their development and their tendency to perish.
Article 2
Regulation (EEC) No 920/89 is hereby amended as follows:
1. in Article 1 the first indent is deleted;
2. Annex I is deleted.
Article 3
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of 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, 7 April 1999.