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"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 890/78
of 28 April 1978
laying down detailed rules for the certification of hops
(OJ L 117, 29.4.1978, p. 43)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1465/79 of 13 July 1979 L 177 35 14.7.1979
"M2 Commission regulation (EEC) No 3479/80 of 30 December 1980 L 363 83 31.12.1980
Amended by:
"A1 Act of Accession of Greece L 291 17 19.11.1979
Corrected by:
"C1 Corrigendum, OJ L 116, 11.5.1979, p. 32 (890/78)1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EEC) No 890/78
of 28 April 1978
laying down detailed rules for the certification of hops
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No 1696/71 of 26 July 1971 on
the common organization of the market in hops (
1), as last amended by
Regulation (EEC) No 1170/77 (2), and in particular Article 2 (5) thereof,
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 of 19 July 1977 (3) laid down
general rules for the certification of hops;
Whereas, in order to ensure substantially uniform application of the
certification procedure in the Member States, it is necessary to specify the
products subject to certification, the operations involved and the information
to be given on the various documents which accompany the said products;
Whereas, to enable control to be exercised in respect of hop cones, a
declaration signed by the individual or associated producer should accompanycertification; whereas this document should contain information which makes
it possible to identify the hops from the moment when they are presented for
certification until the certificate is issued;
Whereas, for the purposes of determining the quality characteristics which
hops approved for marketing must possess, the moisture content andextraneous matter content must be taken into consideration; whereas, in
view of the reputation for quality that Community hops have acquired, the
existing procedures customary in commercial transactions should be taken asa basis;
Whereas the choice of method for checking the moisture content of hops
should be left to the Member States; whereas the methods adopted must,
however, give comparable results; whereas, in case of dispute, it is necessaryto use a Community method;
Whereas, in order to take account of current commercial practice in certain
Community regions, hops marketed seeded and seedless should be defined
and provision made for the appropriate entry on the certificate;
Whereas, in order to ensure that users have exact information on the origin
and characteristics of products put on the market, common rules should belaid down for the marking of packages and the numbering of certificates;
Whereas it should be laid down that hops prepared from hops certified
unprepared may themselves be certified only if preparation is carried out
within a closed operating circuit; whereas, however, if these operations take
place in certification centres or warehouses the procedure for subsequentcertification should be simplified;
Whereas the subsequent certification procedure should also be simplified
where the packaging of a product is changed under official supervision and
without processing;
Whereas the second subparagraph of Article 1 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No
1784/77 provides that products which are exempt from certification should besubject to a control procedure; whereas this control procedure must ensure
both that these products cannot upset the normal marketing pattern for
certified products and that they are suitable for their declared use and are usedonly by those to whom they are consigned;
Whereas the operation of this control procedure should be entrusted to the
bodies responsible for certification;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with
the opinion of the Management Committee for Hops,!B
(1) OJ No L 175, 4. 8. 1971, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 137, 3. 6. 1977, p. 7.
(3) OJ No L 200, 8. 8. 1977, p. 1.1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 2
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
For the purposes of this Regulation:
(a) ‘unprepared hops’ means hops which have undergone only preliminary
drying and packaging;
(b) ‘prepared hops’ means hops which have undergone final drying and final
packaging;
(c) ‘seeded hops’ means hops marketed with a seed content greater than 2 %
of their weight;
(d) ‘seedless hops’ means hops marketed with a seed content not exceeding
2 % of their weight;
(e) ‘isomerized extract of hops’ means an extract in which the alpha acids
have been almost totally isomerized;
(f) ‘sealing’ means closure of the package under official supervision and in
such a way that the means of closure will be damaged when the packageis opened;
(g) ‘closed operating circuit’ means a process for preparing or processing
hops carried out under official supervision and in such a way that only
one entry is available for the original materials and one exit for prepared
or processed products and that no hops or processed products can beadded or removed during the operation;
(h) ‘consignment’ means a number of packages of hops or derived products
with the same characteristics presented at the same time for certificationby the same individual or associated producer or by the same processor.
Article 2
1. Every consignment of hop cones presented for certification shall be
accompanied by a written declaration signed by the producer giving:
— the producer’ s name and address,
— the harvest year,— the variety,— the place of production,— the land register reference or an official equivalent thereof,
— the number of packages in the consignment.
2. This declaration shall accompany the consignment of hops throughout
any processing or mixing operations and in any case until the certificate is
issued.
Article 3
1. All hop cones submitted for certification shall comply with the definition
laid down in Article 1 (3) (a) of Regulation (EEC) No 1696/71 and theminimum marketing requirements set out in Annex I to this Regulation.
2. Observance of the minimum marketing requirement relative to the
moisture content of the hops shall be checked by one of the methods
described in Annex II (B). However, the methods described in Annex II (B)
(2) must be approved by the control body and must give results with astandard deviation not exceeding 2.0.In the event of dispute, observance shall
be checked by the method described in Annex II (B) (1).
The Member States shall communicate to the Commission the methods which
they employ.
3. Observance of minimum marketing requirements other than the moisture
content shall be checked in accordance with normal commercial practice.
However, in the event of any dispute, the method described in Annex II (C)shall be used.!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 3
Article 4
For the purpose of the control methods referred to in Article 3 and described
in Annex II (B) (1) and in Annex II (C), samples shall be taken in the
following manner:
(a) Samples shall be taken, in each consignment, from at least one package in
ten and, in any case, from at least two packages in any one consignment.
(b) The samples shall be taken and treated in accordance with the method
described in Annex II (A).
Article 5
The certificate referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 shall
bear the words ‘seeded hops’ or ‘seedless hops’, as appropriate.
Article 5a
The certificate referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 shall
bear at least one of the following texts, applied by the authority empowered to
carry out certifications:
— Certified product — Regulation (EEC) No 890/78,— Certificeret produkt — Forordning (EØF) nr. 890/78,— Zertifiziertes Erzeugnis — Verordnung (EWG) Nr. 890/78,— Produit certifié — Règlement (CEE) n
o890/78,
— Prodotto certificato — Regolamento (CEE) n. 890/78,— Gecertificeerd produkt — Verordening (EEG) nr. 890/78,
—Πιστ/omikronπ/omikronιηµέν/omikron πρ/omikronϊ/omikronacuteν
Καν/omikronνισµ/omikronacuteς (Ε/OmikronΚ) αριθ. 890/78.
Article 6
1. The reference number of the certificate as referred to in Article 5 of
Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 shall be made up of codes designating, in
accordance with Annex III, the certification centre, the Member State, theyear of harvesting and the relevant consignment.
2. This number shall be the same for all the packages in any one
consignment.
3. Before 1 September 1978, the Member States shall communicate to the
Commission a list of the certification centres and the code for each centre.
"A1In the case of Greece, this information shall be communicated before
the end of the third month following the date of accession. 3
The list of these centres and their code numbers shall be published in the
Official Journal of the European Communities . An up-to-date list shall be
published annually.
Article 7
The marking referred to in Article 1 (2) of Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77
shall be carried out in accordance with Annex IV , under supervision and after
sealing, on the unit of packaging in which the product is to be marketed.
Article 8
1. Prepared hops produced from hops which were certified unprepared may
not be certified unless preparation took place within a closed operating
circuit.
2. If the hops are prepared in the certification centre or warehouse:(a) the certificate shall not be issued until after preparation;(b) the original unprepared hops shall be accompanied by the declaration
referred to in Article 2.!B
!M1
!M2
!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 4
3. In every case a number shall be given to the consignment of original hops
before preparation. This number must appear on the certificate issued for theprepared hops.
4. In order to be certified, products prepared from hops as referred to in
Article 7 of Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77 must be manufactured within aclosed operating circuit.
Article 9
1. While they are in circulation, hop powders and hop extracts may not
undergo a change of packaging within the meaning of Article 1 (5) of
Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77, unless this is done under official supervision.
2. Where a change of packaging as referred to in the preceding paragraph is
carried out without any processing of the product, the new certification
procedure shall comprise only:
— the marking of the new packaging,
— the entry on the original certificate of this marking and the change of
packaging.
Article 9a
In the case of resale within the Community’s territory, after a certified
consignment has been split up, the product must be accompanied by aninvoice or a commercial document drawn up by the vendor stating the numberof the certificate and the name of the issuing agency. The invoice or
commercial document must also bear the following information, taken from
the certificate:
(a) for hops in cones:
— the designation of the product,
— the gross and/or net weight,— the place of production,— the year of harvest,
— the variety;
(b) for hop products, the information given above together with the place and
date of processing.
Article 10
The products referred to in Article 1 (1) (a) to (d) of Regulation (EEC) No
1784/77 shall be subject to the following checks:
(a) In the case of hops harvested on land owned by a brewer and used by him
in the natural or processed state:
— in respect of each crop the brewer shall before 1 November send to
the control body referred to in Article 1 (6) of Regulation (EEC) No
1784/77 a declaration of the varieties grown, the quantities harvested,
the places of production and the areas planted, together with the landregister references or an official equivalent thereof,
— no further checks shall be required where the hops are processed or
used in their natural state in the brewery itself. In all other cases, thecheck shall be the same as described under (c) below, with the
exception of point 5.
(b) In the case of isomerized hop extracts, the processor shall each year, not
later than 31 December, declare to the control body the quantities
produced and the quantities marketed. The packaging must bear thewords ‘isomerized hop extract’, together with particulars of the weight or
volume.
(c) In the case of products derived from hops and processed under contract
on behalf of a brewery, and provided that these products are to be used by
the brewery itself, the certifying body shall, when the hops enter theestablishment where they are to be processed, issue a document on which!B
!M1
!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 5
at least the following particulars shall be entered in the course of the
processing operations:
1. a reference identifying the contract,
2. the recipient brewery,
3. the processing establishment,4. a description of the processed product,5. the reference number of the certificate or the attestation of
equivalence of the original hops,
6. the weight of the processed product.This document shall be given a reference number, which must also appear
on the packaging.
(d) In the case of hops and hop products put up in small packages for sale to
private individuals for their own use, the weight of the package may notexceed:
—
"M1one kilogram 3in the case of cones or powder,
—"M1300 grams 3in the case of extract.
A description of the product and its weight must appear on the package.
Article 11
Before 1 September 1978, the Member States shall communicate to the
Commission a list of the zones or regions of production referred to in Article
6 (1) of Regulation (EEC) No 1784/77. "A1In the case of Greece, this
information shall be communicated before the end of the third monthfollowing the date of accession.
3
Article 12
This Regulation shall apply with effect from 1 August 1978.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 6
ANNEX I
MINIMUM MARKETING REQUIREMENTS FOR HOP CONES
Characteristics DescriptionMaximum content (% of weight)
Prepared hops Unprepared hops
(a) Moisture Water content 12 14
(b) Leaves and stalks "C1Leaf fragments from stem, stem leaf
or cone stalk, to be classed as stalk, cone
stalks must be at least 2. 5 cm long 366
(c) Petals Petals detached from the cone not applicable 15
(d) Hop waste Small particles resu lting from machine
harvestings, which vary in colour between
dark green and black and which generally
do not come from the cone34
(e) For ‘seedless hops’
SeedMature fruit of the cone 2 2!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 7
ANNEX II
A. SAMPLING METHOD
The following procedure shall be used to take samples of hop cones for determining the
moisture content and, where applicable, the extraneous matter content:
1. Sampling
(a) Packed hops
A weight of hops proportional to the weight of the package shall be taken
from the number of packages specified in Article 4. Enough samples shouldbe taken to ensure that there are enough cones to be representative of thepackage.
(b) Hops in a loose pile
Take equal portions from 5 to 10 different places in the pile both at the surface
and at various depths. Place sample in the container as soon as possible. Toavoid rapid deterioration, the quantity of hops must be sufficiently large to be
highly compressed when the container is closed.
The sample must weigh at least 100 g.
2. Mixture
The samples must be carefully mixed to be representative of the consignment.
3. Sub-sampling
After mixing take one or more representative samples and place them in a
waterproof, airtight container such as a metal box or glass jar, except where onlythe extraneous matter content is to be checked.
4. Except during transport, samples must be stored in a cold place. Care should be
taken to allow the samples to return to room temperature inside the containerbefore opening for examination or analysis.
B. METHOD FOR CHECKING THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF HOPS
1. Method (i)
Samples for moisture content should not be ground. It is important that they should
be exposed to the air only for the minimum time necessary for their transfer fromthe container to the weighing vessel (which must have a lid).
Apparatus
Balance sensitive to 0.005g.
Drying oven electrically heated and thermostated to 105 to 107 °C (the efficacy of
the oven should be checked by the copper sulphate test).
Metal dishes 70 to 100 mm in diameter, 20 to 30 mm deep and provided with well-
fitting lids.
Ordinary desiccator, suitable for accommodating the dishes and containing a
desiccant such as indicator silica gel.
Method
Transfer 3 to 5 g of hops to a dish and close the lid before weighing. Weigh as
quickly as possible. Remove the lid and place the dish in the oven for one hourexactly. Replace the lid, place the dish in a desiccator to cool for at least 20 minutesand then weigh the dish.
Calculation
Calculate the loss of weight as a percentage of the original weight of hops. The
maximum deviation for individual estimation is 1 %.
2. Method (ii)
Method using either an electronic weighing machine which dries the hops with
infra-red rays or hot air, or an electric measuring apparatus, which registers on ascale the degree of humidity of the sample taken.!
B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 8
C. METHOD FOR CHECKING THE EXTRANEOUS MATTER CONTENT
1. Determination of the leaf and stalk, bract and waste content
Sieve five 100 g samples using a 2 mm sieve. Collect the lupulin, waste and seeds
and separate the seeds by hand. Place the samples on one side. Transfer thecontents of the 2 mm sieve to a 10 mm sieve and sieve again.
The hop cones, leaves, stalks and extraneous matter are collected by hand from the
sieve while cone leaves, seeds, lupulin waste and some leaves and stalks passthrough. All this is sorted by hand and divided into the following groups:
1. Leaves and stalks,2. Hops (cone leaves, hop cones and lupulin),
3. Waste,
4. Seeds,5. Bracts, in the case of unprepared hops.
The waste and the lupulin cannot be separated. The relative percentage of each
must therefore be estimated by an objective assessment of the colour and theweight is calculated on the assumption that their density is identical.
The various groups are weighed and the percentage which each group represents in
the weight of the original sample is determined.
2. Determination of the seed content
Place the 25 g sample in a metal container with a lid and heat in a drying oven for
two hours at 115 °C in order to neutralize the sticky resin.
Wrap the dried sample in coarse cotton cloth and rub vigorously or beat
mechanically in order to detach the seeds from the hops. Separate the dried andfinely fragmented hops from the seeds with a grinder or a 1 mm metal sieve.
Separate any items remaining with the seeds using either a sloping surface covered
with emery paper or any other method which gives the same result, i.e. retains thestems and other matter and permits the seeds to roll off.
Weigh the seeds and determine the percentage of seeds relative to the weight of the
original sample.!
B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 9
ANNEX III
CODING AND COMPOSITION SEQUENCE OF CERTIFICATE REFERENCE
NUMBERS
1. Certification centre
A number between 0 and 100 communicated by the Member States.
2. Member States carrying out certification
B for Belgium
D for Federal Republic of Germany
DK for Denmark
E for GreeceF for France
IRL for IrelandITA for Italy
LUX for Luxembourg
NL for NetherlandsUK for United Kingdom
3. Y ear of harvesting
The last two figures of the year of harvesting.
4. Identification of the consignment
The number given to the consignment by the certifying body (e.g. 12 B 77 170225)!
B
!A1
!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 10
ANNEX IV
MARKING OF PACKAGES
The marking shall depend on the type of package:
(a) Hop cones put up in bales or ballots:
— printing on the package.
(b) Hop powder in packets:
— printing on the packet.
(c) Hop powder or hop extract in metal tins:
— printing on the box or stamping into the metal.
(d) A sealed package containing a consignment of packets or boxes of powder or
extract:
— printing on the sealed package.!B1978R0890 — EN — 01.01.1981 — 002.001 — 11