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"B COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1168/1999
of 3 June 1999
laying down marketing standards for plums
(OJ L 141, 4.6.1999, p. 5)
Amended by:
Official Journal
No page date
"M1 Commission Regulation (EC) No 848/2000 of 27 April 2000 L 103 9 28.4.20001999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 1
COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1168/1999
of 3 June 1999
laying down marketing standards for plums
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 857/1999 (2), and in particular
Article 2(2) thereof,
(1) Whereas plums are among the products listed in Annex I to Regulation
(EC) No 2200/96 for which standards must be adopted; whereasCommission Regulation (EEC) No 1591/87 of 5 June 1987 laying
down marketing standards for cabbages, Brussels sprouts, ribbed
celery, spinach and plums (
3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
888/97 (4), has been amended frequently and can no longer ensure
legal clarity;
(2) Whereas, in the interests of clarity, the rules on plums should be
separated from those on other products under Regulation (EEC) No
1591/87; whereas the rules in question should therefore be recast andAnnex V to Regulation (EEC) No 1591/87 on plums deleted; whereas,to that end and in the interests of preserving transparency on the world
market, account should be taken of the standard for plums
recommended by the Working Party on Standardisation of PerishableProduce and Quality Development of the United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);
(3) Whereas the result of applying these standards should be to remove
products of unsatisfactory quality from the market, to bring production
into line with consumer requirements, to facilitate trade relationshipsbased on fair competition, and thereby to help make production more
profitable;
(4) Whereas the standards are applicable at all stages of marketing;
whereas carriage over a great distance, storage for a certain length of
time and the various handling operations which the products undergomay bring about deterioration due to the biological development of the
products or their perishability; whereas account should be taken of
such deterioration when the standards are applied at marketing stagesfollowing dispatch; whereas, as products in the ‘Extra’ class have to beparticularly carefully sorted and packaged, only lack of freshness and
turgidity is to be taken into account in their case;
(5) Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for FreshFruit and Vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
The marketing standard for plums falling within CN code 0809 40 05 shall
be as set out in the Annex.
This standard shall apply at all marketing stages, 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,!B
(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 108, 27.4.1999, p. 7.
(3) OJ L 146, 6.6.1987, p. 36.
(4) OJ L 126, 17.5.1997, p. 11.1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 2
— 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 1591/87 is amended as follows:
1. In the title, the words ‘ribbed celery, spinach and plums’ are replaced by
‘ribbed celery and spinach’.
2. The fifth indent in the first subparagraph of Article 1 is deleted.
3. Annex V is deleted.
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 1 July 1999.This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all
Member States.!B1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 3
ANNEX
STANDARD FOR PLUMS
I. DEFINITION OF PRODUCE
This standard applies to plums of varieties (cultivars) grown from:
— Prunus domestica L. ssp. domestica ,
— Prunus domestica L. ssp. insititia (L.) Schneid.,
— Prunus domestica L. ssp. italica (Borkh.) Gams,
— Prunus domestica L. ssp. syriaca (Borkh.) Janchen, and
— Prunus salicina Lindl.
to be supplied fresh to the consumer, plums for industrial processing being
excluded.
II. PROVISIONS CONCERNING QUALITY
The purpose of the standard is to define the quality requirements for
plums after preparation and packaging.
A. Minimum requirements
In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the
tolerances allowed, the plums must be:
— intact,— sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make
it unfit for consumption is excluded,
— clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter,— practically free from pests,— practically free from damage caused by pests,— free of abnormal external moisture,
— free of any foreign smell and/or taste.
The plums must have been carefully picked. They must be sufficiently
developed and display satisfactory ripeness.
The development and condition of the plums must be such as to enable
them to:
— withstand transport and handling, and
— arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination.
B. Classification
Plums are classified into the three classes defined below:
(i) ‘Extra’ class
Plums in this class must be of superior quality. In shape,
development and colouring they must be characteristic of thevariety. They must be:
— practically covered by their bloom, according to variety,— of firm flesh.They must be free from defects, with the exception of very slight
superficial defects, provided these do not affect the generalappearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality andpresentation in the package.
(ii) Class I
Plums in this class must be of good quality. They must be
characteristic of the variety.!
B1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 4
The following slight defects, however, may be allowed, provided
these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, thequality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package:
— a slight defect in shape,
— a slight defect in development,
— slight defects in colouring,
— skin defects of elongated shape must not exceed in length one
third of the maximum diameter of the fruit. In particular,healed cracks may be allowed for ‘Golden gage’ varieties (
1),
— other skin defects of which the total area affected must not
exceed one sixteenth of the whole surface.
(iii) Class II
This class includes plums which do not qualify for inclusion in the
higher classes, but satisfy the minimum requirements specified
above.
The following defects may be allowed, provided the plums retain
their essential characteristics as regards the quality, the keeping
quality and presentation:
— defects in shape,— defects in development,
— defects in colouring,
— skin defects of which the total area affected must not exceed
one quarter of the whole surface.
III. PROVISIONS CONCERNING SIZING
Size is determined by the maximum diameter of the equatorial section.
Minimum sizes are fixed as follows:
‘Extra’ and I II
Large-fruited varieties (
1) 3 5m m 3 0m m
Other varieties 28 mm 25 mm
Mirabelles and Damsons 20 mm 17 mm
(1) See list annexed to this standard.
For the ‘Extra’ class, the maximum difference in diameter between fruit in any
one package is fixed at 10 mm.
IV . PROVISIONS CONCERNING TOLERANCES
Tolerances in respect of quality and size shall be allowed in each
package for produce not satisfying the requirements for the class
indicated.
A. Quality tolerances
(i) ‘Extra’ class:
5 % by number or weight of plums not satisfying the requirements
of the class but meeting those of Class I or, excetionally, comingwithin the tolerances for that class.
(ii) Class I
10 % by number or weight of plums not satisfying the
requirements of the class but meeting those of Class II or,exceptionally, coming within the tolerances for that class. Withinthis tolerance, not more than 2 % in total may consist of split and/or worm-eaten fruit.
(iii) Class II!
B
(1) Definition: gages (green apricots, dauphines, greengages) having a green skin with
a yellowish sheen.1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 5
10 % by number or weight of plums satisfying neither the
requirements of the class nor the minimum requirements, with theexception of produce affected by rotting, market bruising or anyother deterioration rendering it unfit for consumption. Within thistolerance, not more than 4 % in total may consist of split and/orworm-eaten fruit.
B. Size tolerances
For all classes, 10 % by number or weight of plums deviating from the
minimum size or the size stated on the package, the deviation not
exceeding 3 mm above or below.
V. PROVISIONS CONCERNING PRESENTATION
A. Uniformity
The contents of each package must be uniform and contain only plums
of the same origin, variety, quality and size (i) sized), and for the ‘Extra’
class, the contents must also be uniform in colour.
The visible part of the contents of each package must be representative
of the entire contents.
B. Packaging
Plums must be packed in such a way as to protect the produce properly.
The materials used inside the package must be new, clean and of a
quality such as to avoid causing any external or internal damage to theproduce. The use of materials, particularly of paper or stamps bearingtrade specifications is allowed provided that the printing or labelling has
been done with non-toxic ink or glue.
Packages must be free from all foreign matter.
C. Presentation
The plums may be presented:
— in small packages,— arranged in one or more layers separated from each other,
— in bulk in the package, except for the ‘Extra’ class.
VI. PROVISIONS CONCERNING MARKING
Each package must bear the following particulars in letters grouped on the same
side, legibly and indelibly marked and visible from the outside:
A. Identification
Packer and/or dispatcher: name and address or officially issued or
accepted code mark. However, in the case where a code mark is used, thereference ‘packer and/or dispatcher (or equivalent abbreviations)’ has to beindicated in close connection with the code mark.
B. Nature of produce
— ‘Plums’, if the contents are not visible from the outside
— name of the variety.
C. Origin of produce
Country of origin and, optionally, district where grown or national, regional
or local place name.
D. Commercial specifications
— class,
— size (if sized) expressed in minimum and maximum diameter.
E. Official control mark (optional)!
B1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 6
!M1
APPENDIX
1. Non-exhaustive list of large-fruited varieties of Prunus domestica
Variety
Cultivar and/or commercial nameSynonyms
Ariel
AppleBelle de Louvain Bella di LovanioBernardinaBluefre Blue FréCacanska Iepotica Belle de Cacak, Cacaks Beauty, Ca-
caks Schöne
Cacanska najbolja Meilleure de Cacak, Cacaks BesteCacanska rana Précoce de Cacak, Cacaks FrüheCalifornia Blue California BluCarpatinCentenarCoe’ s Golden DropDe Fraile FrailaDenniston SuperbEdwards ColbusEmma LeppermannEmpressErfdeelGiant Burbanks Giant PruneGrand Prix Grand PrizeHallHarris Monarch HarrisHeronImpérial EpineuseJanandJefferson Jefferson’ s GageJori’ s PlumJubileumJune BloodMagna GlaucaManns Number OneMarjorie’ s SeedlingMerton Gage Merton, Mereton
Merton Gem
MonarchMonsieur hâtif Early OrleansNueva ExtremaduraOneidaOntario OntariopflaumePitesteanPond’ s SeedlingPresidentPrince EngelbertPrince of Wales Prince de GallesProf. Collumbien1999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 7
Variety
Cultivar and/or commercial nameSynonyms
Prune Martin
Queen’ s Crown Cox’ s EmperorQuetsche Blanche de Létricourt Quetsche Dr. LétricourtRegina Claudia MostruosaRegina d’Italia
Reine-Claude d’Althan Falso
Reine-Claude d’Oullins Oullin’ s GageSenecaSugar PruneSultanSwan GageTragedyUtility Laxton’ s UtilityValorVictoriaVisionWashingtonZimmers Frühzwetsche
2. Non-exhaustive list of large-fruited varieties of Prunus salicina
Variety
Cultivar and/or commercial nameSynonyms
Allo
Andy’ s PrideAngelenoAutumn GiantAutumn PrideBeaut SunBeauty BeatyBella di BarbianoBlack AmberBlack BeautBlack DiamondBlack GoldBlack RosaBlack RoyalBlack StarBlack Sun
Burbank
BurmosaCalitaCasselman KesselmanCatalinaCelebrationCentenariaDel Rey SunDelbarazurDolar!
M11999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 8
Variety
Cultivar and/or commercial nameSynonyms
Eclipse
EldoradoEric SunFlavor KingFormosa
Fortune
FriarFrontierGavearliGaviotaGlobe SunGoccia d’OroGolden Japan ShiroGolden KingGolden KissGolden PlumGoldsweet 4Grand RosaGreen SunHackmanHarry PickstoneHoward SunKelseyLady RedLady WestLaetitiaLarodaLarry Ann Larry Anne, Tegan Blue, FreedomLate RedLate Santa RosaLinda RosaMariposa Improved Satsuma, Satsuma ImprovedMethleyMidnight SunMorettini 355 Coeur de LionNarrabeenNewyorkerNubianaObilnajaOctober SunOriginal SunOro MielOzark Premier PremierPink DelightPioneerQueen AnnQueen RosaRed BeautRed Rosa!
M11999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 9
Variety
Cultivar and/or commercial nameSynonyms
Red Sweet
RedgoldRedroyReubennel Ruby NelRoyal Black
Royal Diamond
Royal GarnetRoyal StarRoysumRuby BloodRuby RedSangue di DragoSanta RosaSapphireSatsumaSimkaSir Prize AkihimeSongoldSouthern BelleSouthern PrideSouvenirSouvenir IISpring BeautStarking DeliciousStirlingSuplumelevenSuplumthirteenSuplumtwelveSusyTC SunTeak GoldTop BlackTracy SunWicksonY akimaY ellow SunZanzi Sun!
M11999R1168 — EN — 01.08.2000 — 001.001 — 10