om.1^.90 Otlicial]ournalot the European Communities ^oCoB]^eo9 
Opmion on the proposal foraCouncil Regulation ^ECC^ laying down the health conditions 
for the production and the placing on the market of fishery productst^^ 
^90BC^^B1^ 
On^Eebruaryl990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 198oftheTreatyestablishing the European Economic Community,onthe 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture and Eisheries,whichwas responsible for preparing the Com^ 
mittee^sworkonthe subject, adopted its Opinion on^Septemberl990.The Rapporteur 
was^irEerrazdaSilva^ 
At its ^9th plenary session ^meeting of 19 September 1990^ the Economic and Social 
Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 
1. Introduction 
1.1. The proposal forms part of the programme conD 
tained in the Commission^hite Paper for completing 
the Internal market. Its aim is to remove the barriers 
to trade caused by health problems in the fisheries 
sector 
1.^. Theproposallaysdownuniformhealthstan 
dards to be applied to the production and marketing 
offisheryproductsinordertoprotectpublichealth.lt 
includes rules to be respected by industry and commerce 
and by the competent authorities. 
1.^ The Committee approves the proposal subject 
to the following comments. 
^. General comments 
^.1. The Committeehas serious reservations about 
the proposed timescale.The proposal is part ofapack 
age of interlinked legislative measures in the health 
field, some of which are still at the drafting stage. 
^. The Committee stresses the difficulty of making 
a proper assessment ofaproposal which refers to other 
Regulations yet to be adopted. 
^BL Civen that the proposal takes the form of a 
Regulation, the Committee has serious reservations 
about the feasibility of the proposed implementing date 
ofl]anuary 199^ Aiember States must first adapttheir 
national legislation and carryoutthe measures specified 
in the present proposal regarding the licensing of estab 
lishments. Accordingly, the Committee considers it 
necessary to setalater deadline. ^BtA The Committee notes that the Commission, 
mindful of the problems that could arise from the 
implementation of the Regulation, also plans toissue 
special legislation to regulate the granting of deroD 
gations. 
^Bo. The Committee considers that these derogation 
arrangements are very important.The current situation 
in the fishing industry means that derogations will 
be vital toallowtheindustrytomakethenecessary 
changes. 
^. The importance ofthe derogation arrangements 
is such that they should be mentioned in the body of 
the proposed Regulation, and not just in the preamble. 
^. however, one may question thefeasibility of 
the proposed Council tOecision^on the conditions for 
granting temporary and limued derogations. 
^.8. C^uite apart from the fact that the derogations 
will have to be granted onaplantbyplant basis, ^iem 
ber States will also face problems because ofthe limited 
time available for establishing which plants do not meet 
the required conditions and are therefore eligible fora 
derogation. 
^.9. If the proposed time schedule is retained, 
requests for derogationwill have to be submittedby 
IJanuary 199^ this is practically impossible. 
^.10. moreover, it could lead to unfair competition. 
In practice, not all plants will be mspectedimmediately, 
grantedaderogationandregistered.This could give 
some firmsacompetitive edge simply because they were 
inspected sooner. 
The Committee considers that requests for derogations 
should be published in the O^^^o^r^. 
^ot^De^^^t^^D.^ ^CD^^^D^DrDDD^I^O^t^D^Of^t 
No C 332/60 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 90 
2.11. The Committee draws attention to the fact that 
the Community processing industry could find it very 
costly to implement the requirements of the Regulation, 
particularly in less developed regions. 
2.12. The Commission is aware of this, and has 
asked all Member States to carry out surveys, on the 
basis of an extremely detailed questionnaire, which 
could provide useful reliable information on the impact 
and costs of the changes. Sufficient time will have to 
be allowed for the completion of this initiative. 
2.13. The Committee welcomes the Commission's 
move, and hopes that the Commission will amend the 
present support network if the surveys suggest that this 
is necessary or advisable. 
2.14. The Committee notes the Commission's state­
ment that it intends to consider the possibility of revis­
ing the relevant budgetary provisions. 
2.15. Failure to do this would have serious social 
consequences, particularly for employment. 
2.16. The Committee has always stressed the need 
for 'measures envisaged in the industrial, trade, agricul­
tural, financial and tax sectors to go hand-in-hand with 
the concurrent adoption of social measures' (*). 
2.17. The Committee has also repeatedly stated that 
completion of the internal market and achievement 
of the fundamental principles of the EEC include a 
commitment 'to promote the well-being of all Euro­
peans and to foster economic and social cohesion'(2). 
2.18. The Committee considers that the Standing 
Veterinary Committee (SVC) has been given too much 
power in respect of matters which would warrant 
inclusion in the Regulation itself and institutional super­
vision. 
2.19. In view of their impact on future legislation 
and consumers in general, the Commission proposals 
to be implemented under Articles 17-19 should be 
referred to the Economic and Social Committee. 
(!) ESC Opinion on basic Community social rights. 
(2) See the Opinion on Making a Success of the Single Act 
(OJ No C 180, 8. 7. 1987); annual Opinions on the economic 
situation and social developments; Opinion and report on 
social aspects of the Internal Market (OJ No C 356, 
31. 12. 1987 and CES 225/87 fin.). 3. Specific comments 
3.1. Article 1 
Insert an Article 1(2), to read as follows: 
'2. Implementation of the present Regulation shall 
be without prejudice to the possibility of applying 
for and obtaining temporary and limited dero­
gations to the provisions of this Regulation, under 
the terms of Council Decision ... (3).' 
3.2. Article 2(5) 
This Article should include specific mention of 'frozen 
products' and 'quick-frozen products' as referred to in 
Article 2(6) and (7). 
3.3. Article 2(16) 
For the sake of consistency, it might be better simply 
to use the term 'clean water', since the Annexes refer 
indiscriminately to 'drinking water' and 'clean sea 
water'. 
3.4. Article 3(l)(a), first paragraph 
The following new wording is proposed: 
'They shall meet the conditions laid down in 
Article 2 of Regulation (EEC) 3796/81 and in the 
implementing Regulations.' 
3.5. Article 3(l)(a), second paragraph 
Factory vessels supply the consumer product directly 
and have the same technical equipment as onshore 
processing plants. They should therefore meet the 
requirements of chapters III and IV of the Annexes. 
3.6. Article 3(l)(b) 
The term 'handled' could lead to ambiguity, bearing 
in mind the definitions contained in Article 2. The 
Committee suggests that the term 'treated' be used 
instead. 
3.7. Article 3(l)(e) 
After the word 'packaged' add 'and/or wrapped'. 
3.8. Article 3(l)(f) 
Amend 'they shall have been labelled' to read 'they 
shall have been given some form of identification'. 
(3) Commission proposal COM(89) 670 final. 
31. 12. 90 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 332/61 
3.9. Article 3(2)(a) 3.16. Article ll(l)(c) 
The term 'refrigerated' is insufficient. The Committee 
proposes 'kept at a temperature of approximately 2°'. 
3.10. Article 5(1) 
These are not the only families of poisonous fish, so 
the Committee wonders why they have been singled 
out. The sentence should be amended to read: 
'poisonous fish of such families as: tetraodon-
tidae...'. 
3.11. Article 6 
One may be somewhat sceptical about the effectiveness 
of self-policing. Amend to read: 
'they shall accordingly institute regular and frequent 
checks...'. 
3.12. Article 6, first indent 
It should be specified that cleanliness be maintained. 
Amend to read: 
'— that cleanliness of vessels and establishments is 
maintained'. Amend 'the placing of a mark identifying' to read 'the 
placing of some means of identification of ...'. 
3.17. Article 11(1 )(d) 
Add at the end: 'This list shall be published in the 
Official Journal". 
3.18. Article 20 
In the light of the above comments about the feasibility 
of the Regulation's timescale, the Committee proposes 
that this Article read: 
'This Regulation shall enter into force on 1 January 
1996.' 
4. Annexes 
4.1. Chapter 11,1. Point If) 
The Committee suggests that this be amended to read: 
'natural or artificial lighting equivalent to 300 Ix 
which does not discolour the products'. 
4.2. Chapter II, I. Point 8 
The waste disposal system must meet the requirements 
of the Directive on municipal waste water. 
3.13. Article 7(2), first paragraph 
'Regularly' must mean with a certain frequency. Amend 
to read 'regularly and frequently'. 
3.14. Article 7(2), first paragraph 
The phrase 'all parts of establishments' should be 
amended to read 'all relevant parts of the establish­
ments'. 
3.15. Article 11 
It is unclear why fishery products imported from third 
countries must 'in particular' comply with the require­
ments of point IV of chapter III and point II of 
chapter IV of the Annex. 
The specific reference should be deleted: the require­
ments of the whole Regulation should be met. 4.3. Chapter 11,11. Point B lb) 
A reference should be made to people with wounds; 
suitable provisions should be adopted for such cases. 
Provision should also be made for safety measures for 
persons working with cutting instruments, including 
band saws. 
4.4. Chapter III, II. Point 1 
The final paragraph contains a derogation which 
should be extended to other species. 
Amend to read: 'tunny fish or other species...'. 
4.5. Chapter 111, 111. Point 2 
Delete the words 'in particular' in the fifth line. 
4.6. Chapter 111, III. Point 5b) 
Delete 'quimicos' in the Portuguese text after 'preserv­
atives'. (English version non affected.) 
No C 332/62 Official Journal of the European Communities 31. 12. 90 
4.7. Chapter III, IV. Point 2c) 
Point 2c) should be reworded to read: 
'c) marinated or salted herring and other species 
likely to contain nematodes, where this process is 
insufficient to destroy the nematodes.' 
4.8. Chapter IV, 1. Point 3 
Amend to read 'an inspection at regular and frequent 
intervals.' 
Done at Brussels, 19 September 1990. 
1. Introduction 
The Commission has recently published a proposal 
for general health rules for animal (including fishery) 
products and 14 specific proposals establishing rules for 
individual products or group of products. The present 
proposal is to give temporary exemptions under strictly 
defined conditions from parts of the specific proposals 
but not from the general ones. 
(>) OJ No C 84, 2. 4. 1990, p. 100. 4.9. Chapter IV, II. Point 2B) 
This point is of doubtful practical application, since it 
does not indicate how the acceptable daily intake is 
established. 
4.10. Chapter VI 
A reference should be made to the need to conform 
with EEC Directive 396/89 on indications or marks 
identifying the lot to which a foodstuff belongs, which 
has now entered into force. 
4.11. Chapter VI, 1. First indent 
The Committee suggest that the temperature be indi­
cated. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE 
2. General comments 
2.1. This proposal is very necessary as many pro­
ducers have problems and will need time to bring their 
operations up to modern standards. The Committee 
therefore approves it in principle, but some points in it 
need to be reconsidered. In particular: 
2.1.1. There is considerable doubt whether the tens 
of thousands of applications involved can be processed 
in the time available. Furthermore in practice the pro­
posed timing (by 1 January 1992) is likely tot be imposs­
ible. Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision on the conditions for granting temporary 
and limited derogations from specific Community health rules on the production and 
marketing of products of animal origin (*) 
(90/C 332/17) 
On 21 February 1990 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee 
under Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture and Fisheries, which was responsible for preparing the Com­
mittee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 12 July 1990. The Rapporteur was 
Mr Gardner. 
At its 279th plenary session (meeting of 19 September 1990) the Economic and Social 
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously.