Opinion on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on the maintenance of national laws prohibiting the use of certain additives in the production of certain foodstuffs

(95/C 301/12)

On 7 June 1995 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article 100a of the Treaty establishing the European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal.

The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 11 July 1995. The Rapporteur was Mr Gardner, Co-Rapporteurs were Mr Colombo and Mr Koopman.

At its 328th Plenary Session (meeting of 13 September 1995), the Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion.

1. General comments

1.1. This proposal is to allow Member States to continue national prohibitions against addition of additives to certain 'traditional foods'.

1.2. These prohibitions date from the days when the composition of foods was not known in detail. We now know that these foods naturally contain many of the ingredients which are now classed as additives if added separately. We cite two examples of foods in this proposal:

1.2.1. Traditional (and all other) cheeses contain:

E 300 ascorbic acid or Vitamin C

E 330 citric acid a food acid

E 270 lactic acid a food acid

E 280 propionic acid a food acid and preservative

E 340 potassium phosphate a phosphate

E 332 potassium citrate a salt of citric acid

E 333 calcium

citrate one of the calcium salts which make milk a major source of calcium for the human body.

E 341 calcium

phosphate ditto

E 322 lecithin an emulsifier

E 471 mono- and

di-glycerides

of fatty acids emulsifiers

E 160(a) â-carotene a food colour

And many other 'E' compounds.

1.2.2. Traditional (and all other) beers contain many other 'E' compounds including:

E 220 sulphur dioxide a preservative which is produced during the brewing process.

1.3. On the other hand, the Committee notes that preservatives can continue to be added to some traditional foods where this is currently the practice.

1.4. The Commission rightly says that there are no health grounds for justifying this proposal. As far as consumer information is concerned there is also no justification for it. Any ingredients actually added to the foods have to be declared as they are for all other foods.

1.5. Finally, the protection of traditional foods is already covered by the Regulation on Certification of Specific Character () and the one on Geographical Denomination ().

1.6. The Committee considers that steps must be taken to prevent Member States from using prohibitions for protectionist purposes.

1.7. For this reason, the Committee only accepts the proposal provided it is modified as shown below.

2. Specific comments

2.1. Article 1

In order to give clear information to the consumer on traditional products and to safeguard freedom of establishment and free product movement, the following have to be added to Article 1:

a)

To benefit from protection under this measure, products must be labelled with the words:

- in the tradition,

- the name of the country,

- and the product name,

e.g. Bread in the French tradition,

Feta in the Greek tradition,

Beer in the German tradition (subject to 2.2.2.1).

b)

The Article and the Recitals have to spell out clearly that products so labelled can be manufactured in any Member State, subject to the provisions of the two Regulations referred to in point 1.5.

c)

The Article and the Recitals have to spell out clearly that products not labelled with all these three elements (i.e. tradition, country, product name) have to conform to the normal rules for additives, composition, etc.

d)

Member States must not put any administrative and regulatory obstacles in the way of such products.

2.2. Annex

2.2.1. There are some translation problems in the denominations of the Annex. The products should all be labelled in the same way as French bread in the original French text: i.e. 'pain de tradition française', which could be translated as 'bread in the French tradition'. Therefore all other foods should be changed to reflect the example chosen for French bread, e.g. beer in the German tradition.

2.2.2. The names in the second column should be changed as follows:

Germany Beer in the German tradition

Greece Feta cheese in the Greek tradition

France Bread in the French tradition

France Preserved truffles in the French tradition

France Preserved snails in the French tradition

France Goose, duck and turkey ('confit') in the French tradition

Austria Bergkaese in the Austrian tradition

Finland Maemmi in the Finnish tradition

2.2.2.1. In German, the following description can be used in place of 'Beer in the German tradition': 'Bier nach deutschem Reinheitsgebot gebraut'.

This is the term traditionally used in the German language and recognized by the consumer.

2.2.3. It would appear that not all items in the Commission's list strictly fulfil the criterion of having been part of national law before 1 January, 1992. This applies for instance to 'Bread in the French tradition'. The Commission should check this point.

Done at Brussels, 13 September 1995.

The President

of the Economic and Social Committee

Carlos FERRER

() Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 of 14. 7. 1992, OJ No L 208, 24. 7. 92.

() Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14. 7. 1992, OJ No L 208, 24. 7. 1992.