Proposal for a Council Directive relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption

(96/C 231/04)

COM(95) 722 final - 96/0115(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 30 May 1996)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 43 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas certain vertical Directives relating to foods should be simplified in order to take account only of the essential requirements to be met by the products they cover in order that those products may move freely within the internal market, in accordance with the conclusions of the European Council held in Edinburgh on 11 and 12 December 1992, confirmed by those of the European Council in Brussels on 10 and 11 December 1993;

Whereas attention should be paid to the drafting of Community law so as to make it more accessible, in accordance with the guidelines emerging from the Council Resolution of 8 June 1993 (1);

Whereas Council Directive 93/77/EEC of 21 September 1993 relating to fruit juices and similar products (2) was intended to codify Directive 75/726/EEC;

Whereas Directive 75/726/EEC had been justified by the fact that differences between national laws concerning fruit juices and nectars intended for human consumption could result in conditions of unfair competition likely to mislead consumers, and thereby have a direct effect on the establishment and functioning of the common market;

Whereas Directive 75/726/EEC had consequently laid down common rules governing composition, use of reserved descriptions, manufacturing specifications and labelling of the products concerned, in order to ensure their free movement within the Community;

Whereas Directive 93/77/EEC should be recast in order to bring it into line with general Community legislation on foodstuffs, particularly legislation on labelling and authorized additives, sweeteners and colouring matter;

Whereas the general food-labelling rules set out in Council Directive 79/112/EEC (3), as last amended by Commission Directive 93/102/EC (4), should apply subject to certain derogations;

Whereas the addition of vitamins to the products defined by this Directive is permitted in some Member States; whereas, however, the extension of this possibility to the whole of the Community is not envisaged; whereas, therefore, Member States are free to authorize or prohibit the addition of vitamins as part of the manufacturing process; whereas in all circumstances, however, the principle of the free movement of products within the Community should be observed in accordance with the rules and principles laid down in the Treaty;

Whereas, pursuant to the principle of proportionality, this Directive limits itself to what is necessary in order to achieve the objectives, in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 3b thereof;

Whereas the Commission should be given the power to effect future adaptations to this Directive, acting via the consultation procedure within the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs;

Whereas, to avoid creating new barriers to free movement, Member States should refrain from adopting more detailed rules or rules not covered by this Directive for the products in question,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

Article 1

This Directive shall apply to the products defined in Annex I.

Article 2

Member States may authorize the addition of vitamins to the products defined in Annex I.

Article 3

Directive 79/112/EEC shall apply to the products defined in Annex I, subject to the following conditions:

1. The product names listed in Annex I shall apply only to the products referred to therein and must be used in trade to designate them.

Moreover, the product names set out in Annex III may be reserved by interested Member States.

2. If the product comes from a single type of fruit, the name of the latter shall be substituted for the word 'fruit`.

3. For products manufactured from two or more fruits, the product names shall be supplemented by a list of the fruits used, in descending order of the weight of the fruit juices or purée included. However, in the case of products manufactured from three or more fruits, the indication of the fruits used may be replaced by the words 'several fruits` or a similar wording, or by the number of fruits used.

4. For fruit juices which have been sweetened by the addition of sugars, the labelling shall include the word 'sweetened` or 'with added sugar`, followed by the indication of the maximum quantity of sugar added, calculated as dry matter and expressed in grams per litre.

5. The restoration to its original state, by means of the substances strictly necessary for this operation:

- of fruit juice from a concentrated fruit juice,

- of a fruit purée from concentrated fruit purée,

and the restoration of flavour, aroma and minerals:

- to concentrated fruit juice, dried fruit juice and nectar,

shall not entail an obligation to enter on the labels a list of the ingredients used for those purposes.

6. For fruit juice and nectar obtained entirely or partly from a concentrated product the labelling must bear the words 'based on concentrated. . .` plus the name of the concentrated product used. That information must be entered close to the sales description, standing out well from any background, in highly visible characters.

7. For fruit nectars, the labelling shall indicate the actual minimum content of fruit juice, fruit purée or any mixture of those ingredients, by the declaration 'fruit content: . . . % minimum`. That information must be located in the same field of vision as the sales description.

Article 4

Member States shall refrain from adopting more detailed national provisions or provisions not covered by this Directive for the products in question.

Article 5

Only the treatments and substances listed in Annex I, Part II, and the raw materials complying with Annex II may be used to manufacture the products defined in Annex I, Part 1. Moreover, fruit nectars shall comply with the provisions of Annex IV.

Article 6

Any adaptations necessary to bring this Directive into line with general Community rules on foodstuffs and adapt it to technical progress shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 7.

Article 7

The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing Committee for Foodstuffs, hereinafter referred to as 'the Committee`, composed of representatives of the Member States and chaired by a representative of the Commission.

The representative of the Commission shall submit to the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The Committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft, within a time limit which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by taking a vote.

The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall be entitled to ask for its position to be recorded in the minutes.

The Commission shall take the utmost account of the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform the Committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

Article 8

Directive 93/77/EEC is hereby repealed with effect from 1 October 1997.

References to the repealed Directive shall be construed as references to this Directive.

Article 9

Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive before 1 October 1997. They shall immediately inform the Commission thereof.

The provisions shall be applied so as to:

- authorize the marketing of the products defined in Annex I if they conform to the definitions and rules laid down in this Directive, with effect from 1 October 1997,

- prohibit the marketing of products which fail to conform to this Directive, with effect from 1 April 1998.

However, the marketing of products which fail to conform to this Directive and labelled before 1 October 1997 in accordance with Directive 93/77/EEC shall be permitted until stocks are exhausted.

When Member States adopt these provisions, these shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such reference at the time of their official publication. The procedure for such reference shall be adopted by Member States.

Article 10

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 11

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.

(1) OJ No C 166, 17. 6. 1993, p. 1.

(2) OJ No L 244, 30. 9. 1993, p. 23.

(3) OJ No L 33, 8. 2. 1979, p. 1.

(4) OJ No L 291, 25. 11. 1993, p. 14.

ANNEX I

PRODUCT DESCRIPTIONS, DEFINITIONS AND CHARACTERISTICS

I. DEFINITIONS

1. Fruit juice

(a) The fermentable but unfermented product obtained from fruit which is sound and ripe, fresh or preserved by chilling, of one or more kinds mixed together, having the characteristic colour, aroma and flavour typical of the juice of the fruit from which it comes.

In the case of citrus fruits, the fruit juice shall come from the endocarp. Lime juice, however, may be obtained from the whole fruit, by suitable production processes whereby the proportion of constituents of the outer part of the fruit is reduced to a minimum.

(b) Also describes the product obtained by returning, to the concentrated fruit juice, the proportion of water extracted from that juice during concentration, and the flavour restored by means of flavourings recovered during concentration of the fruit juice in question or of fruit juice of the same type. The water added must display appropriate characteristics, in such a way as to guarantee the essential qualities of the juice. The product thus obtained must display organoleptic and analytical characteristics equivalent to those of juice obtained from fruits of the same type within the meaning of item (a).

2. Concentrated fruit juice

The product obtained from fruit juice of one or more kinds by the physical removal of a specific proportion of the water content. Where the product is intended for direct consumption that removal will be of at least 50 %.

3. Dehydrated fruit juice

The product obtained from fruit juice of one or more kinds by the physical removal of virtually all the water content.

4. Fruit nectar

(a) Describes the fermentable, but not fermented, product obtained by adding water and sugars and/or honey to the products defined in points 1, 2 and 3 to the fruit purée or to a mixture of those products, that product, moreover meeting the requirements of Annex 4.

The addition of sugars and/or honey is permitted up to 10 % of the total weight of the finished product.

Where fruit nectars are manufactured without sugar or with low-energy value, sugars may be replaced wholly or partially by sweeteners, in accordance with Directive 94/35/EEC (1).

(b) By way of exemption from (a), fruits listed in points II and III of Annex 4 and apricots can be used, individually or mixed together, to manufacture nectars without the addition of sugar, honey and/or sweeteners.

II. AUTHORIZED ADDITIONS, TREATMENTS AND SUBSTANCES

1. Authorized additions

- For products referred to in points 1 (b), 2, 3, and 4, fruit juice aromas and minerals must be restored by means of volatile aromatic substances, recovered by means of concentration or dehydration of the original fruit juice, or of fruit juice of the same kind.

- For products referred to in 1, 2 and 3, other than pear or grape juice, the addition of sugars is authorized.

- For regulating acidity, the quantity of sugars added, expressed as dry matter, may not exceed 15 g per litre of juice.

- For sweetening purposes the quantity of sugars added, expressed as dry matter, may not exceed 150 g per litre of juice.

- For products referred to in points 1, 2, 3 and 4, in order to regulate acidity, the addition of lemon juice and/or concentrated lemon juice up to 3 g per litre of juice, expressed as anhydrous citric acid, is authorized.

The addition of sugars and lemon juice, whether concentrated or not, to the same fruit juice is prohibited.

2. Authorized treatments and substances

- The mechanical extraction processes.

- The physical processes and treatments. The use of certain processes and treatments may be limited or prohibited in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 5.

- Diffusion processes for the manufacture of fruit juices other than grape, citrus fruit, pineapple, pear, peach and apricot juice, intended for the manufacture of concentrated fruit juices, provided that concentrated juices thus obtained comply with point I 1 of Annex 1 as regards fruit juices obtained from concentrated fruit juices.

- Pectolytic enzymes.

- Proteolytic enzymes.

- Amylolytic enzymes.

- Inert filtration adjuvants which comply with Community directives on materials and objects in contact with foodstuffs.

(1) OJ No L 237, 10. 9. 1994, p. 3.

ANNEX II

DEFINITIONS OF RAW MATERIALS

For the purposes of this Directive, the following definitions shall apply:

1. Fruit

All fruits. For the purposes of this Directive, tomatoes are not regarded as fruit.

2. Fruit purée

The fermentable but unfermented product obtained by sieving the edible part of whole or peeled fruit without removing the juice.

3. Concentrated fruit purée

The product obtained from fruit purée by the physical removal of a specific proportion of its water content.

4. Sugars

(a) For the production of fruit juice and nectars:

- sugars as defined by Directive 73/437/EEC,

- fructose,

- sugars derived from fruits.

(b) For the production of juices not made from concentrated juices, 'sugars` means the sugars listed in (a) containing less than 2 % water.

ANNEX III

PARTICULAR DESIGNATIONS

(a) 'Vruchtendrank`, for fruit nectars.

(b) 'Suessmost`, for fruit nectars obtained exclusively from fruit juices, concentrated fruit juices or a mixture of these products inedible in the natural state because of their high natural acidity.

(c) - 'succo e polpa`, for fruit nectars obtained exclusively from fruit purée and/or concentrated fruit purée,

- 'sumo e polpa`, for fruit nectars obtained exclusively from fruit juice and fruit purée and/or concentrated fruit purée.

(d) 'AEblemost`, for apple juice with no added sugar.

(e) 'Sur . . . saft`, together with the name (in Danish) of the fruit used, for juices with no added sugar and obtained from blackcurrants, cherries, redcurrants, whitecurrants, raspberries, strawberries or elderberries.

'Soed . . . saft` or 'soedet . . . saft` together with the name (in Danish) of the fruit used, for juices obtained from the abovementioned fruits, with more than 200 g of added sugars per litre.

ANNEX IV

SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO FRUIT NECTARS

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