No C 180/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 8. 7. 87 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 79/693/EEC on the 
approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades 
and chestnut puree (*) 
(87/C 180/09) 
Acting under Article 198 of the EEC Treaty, the Council asked the Economic and Social 
Committee on 27 January 1987 for an Opinion on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Committee instructed its Section for Agriculture to prepare its work on the matter. The 
Section adopted its Opinion, based on the oral report made by the rapporteur, Mr Proumens, 
on 7 May 1987. 
The Committee adopted the following Opinion, by a unanimous vote, at its 246th plenary 
session held on 13 and 14 May 1987 (meeting of 13 May): 
1. General observations 
1.1. The Committee notes with interest the sub­
mission of the draft Directive, updating certain data in 
Directive 79/693/EEC. Broadly, the proposed amend­
ments are in accordance with recognized technological 
developments. 
1.2. The Committee does, however, note that the 
Commission has based the draft Directive solely on 
Article 43 of the Treaty. The Committee would point 
out that the Commission based the recent draft Direc­
tive on fruit juices and certain similar products 
(75/726/EEC) on both Articles 43 and 100 of the Treaty. 
The Committee finds it hard to explain the different 
treatment given to two similar and concurrent draft 
Directives. 
1.3. The Committee expresses its concern over the 
proposed change in the way in which the Standing 
Committee on Foodstuffs operates, and in particular 
the proposed abolition of the vote by the Committee 
on matters referred to it by the Commission. 
1.3.1. This change would give additional powers to 
the Commission since the parties involved in the consul­
tation would no longer be able to express a majority 
view. 
1.4. The proposed new Article 13 of Directive 
79/696/EEC would abolish the majority vote proviced 
for in Article 13 (2) and leave it to the Commission to 
assess the views expressed in the Standing Committee's 
Opinion. It would no longer be absolutely certain 
whether the matter referred met with the approval of 
the majority of the economic and social interest groups, 
including consumers. 
2. Specific observations 
2.1. Ninth recital 
2.1.1. The Committee draws attention to the need 
to correct the wording of this recital in order to bring 
it into line with the amendment proposed in Arti­
cle 1 (15) of the Directive. The wording should be 
amended to read as follows: '... not only of 'extra' jams 
but also of jams made from certain red fruit'. 2.2. Article 1 (3) 
2.2.1. The Committee wishes to point out, first of 
all, that the sulphur dioxide referred to is not used to 
preserve the finished product, it is a residue of a fruit 
preservation process employed prior to jam production 
and authorized for jams and jellies not classified as 
'extra'. 
2.2.2. Although consumers are right to be concerned 
about the effects which sulphur dioxide may have on 
the human organism, the quantities liable to be found 
in the products covered by the current draft Directive 
are minimal, as is clear from the production process 
referred to above. 
2.2.3. The accumulation of this sulphur dioxide in 
various foodstuffs and in various non-processed agricul­
tural products may, however, pose a problem. 
2.2.4. The Committee therefore considers that the 
Commission should encourage manufacturers to 
remove sulphur dioxide from foodstuffs, inasmuch as 
this is possible (perhaps the compulsory inclusion of 
sulphur dioxide in the list of ingredients is an incentive 
in itself). The Committee also urges the Commission 
to consider drawing up a draft Directive on traces and 
residues resulting from the processing of agricultural 
products into foodstuffs. This draft Directive would 
include a specimen residue accumulation table based 
on a normal diet. Such a Directive could be prepared 
by the Scientific Committee for Food as part of its 
current work. 
2.2.5. If the proposed wording is retained, consider­
ation should, in the Committee's view, be given to 
setting margins of tolerance and the Commission should 
obtain assurances from the Member States that their 
national authorities have the technical and administra­
tive resources to carry out the inspections. 
2.3. Article 1 (13) 
(*) COM(86) 747 final. 2.3.1. The Committee proposes that the words 'if 
appropriate' be inserted before the words 'with the 
^BD^ COfficialjournal of the European Communities ^od^Bi9 
endocarp removedu This would bring the provision 
into line with manufacturing processes currently author 
ri^ed in a number of member states and with the 
practice in some Aiember states ^arising^ in particulars 
from the fact that this type of product is produced by 
small and mediumsi^edfirms^ 
^m A^A^^ 
^.L The Committee considers that the conditions 
of use with regard to pectin and amidated pectin should 
beamendedtoreadasfollows^ ^thefinishedproduct 
must notcontain more than 1^ of pectins amidated 
pectin orami^ture of these two products^ 
^. The Committee stresses the need to retain con 
sistency between the new provisions set out in the draft 
Directive under review and draft Directive ^^B^^BEEC 
on the inspection of foodstuffs^, 
^, The Committee underlines the difficulties en 
countered with the term^marmalade5This is not just 
a problem of vocabulary. It is rather a problem of 
semantics involvings to be more precised the interpret 
ation of the word in the various member states. 
^.L In this particular case the problem is complP 
cated by the fact that the word ^marmalade^ is used in 
^o^De^^^m^^D^ 
Done at Brussels^ 13 ^viay 19^, the various Commuhitylanguages — theonlydifferD 
encebeingoneortwoletters — but because of well 
established foodtraditionsit refers to different prod 
nets. 
^.^. The Committee therefore proposes thatatable 
be inserted in the draft Directive setting out^ opposite 
the definitions given in Directive 79^93BEEC^alist of 
the various corresponding terms currently used in the 
various member states. 
^,7, The Commission should make provision for 
consumer information on this matter in order to avoid 
confusion over the understandings ofaword which is 
verysimilarinthevariouslanguagesandinorderto 
preventconsumers becomingfrustratedordistrustful 
with regard to the product in question. 
^. This issue is very important in ^pain and l^ortu 
gal^ where there are many jam and marmalade manufac 
turing plants andtheseare^forthemostpart^small 
family businesses. 
The Committeestresses theneedfor the wordingof 
this Article to be the same in all Community languages.