WRITTEN QUESTION E-2400/98

by Marjo Matikainen-Kallström (PPE) to the Commission

(27 July 1998)

Subject: Packaging of fish products

The Commission has taken the decision to prohibit the packaging and preservation of fish products in anything other than plastic containers. However, there are traditional specialities which have for many years been prepared, packed and preserved in particular kinds of container, often made of wood. One such product is the Swedish surströmming (fermented Baltic herring) which has been prepared for centuries in a very small area according to an old tradition. Its production and sales capacity are very small; it could almost be classified as a small enterprise, which is now in danger of dying out as a result of the Commission directive which prohibits commercial production in this traditional manner.

Has the Commission considered granting an exemption for surströmming and other similar traditional delicacies? Has the Commission taken into account the problems which arise for such specialist products when it drafts a directive, and the effects of the directive on the production and sale of traditional foods? What does the Commission propose to do to prevent these small undertakings and the people indirectly employed by them - e.g. fishermen - from being unjustifiably placed in difficulties?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(24 September 1998)

The provisions of Directive 91/493/EEC laying down the health conditions for the production and the placing on the market of fishery products(1) contain no explicit requirement to use plastic barrels, nor to provide a cement floor. It is for the national authority to judge whether the floor meets the Directive's hygiene objectives.

Chapter III of the Annex to this Directive, which sets out general conditions for establishments on land states at point 2(a) that these establishments must have, "in areas where products are handled, prepared and processed: a) waterproof flooring which is easy to clean and disinfect and laid down in such a way as to facilitate the drainage of the water or provided with equipment to remove the water."

Chapter IV(6)(c) and Chapter VI(2) of the Annex state, respectively, that "6 Salting c) Any container used for salting or brining must be constructed in such a way as to preclude contamination during the salting or brining process" and 2 Packaging materials and products liable to enter into contact with fishery products must comply with all the rules of hygiene, and in particular:

- they must not be such as to impair the organoleptic characteristics of the fishery products;

- they must not be capable of transmitting to the fishery products substances harmful to human health;

- they must be strong enough to protect the fishery products adequately.

There is no intention in Community legislation in this area to undermine production of a traditional Swedish delicacy, as long as it complies with the rules on food hygiene. The above cited provisions leave the Swedish authorities sufficient scope for interpretation in applying these rules, and the Commission therefore believes that the principle of subsidiarity has been respected.

(1) OJ L 268, 24.9.1991.