WRITTEN QUESTION E-2981/00

by Armando Cossutta (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(20 September 2000)

Subject: Italian typical products and Community rules

Italian typical products, which are a major economic resource, are currently seriously threatened by the arbitrary and restrictive nature of the Community's rules and regulations on foodstuffs.

The prestige and quality of such products, which are not aimed at the mass market, depends on the use of traditional ingredients and production methods. These methods date back centuries and it is certain that changing them would result in inferior products that no longer retained their original distinctive taste and other features and hence their historical authenticity and market value.

Typical products account for less than 10 % of Italy's agricultural output, but generate a market that employs some 300 000 workers and contributes ITL 12 000 billion to that country's GDP; it is inevitable, therefore, that any crisis in that sector would cause serious problems for employment and the economy as well as having the effect of standardising consumer tastes and eliminating variety and freedom of choice in relation to food.

1. Does the Commission agree that the rules governing the methods of producing certain foodstuffs should also take account of their special and exceptional features?

2. Does the Commission agree that, at a time of accelerating globalisation and standardisation to the detriment of quality, there are cultural reasons as well as economic and employment-related reasons for preserving the typical characteristics of products?

3. What changes does the Commission intend to make to its own rules to ensure they do not destroy for ever niche products such as these?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(25 October 2000)

By proposing as part of the reform of the common agricultural policy that defining aspects of agricultural production should be taken into account, the Commission not only guaranteed a future for specific features and production methods but also responded to the expectations of the consumers, who are increasingly attracted by specific and identifiable products.

Council Regulations (EEC) Nos 2081/92 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs(1) and 2082/92 on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs(4) permit the use of quality labels to identify and protect agricultural production directed towards quality, particularly where this is based on the reputation of the ingredients and the traditional method of manufacture.

The Commission agrees with the Honourable Member that in an age of standardisation the safeguard of typical products linked to local areas not only assists the agricultural economy but is also important for rural development. Giving typical products a special status helps promote a diversified agriculture and so support a viable rural society throughout the Community. This protects the traditions and culture of certain geographical areas.

With regard to the changes that the Commission intends to make to existing rules, it must be stressed that the Community has first to promote its agricultural development model and to develop its areas and products. This is the aim of the current negotiations within the World Trade Organisation. The Community thus intends to defend the creation of a multilateral register for any agricultural product which has a specific link with its area of production.

The Commission is aware that certain elements of the food hygiene legislation were considered, in certain Member States, to be too stringent with regard to the production of traditional food. The rules on food hygiene are laid down in Council Directive 93/43/EEC of 14 June 1993, on general food hygiene(2) in force since 1995. However, on 14 July 2000, the Commission adopted a set of proposals that aim to consolidate and simplify the existing food hygiene rules(3). These proposals, once adopted, would leave as a matter of subsidiarity a possibility for the Member States to adapt the hygiene requirements to take account of traditional production methods. This offers a great flexibility and represents a tool for the Member States to tune the food hygiene requirements in such a way that they perfectly fit with the needs of the sectors concerned.

(1) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992.

(2) OJ L 175, 19.7.1993.

(3) COM(2000) 438 final.

(4) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992.