WRITTEN QUESTION E-2065/99

by Umberto Bossi (TDI) to the Commission

(12 November 1999)

Subject: Proposal to amend the directive on honey intended for human consumption

For several years now, the Commission has been discussing new Community and extra-Community rules governing the marketing of honey, but has failed to make any meaningful progress on the matter despite the fact that the current legislation contains various shortcomings as regards the product's commercial description. The basic provisions of the latest proposal to amend the directive on honey are extremely unsatisfactory in that they do not promote quality, do not lay down minimum requirements to be met in order for a product to be given the name honey, do not protect consumers against possible adulteration, do not lay down stringent rules governing honey derived from genetically modified substances and do not promote Community honeys and typical local honeys. What is more, the proposal does not even consider honey to be a characteristically agricultural product.

Given the above, would the Commission state:

1. whether, given the fact that honey clearly is of agricultural origin, it does not feel it appropriate to make the Directorate-General for Agriculture responsible for this sector;

2. whether it would not agree that honey should be regulated by means of a separate COM laying down clear rules governing its production;

3. whether it would not agree that minimum quality standards should be laid down and that only products which comply with those standards should be entitled to bear the name honey;

4. whether it would not agree that clear criteria should be laid down to enable specific quality indications to be used;

5. whether it would not agree that rules should be introduced to ensure that consumers are given clear information on the origin of honey, its packaging and best-before dates and the presence of any chemical contaminants or GMOs;

6. why Italian producers have not yet been granted the certificate of specific character requested for pure virgin honey (miele vergine integrale)?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 January 2000)

Given the sector's situation in the Community and the present state of knowledge of apiculture it would be inappropriate to create a new market organisation specifically for honey. At present competence for legislation on honey is shared between the Directorate-General for Agriculture, which is responsible for honey production in the same way as for other agricultural products (Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97 laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and marketing of honey(1)) and the Directorate-General for Enterprise, which is responsible for management of Council Directive 74/409/EEC on harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to honey(2), in particular the rules on composition, labelling and honey names. This Directive was included in the simplication programme covering a number of Directives on foodstuffs decided on by the Edinburgh European Council in 1992.

In 1996 the Commission presented a proposal(3) for a Directive simplifying and replacing Directive 74/409/EEC. Not yet adopted by the Council, it sets a number of criteria that honey must meet if it is to be marketed under that name. In addition the proposal, like the abovementioned Directive, allows producers to supplement the product name by information on its floral plant and regional territorial topographical origin. Moreover names of honey having a specific character can also be protected under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs or Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 on certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs(4).

On labelling, in response to Parliament's opinion given in May 1999 the Commission decided to amend its proposal in order to make it compulsory for the label to indicate the origin of honey if it comes from a non-Community country. The proposed Directive also makes applicable Council Directive 79/112/EEC(5) on labelling and presentation of foodstuffs, the provisions of which cover indication of minimum durability.

Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 258/97 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients(6) imposes specific additional labelling requirements designed to ensure that the final consumer is properly informed, in particular of the presence of food ingredients produced from genetically modified organisms.

The application for a certificate of specific character for miele vergine integrale is at present under discussion between the Italian authorities and the Commission. The latest additional information was received in October 1999.

(1) OJ L 173, 1.7.1997. Regulation amended by Regulation (EC) No 2070/98 (OJ L 265, 30.9.1998).

(2) OJ L 221, 12.8.1974. Directive amended by the 1985 Act of Accession.

(3) COM(95) 722 final.

(4) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992. Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 was amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.

(5) OJ L 33, 8.3.1979. Directive last amended by Parliament and Council Directive 97/4/EC (OJ L 43, 14.2.1997).

(6) OJ L 43, 14.2.1997.