WRITTEN QUESTION E-2724/02

by Rosa Miguélez Ramos (PSE) to the Commission

(30 September 2002)

Subject: The term sardine

The World Trade Organisation Panel special working party has recently supported Peru against the European Union with regard to the trade name of sardines. Within the Community, Peru may now market the sardinops sagax under the name sardine. This fish, found off the Peruvian and Chilean coast, is not the same as the sardina pilchardis found in the north-west Atlantic. European consumers will be confused by this, since they will be sold as sardines a product different from what they have hitherto known as sardines.

What steps has the Commission taken to prevent this?

What action does it intend to take?

Answer given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(13 November 2002)

The World Trade Organisation (WTO) Appellate Body has published on 26 September 2002 its report relating to the commercial name of canned sardines in the Community. In that report, the Appellate Body confirms an earlier report of the WTO Panel ruling in favour of Peru, in the sense that Regulation (EEC) No 2136/89 of the Council of 21 June 1989 laying down common marketing standards for preserved sardines(1) is inconsistent with Article 2.4. of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. The aforementioned conclusion derives from the fact that the Community Regulation is not based on the relevant international standard, i.e., the Codex Standard for canned sardines and sardine-type products(2).

According to the report of the Panel, confirmed by the Appellate Body, Article 2 of the Community Regulation prohibits the marketing of tins of 20 species of fish, including the species Sardinops sagax, under the name sardines, even when this name is accompanied by one of the denominations stipulated in the Codex standard. For this reason,

a contradiction exists between the Community Regulation and the mentioned standard. In its conclusions, the Appellate Body recommends that the dispute settlement body (DSB) request the Communities to bring the Regulation into conformity with its obligations under the Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreement.

The Commission is disappointed with the WTO ruling, as the Commission places great importance in the promotion of market transparency and product quality through a clear labelling of foodstuffs. The Commission, in particular, considers that the name under which a product is sold must be clear enough to let the purchaser know its true nature and distinguish it from other products with which it might be confused.

In any event, the Commission remains fully committed to its international obligations and it will actively work towards compliance with the WTO ruling, while ensuring at the same time that the Community marketing rules for preserved sardines and related fish species achieve a high standard of consumer protection and avoid any possible risk of misleading. In this regard, the Commission would like to recall that the Codex Standard provides that the name sardines be exclusively reserved to fish of the species Sardina Pilchardus Walbaum. The trade description of other species may include the name sardine only if accompanied by an appropriate qualifying term.

(1) OJ L 212, 22.7.1989.

(2) Codex STAN 94-1981, Rev 1-1985.