WRITTEN QUESTION E-2066/99

by Umberto Bossi (TDI) to the Commission

(12 November 1999)

Subject: Private storage aid for cheese under Regulation (EEC) No 2659/94

For several years now, the Italian Ministry for Agriculture and the bodies coming under its authority have been discriminating against some producers of PDO Grana padano cheese by

preventing them from benefiting directly from the private storage aid available under Regulation (EEC) No 2659/94(1). This has led to substantial loss of income for such producers and hampered their ability to compete freely in the marketing of their products. Even after the entry into force of new Community and national provisions on PDO and PGI products, the consorzi di tutela (regulatory bodies) have, against payment, continued to certify cheeses subject to such certification as being of sound, merchantable quality, without having the right to do so and, furthermore, without inspecting them when they are placed in storage. This situation has continued even after Ministry of Agriculture authorisation was granted to private certification firms and the Central Anti-Fraud Office.

Given the above, would the Commission state:

1. whether it is aware of this situation;

2. whether individual producers or groups of producers may benefit directly from the aid available under Regulation (EEC) 2659/94;

3. whether the precedence given to the consorzi di tutela over the authorised private certification firms should not be deemed to undermine the independence and freedom to compete of those firms;

4. whether the consorzi di tutela meet the requirement that bodies responsible for certifying PDO and PGI products must be third parties;

5. whether it would not agree that action should be taken against the Italian Government in view of the manifest irregularities which have arisen during implementation of the provisions of Regulations (EEC) 2081/92(2) and 2659/94?

(1) OJ L 284, 1.11.1994, p. 26.

(2) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 1.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(8 December 1999)

In the absence of concrete, detailed information on the matter, the Commission is not in a position to give a full and final response regarding the complaints made by the Honourable Member.

Nevertheless, the Commission wishes to clarify the following points concerning the relationship between Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 of 14 July 1992 on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs, and Commission Regulation (EC) No 2659/94 of 31 October 1994 on detailed rules for the granting of private storage aid for Grana padano, Parmigiano-Reggiano and Provolone cheeses, cited by the Honourable Member, as regards the protected designation of origin grana padano.

Under Article 10 of Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, An inspection structure may comprise one or more designated inspection authorities and/or private bodies approved for that purpose by the Member State. The designated inspection authorities must offer adequate guarantees of objectivity and impartiality and have at their disposal the necessary staff and technical resources. In addition, from 1 January 1998 private bodies must fulfil the requirements laid down in standard EN 45011.

However, fulfilling the requirements of this standard does not necessarily confer on a private body the right to certify products with the grana padano protected designation of origin. Article 10 gives national authorities a certain flexibility when designating inspection authorities for each protected name. Consequently, the Commission could not require the Italian authorities to approve any private body that fulfils requirements laid down in standard EN 45011, as meeting this standard does not in itself confer any rights.

The Italian authorities have designated the private body CSQA (Certificazione qualità agroalimentare) to carry out the inspection of production of this cheese.

Quite clearly, if the cheese were not inspected by CSQA, it could not bear the grana padano name and consequently no aid under Regulation (EC) No 2659/94 could be claimed.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 2659/94, private storage aid for grana padano cheeses may be granted to any natural or legal person able to prove ownership of the cheeses in private storage and complying with the regulation, and in particular the undertakings mentioned in Article 3 point (d).

If the Honourable Member considers that these requirements were not fulfilled, the Commission would be grateful if he could pass on any concrete evidence to prove this, to allow the appropriate proceedings to be initiated within the limits of and in accordance with the powers available to the Commission under the principle of subsidiarity.