WRITTEN QUESTION P-0357/98 by Sebastiano Musumeci (NI) to the Commission (6 February 1998)

Subject: Toxic coating on Spanish oranges

In 1993, when border checks on goodswere abolished within the European Union, Spanish oranges began to flood the Italian markets, heightening the crisis already affecting Italian farmers and turning Spain into Italy's fiercest and most dangerous exporting rival.

For reasons of technology and economic convenience, 95% of Spanish producers use a substance to process and preserve oranges which contains resins converted with maleic anhydride and esterified with pentaerythritol. These food additives used by Spanish producers are not included in the European Parliament and Council Directive (95/2/EC) ((OJ L 61, 18.3.1995, p. 1. )) on food additives other than colours and sweeteners used as protective coatings on fruit, which has been incorporated into the laws of all EU Member States.

At its 108th plenary session in September 1997, the Scientific Committee for Food stated that use of this product was not authorized owing to inadequate toxicological information and the fact that the necessary studies would take at least a further 5 years to complete. In a note dated 24 November 1997, Mr Peter Wagstaffe, official in charge of the Directorate-General for Consumer Policies in Brussels, rejected the idea of including the substance used by Spanish producers among those authorized at European level.

Will the Commission therefore state what action it will take as a matter of urgency to ban exports to Italy and other European countries of Spanish oranges treated with the abovementioned toxic agents? What penalties will it impose on the Spanish authorities for unacceptable and repeated violations of the Community directives, which are all the more serious when one considers the health hazard to consumers?

Answer given by Mr Bangemann on behalf of the Commission (10 March 1998)

The Commission understands and takes account of the issue raised by the Honourable Member.

A number of wood rosin derivatives have been examined by the scientific committee on food. It had been made clear that while some of these could be temporarily acceptable in well defined circumstances (this is namely the case for partially hydrogenated wood rosin and partially hydrogenated wood rosin modified by maleic acid), rosin modified by maleic anhydride and esterified with pentaerythrol was considered unacceptable for food use due to the lack of adequate toxicological data and the uncertainty regarding the specifications. These opinions were issued in September 1997.

In the light of the foregoing, the Commission did not propose the inclusion of any of these substances in the lists of additives legally authorised through Parliament and Council Directive 95/2/EC on food additives other than colours and sweeteners.

It should be borne in mind that since this Directive is now completely in application, only those substances explicitly listed in its Annexes (principle of the positive list) may be used in foodstuffs. All other substances used for this purpose are therefore excluded.

From a legal point of view, a detailed study must now be carried out in order to verify whether the matter raised constitutes an infringement of the above Directive or other Community rules. Therefore, the Commission is collecting all necessary information for an in-depth examination.