OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on the maintenance of national laws prohibiting the use of certain additives in the production of certain foodstuffs
Date: 1995-09-13
Institutions: European Economic and Social Committee
Subjects: exclusion from treatment (EU), food additive, foodstuff, labelling, national law













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51995AC0973

OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision on the maintenance of national laws prohibiting the use of certain additives in the production of certain foodstuffs  


Official Journal C 301 , 13/11/1995 P. 0043 





Opinion on the proposal for a European Parliament and  Council Decision on the maintenance of national laws prohibiting the use of certain additives in  the production of certain foodstuffs(95/C 301/12)On 7  June 1995 the Council decided to  consult the Economic and Social Committee, under Article  100a of the Treaty establishing the  European Community, on the above-mentioned proposal. The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which was  responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 11  July  1995. The Rapporteur was Mr Gardner, Co-Rapporteurs were Mr Colombo and Mr  Koopman. At its 328th Plenary Session (meeting of 13  September 1995), the Economic and Social Committee  unanimously adopted the following Opinion. 1. General comments1.1. This proposal is to allow Member States to continue national  prohibitions against addition of additives to certain 'traditional foods'. 1.2. These prohibitions date from the days when the composition of foods was not known in detail.  We now know that these foods naturally contain many of the ingredients which are now classed as  additives if added separately. We cite two examples of foods in this proposal: 1.2.1. Traditional (and all other) cheeses contain: E 300 ascorbic acid or Vitamin CE 330 citric acid a food acidE 270 lactic acid a food acidE 280  propionic acid a food acid and preservativeE 340 potassium phosphate a phosphateE 332 potassium  citrate a salt of citric acidE 333 calciumcitrate one of the calcium salts which make milk a  major source of calcium for the human body. E 341 calciumphosphate dittoE 322 lecithin an emulsifierE 471 mono- anddi-glyceridesof fatty  acids emulsifiersE 160(a) â-carotene a food colourAnd many other 'E' compounds. 1.2.2. Traditional (and all other) beers contain many other 'E' compounds including: E 220 sulphur dioxide a preservative which is produced during the brewing process. 1.3. On the other hand, the Committee notes that preservatives can continue to be added to some  traditional foods where this is currently the practice. 1.4. The Commission rightly says that there are no health grounds for justifying this proposal. As  far as consumer information is concerned there is also no justification for it. Any ingredients  actually added to the foods have to be declared as they are for all other foods. 1.5. Finally, the protection of traditional foods is already covered by the Regulation on  Certification of Specific Character () and the one on Geographical Denomination (). 1.6. The Committee considers that steps must be taken to prevent Member States from using  prohibitions for protectionist purposes. 1.7. For this reason, the Committee only accepts the proposal provided it is modified as shown  below. 2. Specific comments2.1. Article  1In order to give clear information to the consumer on  traditional products and to safeguard freedom of establishment and free product movement, the  following have to be added to Article  1: a)To benefit from protection under this measure, products must be labelled with the words: - in the tradition, - the name of the country, - and the product name, e.g. Bread in the French tradition, Feta in the Greek tradition, Beer in the German tradition (subject to 2.2.2.1). b)The Article and the Recitals have to spell out clearly that products so labelled can be  manufactured in any Member State, subject to the provisions of the two Regulations referred to in  point 1.5. c)The Article and the Recitals have to spell out clearly that products not labelled with all these  three elements (i.e. tradition, country, product name) have to conform to the normal rules for  additives, composition, etc. d)Member States must not put any administrative and regulatory obstacles in the way of such  products. 2.2. Annex2.2.1. There are some translation problems in the denominations of the Annex. The  products should all be labelled in the same way as French bread in the original French text: i.e.  'pain de tradition française', which could be translated as 'bread in the French tradition'.  Therefore all other foods should be changed to reflect the example chosen for French bread, e.g.  beer in the German tradition. 2.2.2. The names in the second column should be changed as follows: Germany Beer in the German traditionGreece Feta cheese in the Greek traditionFrance Bread in the  French traditionFrance Preserved truffles in the French traditionFrance Preserved snails in the  French traditionFrance Goose, duck and turkey ('confit') in the French traditionAustria Bergkaese  in the Austrian traditionFinland Maemmi in the Finnish tradition2.2.2.1. In German, the following  description can be used in place of 'Beer in the German tradition': 'Bier nach deutschem  Reinheitsgebot gebraut'. This is the term traditionally used in the German language and recognized by the consumer. 2.2.3. It would appear that not all items in the Commission's list strictly fulfil the criterion of  having been part of national law before 1  January, 1992. This applies for instance to 'Bread in  the French tradition'. The Commission should check this point. Done at Brussels, 13  September 1995. The Presidentof the Economic and Social CommitteeCarlos FERRER() Council  Regulation (EEC) No  2082/92 of 14. 7. 1992, OJ No L 208, 24.  7.  92.  () Council Regulation (EEC) No  2081/92 of 14.  7.  1992, OJ No L 208, 24. 7. 1992.