WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1408/96 by Gianni TAMINO to the Council. Allocation of the PDO designation to mushrooms
Date: 1996-06-18
Institutions: European Parliament, TAMINO
Subjects: agricultural product, designation of origin, foodstuff, location of production, mushroom-growing, product quality, restriction on competition













EUR-Lex - 91996E1408 - EN






Avis juridique important




|



91996E1408

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1408/96 by Gianni TAMINO to the Council. Allocation of the PDO designation to mushrooms  


Official Journal C 356 , 25/11/1996 P. 0037 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1408/96 by Gianni Tamino (V) to the Council (18 June 1996)Subject: Allocation of the PDO designation to mushroomsThe Council is due to discuss a Commission proposal for a regulation drawing up a list for the allocation of the PDO (protected designation of origin) to various European products. The list also includes mushrooms (such as the boletus mushrooms Boletus edulis, Boletus aestivalis, Boletus pinophilus and boletus aereus) which are supposed to be 'typical' of certain areas, but which do not appear in the annexes to the earlier Regulation No 2081/92. Mushrooms of this kind are not products which can be grown by man, but grow wild all over the world. Furthermore, it has not been possible as yet to find a scientific method for determining the geographical origin of a boletus, which goes to show that the same mushroom has the same characteristics everywhere.The allocation of the PDO to certain areas where these mushrooms are picked would seriously damage those areas for which an application has not been submitted to the Commission, even if the mushrooms concerned have the same characteristics.Does the Council consider that this kind of mushroom is a product suitable for the allocation of a PDO on the basis of the criteria set out in Regulation No 2081/92 ((OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 1. ))? What characteristics must a mushroom have to be included in the list?How is the origin of mushrooms to be checked in order to prevent fraud?What instruments exist to prevent excessive use of the PDO from jeopardizing the principles of competition?Reply (14 October 1996)By Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 the Council established a Community system on the protection of geographical indications and designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs.In that Regulation the Council entrusts the management of the system to the Commission. In accordance with Article 17(2) the Commission recently registered the names communicated by the Member States and legally protected at national level or established by custom.The procedure established for stopping the registration of these names requires a regulatory committee to deliver an opinion on the Commission draft. Failing a favourable opinion from the committee, the Commission is obliged to submit its proposal to the Council.In the case in point the Commission submitted to the Council on 15 March 1996, pursuant to the above procedure, a proposal for the registration of 318 products under geographical indications and designations of origin.At its meeting on 20 and 21 May 1996 the Council noted that it was unable to adopt or to amend the Commission proposal. In that case the procedure provides for the measures to be adopted by the Commission after a period of three months.The Council is therefore unable to intervene in respect of a specific product which, in accordance with the Council Regulation, has been assessed by the Commission and has undergone the approval procedure.