WRITTEN QUESTION E-1458/99 by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission. Functional foods.
Date: 1999-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer information, dietary product, labelling, margarine, marketing

C 219 E/4

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

1.8.2000

(2000/C 219 E/005)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1456/99

by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: Functional foods

Can the Commission explain its objections to the new Unilever cholesterol-lowering margarine which was
initially approved by the Novel Foods Committee in the Netherlands?

(2000/C 219 E/006)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1457/99

by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: Functional foods

Does the Commission feel that it is justified to delay the launch of the Unilever cholesterol-lowering
margarine, considering that a similar product made by Raisio in Finland is already on the market in
Finland and will be marketed in several EU countries by McNiels?

(2000/C 219 E/007)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1458/99

by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: Functional foods

Does the Commission believe that the Finnish brand of cholesterol-lowering margarine, produced by
Raisio, should be investigated further now that concerns have been raised over the launch of Unilever(cid:146)s
equivalent brand?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-1455/99, E-1456/99, E-1457/99 and E-1458/99
given by Mr Liikanen on behalf of the Commission

(15 October 1999)

The Commission does not intend to propose new Community provisions for the labelling of so-called
(cid:145)functional foods(cid:146). This category does not currently exist in Community law, and the products concerned
are therefore subject to the general provisions of Council Directive 79/112/EEC of 18 December 1978 (1)
on the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs for sale to the ultimate consumer.

In 1997, Unilever submitted in the Netherlands a request for placing on the Community market a yellow
fat spread with added phytosterol-esters, under Regulation (EC) No 258/97 of the Parliament and of the
Council of 27 January 1997 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients (2). Unilever must have
considered that its product was not substantially equivalent to the product made in Finland by Raisio, as it
did not invoke Article 3(4) of Regulation (EC) No 258/97 which lays down an abbreviated procedure for
products which are substantially equivalent to existing foods or food ingredients.

The Commission itself did not
the Dutch
authorities concerning the Unilever product. Reasoned objections were however presented by several
Member States; hence an authorisation can only be granted under the procedure laid down in Article 13 of

formulate objections to the initial assessment report of

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Official Journal of the European Communities

C 219 E/5

Regulation (EC) No 258/97. As the objections presented by the Member States related to public health, the
Commission consulted the scientific committee for food, in accordance with Article 11 of Regulation
(EC) No 258/97. The opinion of the scientific committee for food is currently awaited.

As far as the Raisio product is concerned, the Honourable Member is invited to refer to the answer given
by the Commission to written question P-1506/99 by Mr Mulder (3).

(1) OJ L 33, 8.2.1979.
(2) OJ L 43, 14.2.1997.
(3) OJ C 203 E, 18.7.2000, p. 4.

(2000/C 219 E/008)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1502/99

by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 September 1999)

Subject: The Commission(cid:146)s intentions concerning rules on the dumping of waste carpet materials

The RECAM (Recycling of Carpet Materials) project has recently been completed after three years. The
project was supported by the Commission via BRITE-EURAM programmes. The main conclusion was that
if, in the next few years, there are European rules to put an end to the possibility of the uncontrolled
dumping of waste carpet materials, a European system for the recycling of more than 1 million tonnes of
carpet waste can be set up.

Is the Commission aware of the conclusion of the RECAM project, which it has helped to finance,

1.
and does it subscribe to it?

Does the Commission have any specific plans to introduce rules on the lines described above and, if

2.
so, what are these plans and what timescale is involved?

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(22 October 1999)

In Europe each year some 1,6 million tonnes of carpet waste ends up in landfills or in municipal waste
incinerators. Within the Community there is a growing pressure to stimulate material, chemical, and
thermal recycling of waste. These were main objectives of the RECAM (REcycling of CArpet Materials)
research project, funded under the Community Industrial and material technology (IMT) (Brite-Euram)
programme. The RECAM research project attained valuable technical results that show potential for
industrial application with promising environmental benefits, due to an estimated reduction of the carpet
waste management costs and of the use of non-renewable fossil fuels, and to a recovery and reuse of high-
quality materials. With the aim of implementing the RECAM results and in view of a sustainable waste
management system, carpet industries founded the organisation (cid:145)Carpet Recycling Europe(cid:146) (CRE). CRE is
announced to be active until the year 2000, but its duration might be extended. According to the
information available, CRE is currently realising a demonstration installation for identification and sorting
of carpet materials.

The Commission is of the opinion that the creation and development of markets for recycled materials is
first of all to be done by private economic operators. The Commission is ready to assist and contribute, if
there is need, to such a development, which might even lead, after careful examination, to regulatory
activities. In order to discuss all questions of recycling and of promoting the recycling industry, the
Commission set up, in 1999, the Recycling forum which is due to submit a final report and suggestions at
the end of 1999. No specific request for discussing the recycling of carpets has yet been presented to the
Recycling forum and no detailed discussion on the recycling of carpets has yet taken place.