WRITTEN QUESTION E-2065/99 by Umberto Bossi (TDI) to the Commission. Proposal to amend the directive on honey intended for human consumption.
Date: 1999-11-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: apiculture, approximation of laws, common organisation of markets, consumer information, consumer protection, designation of origin, directive (EU), honey, labelling, marketing, product quality, standard

21.11.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 330 E/5

In July 1998 the Commission approved a (cid:145)Vademecum on grant management(cid:146) applicable from
3.
1 January 1999. Chapter 4 deals with the (cid:145)Criteria for accepting applications and awarding grants(cid:146). Among
the award criteria that selection committees and authorising officers are enjoined to take into account
is 4.5.8:

Proposed operations which, directly or indirectly, conflict with the policies of the Union or may be
linked with an unsuitable image must be rejected. For example, all grants for projects that may be
contrary to the interests of public health (alcohol, tobacco, drugs), respect for human rights, people(cid:146)s
security, freedom of expression, etc, are prohibited.

At present, commitments of appropriations by authorising officers are subject to an ex-ante visa by
financial control. Thus, applications for grants are vetted, successively, by the budget line manager, the
selection committee, the authorising officers and financial control.

To answer this question, the Commission has contacted the Honourable Member to obtain the

5.
information referred to in paragraph 1 above.

The new Financial Regulation could include a title covering the award of subsidies, which
4. and 6.
would define the concept, in particular with respect to contracts, and the conditions of award. For the
purposes of openness, the new title would lay down the rules for the award of subsidies (legal basis,
programme, ex-ante publication and ex-post information, need for a written contract).

In addition to checks on recipients of subsidies by the Court of Auditors, it will organise checks by the
institution which granted the subsidy (the authorising department will be required to monitor the use
made of it, make sure the recipient maintained the conditions of eligibility, assess whether the results are
in conformity with the objectives, and carry out an overall assessment of results).

These rules are intended to ensure proper and transparent use of Community funds in compliance with
procedures.

(2000/C 330 E/005)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2065/99

by Umberto Bossi (TDI) to the Commission

(12 November 1999)

Subject: Proposal to amend the directive on honey intended for human consumption

For several years now, the Commission has been discussing new Community and extra-Community rules
governing the marketing of honey, but has failed to make any meaningful progress on the matter despite
the fact that the current legislation contains various shortcomings as regards the product(cid:146)s commercial
description. The basic provisions of the latest proposal to amend the directive on honey are extremely
unsatisfactory in that they do not promote quality, do not lay down minimum requirements to be met in
order for a product to be given the name (cid:145)honey(cid:146), do not protect consumers against possible adulteration,
do not lay down stringent rules governing honey derived from genetically modified substances and do not
promote Community honeys and typical local honeys. What is more, the proposal does not even consider
honey to be a characteristically agricultural product.

Given the above, would the Commission state:

1. whether, given the fact that honey clearly is of agricultural origin, it does not feel it appropriate to

make the Directorate-General for Agriculture responsible for this sector;

2. whether it would not agree that honey should be regulated by means of a separate COM laying down

clear rules governing its production;

3. whether it would not agree that minimum quality standards should be laid down and that only

products which comply with those standards should be entitled to bear the name (cid:145)honey(cid:146);

C 330 E/6

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

21.11.2000

4. whether it would not agree that clear criteria should be laid down to enable specific quality indications

to be used;

5. whether it would not agree that rules should be introduced to ensure that consumers are given clear
information on the origin of honey, its packaging and best-before dates and the presence of any
chemical contaminants or GMOs;

6. why Italian producers have not yet been granted the certificate of specific character requested for pure

virgin honey ((cid:145)miele vergine integrale(cid:146))?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 January 2000)

Given the sector(cid:146)s situation in the Community and the present state of knowledge of apiculture it would be
inappropriate to create a new market organisation specifically for honey. At present competence for
legislation on honey is shared between the Directorate-General for Agriculture, which is responsible for
honey production in the same way as for other agricultural products (Council Regulation (EC) No 1221/97
laying down general rules for the application of measures to improve the production and marketing of
honey (1)) and the Directorate-General for Enterprise, which is responsible for management of Council
Directive 74/409/EEC on harmonisation of the laws of the Member States relating to honey (2),
in
particular the rules on composition,
labelling and honey names. This Directive was included in the
simplication programme covering a number of Directives on foodstuffs decided on by the Edinburgh
European Council in 1992.

In 1996 the Commission presented a proposal (3) for a Directive simplifying and replacing Directive
74/409/EEC. Not yet adopted by the Council, it sets a number of criteria that honey must meet if it is to
like the abovementioned Directive, allows
be marketed under that name.
producers
and
information
regional territorial topographical origin. Moreover names of honey having a specific character can also
be protected under Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92 on protection of geographical indications and
designations of origin for agricultural products and foodstuffs or Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 on
certificates of specific character for agricultural products and foodstuffs (4).

In addition the proposal,

supplement

product

name

floral

plant

the

on

by

its

to

On labelling, in response to Parliament(cid:146)s opinion given in May 1999 the Commission decided to amend its
proposal in order to make it compulsory for the label to indicate the origin of honey if it comes from a
non-Community country. The proposed Directive also makes applicable Council Directive 79/112/EEC (5)
on labelling and presentation of
foodstuffs, the provisions of which cover indication of minimum
durability.

Parliament and Council Regulation (EC) No 258/97 concerning novel foods and novel food ingredients (6)
imposes specific additional labelling requirements designed to ensure that the final consumer is properly
informed, in particular of the presence of food ingredients produced from genetically modified organisms.

The application for a certificate of specific character for miele vergine integrale is at present under
information was
discussion between the Italian authorities and the Commission. The latest additional
received in October 1999.

(1) OJ L 173, 1.7.1997. Regulation amended by Regulation (EC) No 2070/98 (OJ L 265, 30.9.1998).
(2) OJ L 221, 12.8.1974. Directive amended by the 1985 Act of Accession.
(3) COM(95) 722 final.
(4) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992. Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 was amended by the 1994 Act of Accession.
(5) OJ L 33, 8.3.1979. Directive last amended by Parliament and Council Directive 97/4/EC (OJ L 43, 14.2.1997).
(6) OJ L 43, 14.2.1997.