WRITTEN QUESTION P-3155/00 by Francesco Speroni (TDI) to the Commission. Certificate of specific character (guaranteed traditional speciality ‐ TSG) for Italian untreated comb honey.
Date: 2000-10-02
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Italy, honey, interest group, product designation, product quality, quality label, transparency in decision-making

C 136 E/196

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

8.5.2001

(2001/C 136 E/228)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3155/00

by Francesco Speroni (TDI) to the Commission

(2 October 2000)

Subject: Certificate of specific character (guaranteed traditional speciality (cid:129) TSG) for Italian untreated comb

honey

In 1994 supporting documents relating to untreated comb honey (i.e. honey that drips naturally from the
comb) were complied to enable the product to qualify for the description provided for in Regulation (EEC)
No 2082/92 (1). The papers, which were attached to the standard application for a TSG certificate, were
sent to the Italian Ministry of Agriculture, which forwarded them to the Commission on 8 September
1995. Initial approval from Directorate-General VI was not forthcoming until early 1997, and, once the
approval had been obtained, the application was duly passed on to DG III, then responsible for honey.
Following various requests, DG III eventually delivered a favourable opinion at the end of August 1999. In
his letter of 28 March 2000 to a number of Italian Members of Parliament, the Commission President,
Romano Prodi, informed them that the procedure had been concluded and the registration application in
question should accordingly be published in the Official Journal within the next few days. In September
2000, however, the Member of the Commission responsible for agriculture, Mr Fischler, indicated that the
application for registration of untreated comb honey would be published in the Official Journal as soon as
the Council had finally adopted the new Community directive on honey.

Can the Commission therefore say:

(cid:129) what made Mr Prodi and Mr Fischler issue official statements so grossly at variance, thereby causing

great bewilderment among Italian producers and undermining the public image of the Commission;

(cid:129) what the reasons are for the successive delays which have prevented a TSG certificate from being

granted in respect of Italian untreated comb honey;

(cid:129) whether it is obliged on binding legal grounds to postpone the award of the TSG label and make it
subject to adoption of the new directive on honey or whether its decision is purely a matter of
expediency or has been brought about solely by political pressure;

(cid:129) how it views the unremitting pressure being exerted by the big food companies to prevent Italian

honeys being recognised in any way as typical products with their own specific identity?

(1) OJ L 208, 24.7.1992, p. 9.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(26 October 2000)

Since the Commission was unable to consider the application for registration under existing legislation,
untreated comb honey has not, until now, received protection for its specific character (TSG) under
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2082/92 of 14 July 1992 on certificates of specific character for agricultural
the directive in force does not stipulate that descriptions may be
products and foodstuffs.
supplemented by indications referring to specific quality standards. However, this possibility is planned in
the amendment to the directive that has yet to be adopted by the Council. Furthermore, certain parameters
set out in the specifications of the dossier (total acidity for example) did not correspond to standards
established by the former directive on honey. The Italian authorities have also been asked to provide
clarification regarding certain aspects of the dossier.

Indeed,

These reasons are an explanation for the delay, however we are now making up some lost ground, since
agreement on an amendment to the Directive on honey was reached by the Council in May 2000.

We are currently awaiting Parliament(cid:146)s opinion, on the basis of which the Council will be able to adopt the
amended text of the Directive allowing (cid:145)untreated comb honey(cid:146) as an approved designation. It will then be
possible to make progress regarding the certificate of specific character for honey.