WRITTEN QUESTION P-1157/01 by Francesco Speroni (TDI) to the Commission. Protected designation of origin (PDO) products: use of additives and preservatives in cheese-making.
Date: 2001-04-03
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: consumer protection, designation of origin, food additive, hard cheese, product designation

C 318 E/216

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

13.11.2001

(2001/C 318 E/236)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1157/01

by Francesco Speroni (TDI) to the Commission

(3 April 2001)

Subject: Protected designation of origin (PDO) products: use of additives and preservatives in cheese-

making

Aware that:

(cid:129) the rules and specifications laid down for the production of Grana Padano DOC (controlled origin
denomination) cheese do not provide for the use of preservatives and, more particularly, the additive
E1105 (lysozyme),

(cid:129) paragraph 2D of Ministerial Decree 209/1996, which implements Community Directives 94/34/EC (1),
94/35/EC (2), 94/36/CE (3), 95/2/EC (4) and 95/31/EC (5) by laying down rules on additives, specifies
that an additive may be used provided it is not used to conceal the use of inferior raw materials or
undesirable practices or techniques (including unhygienic practices),

(cid:129) the preservative E1105 (lysozyme) is used in the production of Grana Padano DOC cheese because it
makes it possible to use milk that does not comply with the hygiene standards laid down in Directive
92/46/EEC (Annex A, Chapter IV) (6),

(cid:129) the Italian Minister of Health has confirmed, in a note of 18 June 1999 sent to the Commission (DG
XXIV), that almost all the Italian milk that does not comply with those standards is used for the
production of Grana Padano DOP or Parmigiano Reggiano DOP,

(cid:129) the CSQA (body for the Certification of Quality Systems in the Agri-Food sector), the only certifying
body recognised by the Italian government for the certification of Grana Padano, allows the addition
of lysozyme as a preservative in its inspection plan even though it is not allowed by the production
specifications for Grana Padano DOP.

In view of the foregoing,

(cid:129) Can the use of the preservative E1105 be allowed even if there is no express provision for its use in
the rules and specifications for the production of Grana Padano DOP, or has the Commission granted
special exemptions?

(cid:129) Is the use of lysozyme not regarded as an obvious subterfuge to allow DOP cheese to be made from

milk that does not meet the requirements laid down in Directive 92/46/EC?

(cid:129) Does the Commission regard lysozyme as completely innocuous to consumers(cid:146) health?

(1) OJ L 237, 10.9.1994, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 237, 10.9.1994, p. 3.
(3) OJ L 237, 10.9.1994, p.13.
(4) OJ L 61, 18.3.1995, p. 1.
(5) OJ L 178, 28.7.1995, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992, p. 1.

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(15 May 2001)

Lysozyme is an enzyme which occurs naturally at low levels in milk. It may, therefore, be used in the
production of Grana Padano cheeses.

European Parliament and Council Directive No 95/2/EC of 20 February 1995 on food additives other than
colours and sweeteners authorises the use of lysozyme as an additive in cheeses following the quantum
satis principle. Quantum satis means that no maximum level is specified. However, the additive must be
used in accordance with good manufacturing practice, at a level not higher than is necessary to achieve the
intended purpose, and provided that the consumer is not misled.

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Official Journal of the European Communities

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According to Council Directive 89/107/EEC of 21 December 1988 on the approximation of the laws of
the Member States concerning food additives authorised for use in foodstuffs intended for human
consumption (1), a food additive may be used only if, inter alia, it assists in the manufacture, processing,
treatment, packing, transport or storage of food, and provided that it is not used to disguise the effects of
the use of faulty raw materials or of undesirable (including unhygienic) practices or techniques during the
course of any of these activities.

It should be noted that the product specification for the (cid:145)Grana Padano(cid:146) protected designation of origin
(PDO) states that the milk is to be coagulated by adding natural siero-innesto and/or enzymes.

The use of lysozyme in the production of (cid:145)Grana Padano(cid:146) and (cid:145)Parmigiano Reggiano(cid:146) cheeses is, therefore,
possible within the limits described above and does not in itself constitute a breach of Community law.

In any event, Council Directive 92/46/EEC of 16 June 1992 laying down the health rules for the
production and placing on the market of raw milk, heat-treated milk and milk-based products (2) prohibits
the use of milk failing to meet the criteria laid down in the Directive for the purpose of producing cheeses.

(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989.
(2) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992.

(2001/C 318 E/237)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1162/01

by Charles Tannock (PPE-DE) to the Commission

Subject: Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy

(19 April 2001)

Would the Commission agree that the most obvious deficiency in the Treaty of Nice in terms of its
preparing the European Union for enlargement was its complete failure to address the need for
thoroughgoing reform of both the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the current distribution of
structural funds?

If so, and bearing in mind the extremely thoughtful comments of Commissioner Fischler on the need for
urgent reform of the CAP, as well as the calls from a number of senior political figures in both Britain and
Germany to this effect over recent weeks, has the Commission considered the advantages of effectively
nationalising the CAP so that each country would be free to protect its farmers and rural communities
(subject to rules over competition and State aid regarding exports to other EU States) but where taxpayers
from some Member States would no longer be required to subsidise the agricultural sectors of other
Member States, thus reducing at a stroke many of the problems associated with the entry of large new
agricultural States such as Poland to the EU, the high levels of fraud and wasteful subsidy associated with
the current regime and reducing considerably the anti-European feeling that has been generated in Britain
and Germany, in particular, over the hugely inequitable budget contributions of those countries over a long
period of time, largely as a result of the distortions of the Common Agricultural Policy?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2001)

It is the Commission(cid:146)s view that the Treaty of Nice met the tasks that the Intergovernmental Conference
(IGC) set itself, namely the institutional preparation of the Union for enlargement. Furthermore, it would
have been too early to have had a sound discussion on the further development of two key policies of the
Union. This is, nevertheless, an important debate that will have to take place in developing the next
financial perspective.

The Honourable Member(cid:146)s question raises three aspects of renationalisation (cid:129) responsibility for policy
implementation, budgetary costs and financial control.