WRITTEN QUESTION E-2304/01 by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission. Danish measures to ban the import as from 2003 of fruit and vegetables containing residues of plant protection products, the use of which is prohibited in Denmark.
Date: 2001-07-31
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Denmark, fruit, import restriction, marketing restriction, national law, plant health product, vegetable, waste

C 115 E/58

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

16.5.2002

The Commission has set up a working party of experts from Member States in order to undertake a broad
study on the harmonisation of microbiological criteria relevant to each food category. This working party’s
findings will be incorporated into a draft Community Regulation, as proposed by Article 6 of the Proposal
for a Regulation on the hygiene of foodstuffs (3), adopted by the Commission on 14 July 2000 and
forwarded to the Council and the Parliament.

(1) OJ L 395, 30.12.1989.
(2) OJ L 268, 14.9.1992.
(3) OJ C 365 E, 19.12.2000.

(2002/C 115 E/062)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2304/01

by Jan Mulder (ELDR) to the Commission

(31 July 2001)

Subject: Danish measures to ban the import as from 2003 of fruit and vegetables containing residues of

plant protection products, the use of which is prohibited in Denmark

The Danish government is considering introducing a ban as from 2003 on imports of fruit and vegetables
that contain residues of plant protection products, the use of which is prohibited in Denmark. The
background to this measure is apparently that the European Commission will not conclude its evaluation/
assessment of authorised plant protection products by 2003. This assessment will probably not be
completed until 2007. The Danish measures would apply until then.

Can the Commission confirm whether Denmark’s plans are consistent with Community consumer

1.
protection policy?

2.

Does the Commission regard measures of this kind as a distortion of the internal market?

Can the Commission say whether the Danish government’s plans will create difficulties within the

3.
WTO?

European supermarket chains also intend to impose similar requirements. Is it authorised, within the
4.
framework of European legislation on supermarket chains (or other market operators), to refuse products
in such a case?

If the Commission does not agreed with the Danish plans, how does it intend to cover the period

5.
from 2003 to 2007?

Answer given by Mr Byrne on behalf of the Commission

(29 October 2001)

The Commission does not have details of the specific measures under consideration in Denmark, nor of
how they will be implemented in practice. Two separate sets of Community legislation are involved.

The first is Council Directive 91/414/EEC of 15 July 1991 on the placing of plant protection products on
the market (1). This provides that an evaluation of the active substances that were on the market in 1993
be completed by 2003. The Commission recently submitted a report to the Parliament and the Council on
this process (2). Many substances will not have been evaluated by 2003 (2008 is a more likely completion
date). It is not clear whether Denmark will ban the uses of those substances whose evaluations will not
have been completed.

16.5.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 115 E/59

The second set of legislation concerns Council Directive 76/895/EEC of 23 November 1976 relating to the
fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on fruit and vegetables (3), Council Directive
86/362/EEC of 24 July 1986 on the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on cereals (4),
Council Directive 86/363/EEC of 24 July 1986 on the fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in
and on foodstuffs of animal origin (4) and Council Directive 90/642/EEC of 27 November 1990 on the
fixing of maximum levels for pesticide residues in and on certain products of plant origin, including fruit
and vegetables (5) which allow maximum levels of residues (MRLs) of pesticides to be set at Community
level in food of plant and animal origin. The Community is progressively setting MRLs for each of the 835
substances of plant protection products for each of the about 150 commodities on the market. The
legislation provides that, pending the setting of a Community MRL, Member States may establish
national MRLs. Some Member States already have a zero tolerance policy for non-authorised pesticides
that have not yet had MRLs fixed at Community level.
It is not clear whether Denmark will take
this approach for those substances whose evaluations will not have been completed under Directive
91/414/EEC.

In the absence of specific details, the Commission is not in a position to state whether Denmark’s

1.
plans are consistent with Community consumer protection policy.

In the absence of specific details, it is similarly difficult to give a precise answer. Unilateral action by
2.
one Member State in this area could cause distortions of the market and care would need to be taken to
avoid this. It follows from the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice that the import and marketing of
foodstuffs lawfully produced and marketed in another Member State may only be restricted, in the absence
of harmonisation, by such rules where they are necessary, proportionate and the means of achieving the
objective which least hinders trade. In this context, the Commission would like to draw attention to the
fact that such a ban as described by the Honourable Member may > depending on its content > have to
be notified in draft form either under Council Regulation (EEC) 315/93, of 8 February 1993 laying down
Community procedures for contaminants in food (6), or Directive 98/34/EC of
the Parliament and
information in
of
the field of technical standards and regulations (7).
In such cases the Commission may examine the
proposed measures to verify that they conform with Community legislation in force and do not distort
the market.

laying down a procedure for the provision of

the Council, of 22 June 1998,

In the absence of specific details, it is again difficult to give a precise answer. Denmark would have to

3.
respect its World Trade Organisation (WTO) obligations in taking any measures.

4.

Supermarket chains are free to fix their quality criteria when entering into contracts with suppliers.

The Commission will, later this year, submit a proposal to consolidate and amend the above residues
5.
directives. The proposal will include the possibility to prevent the presence of residues of substances whose
uses are not permitted in the Community, whilst respecting WTO obligations. The details are still under
discussion with Member States and other stakeholders but they would include transitional measures to
cover the period 2003-2007.

(1) OJ L 230, 19.8.1991.
(2) COM(2001) 444 final.
(3) OJ L 340, 9.12.1976.
(4) OJ L 221, 7.8.1986.
(5) OJ L 350, 14.12.1990.
(6) OJ L 37, 13.2.1993.
(7) OJ L 204, 21.7.1998.