Commission Regulation (EC) No 1791/2002 of 9 October 2002 approving operations to check conformity with the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables carried out in Morocco prior to import into the European Community
Date: 2002-10-09
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Morocco, fresh fruit, fresh vegetable, import, marketing standard, product quality

10.10.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

L 272/7

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1791/2002

of 9 October 2002

approving operations to check conformity with the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit
and vegetables carried out in Morocco prior to import into the European Community

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28
October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in
fruit and vegetables (1), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No
545/2002 (2), and in particular Article 10 thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001 of 12 June
2001 on checks on conformity to the marketing stan-
dards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables (3), as
amended by Regulation (EC) No 2379/2001 (4),
lays
down that
the Commission may approve checking
operations performed by certain third countries which
so request prior to import
in
compliance with the conditions laid down in Article 7 of
Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001.

into the Community,

On 2 August 2001 the Moroccan authorities sent the
for the approval of checking
Commission a request
operations performed by the Etablissement Autonome de
Contrôle et de Coordination des Exportations (EACCE)
under the responsibility of the Minister for Agriculture,
Rural Development, Water and Forests. This states that
the EACCE has the necessary staff, equipment and facil-
ities to carry out checks, that it uses methods equivalent
to those referred to in Article 9 of Regulation (EC) No
1148/2001 and that
the fresh fruit and vegetables
exported from Morocco to the Community meet the
Community marketing standards.

The information sent by the Member States to the
Commission shows that, in the period 1997 to 2000,
the incidence of non-conformity with marketing stan-
dards among imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from
Morocco was relatively low.

For a number of years representatives of the Moroccan
inspection body have been regular participants at various
seminars and training activities organised by different
Member States. They have also occasionally participated
in international efforts to agree marketing standards for

(1) OJ L 297, 21.11.1996, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 84, 28.3.2002, p. 1.
(3) OJ L 156, 13.6.2001, p. 9.
(4) OJ L 321, 6.12.2001, p. 15.

fruit and vegetables, such as the Working Party on Stan-
dardisation of Perishable Produce and Quality Develop-
ment of the United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE).

On the basis of the information gathered, conformity
with the marketing standards should be considered to be
satisfactorily met, the approval provided for in Article 7
of Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001 should be granted and
the official authority and the
inspection body in
Morocco should be designated.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,

(5)

(6)

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Checks on conformity with marketing standards carried out by
Morocco on fresh fruit and vegetables from Morocco are hereby
approved in accordance with Article 7(1) of Regulation (EC) No
1148/2001.

Article 2

the official authority in Morocco under
The particulars of
whose responsibility the checking operations are performed
and of the inspection body in charge of carrying out those
checks, as referred to in Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No
1148/2001, are given in Annex I to this Regulation.

Article 3

This Regulation shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.

It shall apply from the date of publication in the C series of the
Official Journal of the European Communities of the notice referred
to in Article 7(8) of Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001, relating to
the establishment of administrative cooperation between the
Community and Morocco.

L 272/8

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

10.10.2002

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels, 9 October 2002.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

ANNEX

Official authority referred to in Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001:

Minister for Agriculture, Rural Development, Water and Forests
Quartier Administratif
Place Abdallah Chefchouani
BP 607
Rabat
Morocco
Tel. (212-37) 76 36 57/76 05 29
Fax (212-37) 76 33 78
E-mail: webmaster@madprm.gov.ma

Inspection body referred to in Article 7(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001:

Etablissement Autonome de Contrôle et de Coordination des Exportations (EACCE)
Angle Boulevard Mohamed Smiha et Rue Moulay Mohamed El Baâmrani
Casablanca
Morocco
Tel. (212-22) 30 51 04/30 51 73/30 50 91/30 51 95
Fax (212-22) 30 51 68
E-mail: eacce@eacce.org.ma