WRITTEN QUESTION P-3853/02 by Francesco Fiori (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Exports of Grana Padano cheese to Switzerland.
Date: 2002-12-23
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Switzerland, bilateral agreement, export (EU), food inspection, hard cheese, product quality, research body, suspension of customs duties, trade agreement

14.8.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 192 E/141

(2003/C 192 E/177)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3853/02

by Francesco Fiori (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(23 December 2002)

Subject: Exports of Grana Padano cheese to Switzerland

A decree passed by the Swiss Confederation (‘RS 632 110 411: Decree on Switzerland/EC cheese imports’)
states that Grana Padano cheese is exempted from customs duties and quotas provided its water content
does not exceed 33,2 %.

In November 2002, entry was refused to certain consignments of Grana Padano (aged at least 16 months
and with a water content of either 34,1 % or 34,8 %).

It appears from past and present records of the Italian authorities and research institutes that no Grana
Padano samples aged 16 months or more have exhibited a water content in excess of 33,2 % (cid:1) unless
there has been a deliberate decision when preparing the sample for analysis to remove a large part of both
the crust and the soft cheese under it. The latter elements are, as is well known, edible components of
Grana Padano, and it follows that any analysis must take them into account.

A contrastive analysis cannot be made on the basis of a single sample, and the existing sampling procedure
for all frontier checks in the EU requires the contrastive taking of samples together with the party
concerned, or his delegate, and the subdivision of the sample into six equal lots, of which one or two are
left with the exporter company, one is sent for analysis, and the remainder are kept so that further checks
can be made in case of complaint.

Can the Commission confirm:

(cid:1) whether the Swiss customs authorities are requiring only a single sample (a wedge-shaped slice cut
from the centre, with crust on both sides and weighing approximately 1,5 kg) for the laboratory
checks to determine whether the water content of the Grana Padano concerned complies with the
international standard FIL-IDF 4a:1982;

(cid:1) whether this procedure is in fact the reflection of a deliberate policy of gradual but constant import

reduction, with particular regard to Grana Padano;

(cid:1) whether the procedure could therefore be considered a form of ‘indirect protectionism’ running

counter to the basic rules of free trade between nations?

Supplementary answer
given by Mr Lamy on behalf of the Commission

(12 March 2003)

To measure the moisture content of Grana Padano, Berne federal customs laboratory uses the CH 5.02
procedure described in the Swiss handbook of food analysis methods. This method is equivalent to the FIL-
IDF 4a-1982 procedure used by the Member States’ customs laboratories. As the method used by the Swiss
laboratory is accredited ISO 17 025, the results must meet the requisite quality requirements, notably
where the repeatability and reproducibility of measures are concerned.

Sample-taking may in itself constitute a source of discrepancy, depending on the sampling method and
sampling plan used. The method used by Swiss customs is to remove a section of the wheel of cheese,
while the Italian industry makes core borings into the wheel. The sampling plan must take account of the
fact that the lots of cheese are not homogenous. Swiss customs usually remove sections of two to three
kilogrammes (kg) from the wheels and select at random one wheel from 10 different lots, resulting in
10 samples. This seems to constitute a representative sample.

In the light of the foregoing, the Commission has no objective reasons to doubt the quality of the results
obtained by Berne federal customs laboratory.

C 192 E/142

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.8.2003

The Commission does not, therefore, share the Honourable Member’s fears as to a deliberate policy by
Switzerland indirectly to reduce imports from the Community.

Cheese exports between the Community and Switzerland, consisting mainly of Italian exports, increased
considerably over the last decade. However, in the last few years they have stabilised. The entry into force
of the Agreement on Trade in Agricultural Products between the European Community and the Swiss
Confederation on 1 June 2002 will facilitate bilateral exchanges. The complete liberalisation of the cheese
market over five years is one of the important elements of the agreement. The Agreement (Annex 11,
Appendix 6) provides for equivalence, reciprocally for the Community and Switzerland, for milk and milk
products of bovine species intended for human consumption. These products therefore move between the
Community and Switzerland under intra-Community trade conditions. The bilateral structures put in place
by the Agreement should improve cooperation with the Swiss authorities,
in particular on all aspects
connected with integration of the cheese market.

(2003/C 192 E/178)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3871/02

by Ilda Figueiredo (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(10 January 2003)

Subject: Construction of the ‘Western Landfill Utility’ (‘Aterro Sanitário do Oeste’)

Further to Commissioner Margot Wallström’s answer of 12 February 2001 to question E-3979/00 (1), by
the author of the present question, on the construction of the ‘Western Landfill Utility’ (‘Aterro Sanitário
do Oeste’) at Cadaval (Portugal), can the Commission provide information on its subsequent positions with
regard to this landfill and the decision it has arrived at, as asked for in the earlier question?

(1) OJ C 187 E, 3.7.2001, p. 97.

Answer given by Ms Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(24 February 2003)

Further to its previous reply, the Commission informs the Honourable Member that at its meeting of
30 October 2002 it decided to terminate proceedings in the case of complaint 2000/4668 relating to the
construction of the Western Landfill Utility.

Having compared the explanations supplied by the Portuguese authorities with the plaintiffs’ statements,
the Commission considered that
there was no Community legal basis for further investigating the
complaint.

Urban landfill projects are included in Annex II to Council Directive 85/337/EEC of 27 June 1985 on the
assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (1), which means that by
virtue of Article 4(2) of the Directive they are the type of project for which the performance of an impact
assessment is left to the discretion of the national authorities. This discretionary power may be limited by
Article 2 of the Directive, which says that projects likely to have significant effects on the environment
must be made subject to an assessment with regard to their effects. It is nevertheless for the Member States
to analyse whether or not a given project may have significant effects on the environment. Such an
analysis was in fact carried out in the case in point by means of a number of environmental impact studies
and it did not indicate that the project was likely to involve any significant environmental effects.

Furthermore, the construction and operation of the landfill were made subject to the guarantees and
technical requirements contained in the new landfill Directive (cid:1) Council Directive 1999/31/EC of 26 April
1999 on the landfill of waste (2) (cid:1) even though the Directive was not yet applicable to the project. The
project authorisation was therefore preceded by a descriptive memorandum containing information on the
geological, geotechnical and hydrological characteristics of
the
rainwater and residual water drainage system, the control and monitoring of the residual water and
underground water, the drainage and treatment of the biogas, and the safety of the population and

the waterproofing system,

the site,