Commission Regulation (EC) No 1176/2003 of 1 July 2003 amending Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 on marketing standards for olive oil
Date: 2003-07-01
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: marketing standard, olive oil

L 164/12

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

2.7.2003

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 1176/2003

of 1 July 2003

amending Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 on marketing standards for olive oil

THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

(4)

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community,

Having regard to Council Regulation No 136/66/EEC of 22
September 1966 on the establishment of a common organisa-
tion of the market in oils and fats (1), as last amended by Regu-
lation (EC) No 1513/2001 (2), and in particular Article 35a
thereof,

(5)

(6)

Whereas:

In view of the fact that research into new organoleptic
evaluation methods aimed at widening the range of posi-
tive attributes of virgin olive oils is still under way, and
in order to give the bodies in charge of developing new
more comprehensive methods sufficient time to establish
such methods, the date on which Article 5(c) of Regula-
tion (EC) No 1019/2002 is to apply should be post-
poned by one year.

Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 should be amended
accordingly.

The measures provided for in this Regulation are in
accordance with the opinion of
the Management
Committee for Oils and Fats,

(1)

(2)

(3)

Article 12(2) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1019/
2002 (3), as amended by Regulation (EC) No 1964/
2002 (4), stipulates that except for Articles 2, 3, 5 and 6,
which are to apply from 1 November 2003, the Regula-
tion is to apply from 1 November 2002, except in the
case of products that were legally manufactured and
labelled in the European Community or legally imported
into the European Community and released for free
circulation before 1 November 2003, which may be
marketed until all stocks are used up.

According to Article 5(c) of Regulation (EC) No 1019/
2002, only the positive attributes listed in Annex XII to
Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 of 11 July
1991 on the characteristics of olive oil and olive-residue
oil and on the relevant methods of analysis (5), as last
amended by Regulation (EC) No 796/2002 (6), may be
used. However, owing to the very small number of orga-
noleptic attributes set out in the said Annex, operators
are encountering difficulties in describing the organo-
leptic characteristics on the labels of their oil.

As there is no objective method at present of verifying
certain organoleptic characteristics that greatly enhance
virgin olive oils as regards flavour, aroma and colour,
such attributes cannot appear on the labels. Moreover,
the positive organoleptic attributes listed in Annex XII to
Regulation (EEC) No 2568/91 cannot cover the full
range of olive varieties or tastes of virgin olive oils.

(1) OJ 172, 30.9.1966, p. 3025/66.
(2) OJ L 201, 26.7.2001, p. 4.
(3) OJ L 155, 14.6.2002, p. 27.
(4) OJ L 300, 5.11.2002, p. 3.
(5) OJ L 248, 5.9.1991, p. 1.
(6) OJ L 128, 15.5.2002, p. 8.

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Article 12(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1019/2002 is replaced by
the following:

‘2.

It shall apply from 1 November 2002.

Articles 2 and 3, Article 5(a), (b) and (d) and Article 6 shall
apply from 1 November 2003.

Article 5(c) shall apply from 1 November 2004.

Article 11 shall apply from 1 July 2002.

However, products which have been legally manufactured
and labelled in the Community or legally imported into the
Community and put
circulation before 1
into free
November 2003 may be marketed until all stocks are used
up.’

Article 2

This Regulation shall enter
into force on the third day
following its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Union.

2.7.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

L 164/13

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

Done at Brussels, 1 July 2003.

For the Commission

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission