WRITTEN QUESTION E-0789/04 by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN),Sergio Berlato (UEN), Roberta Angelilli (UEN), Roberto Bigliardo (UEN),Antonio Mussa (UEN), Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN),Mauro Nobilia (UEN), Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN)and Franz Turchi (UEN) to the Commission. International wine piracy — amendment of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002.
Date: 2004-03-11
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: TRIPS, consumer protection, designation of origin, industrial counterfeiting, labelling, product designation, trade regulations, wine

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Official Journal of the European Union

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nationality. She travelled to the United Kingdom, where she invoked Community law to claim right of
residence there. The Court of Justice must rule whether the minor is entitled to reside in the United
Kingdom under Community law and whether the mother can obtain right of residence in the United
Kingdom through her child although she is not a dependent of the child.

Admission of foreign family members of nationals who have not exercised their right to freedom of
movement is governed by the national law of each Member State and, for the moment, not by Community
rules.

(1) Council Regulation (EEC) No 1612/68 of 15 October 1968 on freedom of movement for workers within the

Community, OJ L 257, 19.10.1968.

(2004/C 88 E/0226)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0789/04

by Cristiana Muscardini (UEN),
Sergio Berlato (UEN), Roberta Angelilli (UEN), Roberto Bigliardo (UEN),
Antonio Mussa (UEN), Sebastiano Musumeci (UEN),
Mauro Nobilia (UEN), Adriana Poli Bortone (UEN)
and Franz Turchi (UEN) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: International wine piracy (cid:1) amendment of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002

On 10 February 2004, the Management Committee for Wines reconfirmed, by a narrow majority, the vote
of 24 January 2004 approving an opinion on amendments to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 (1) and, more
specifically, to the chapter on the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain products.
This opinion was recently approved by the Commission (2). The new rules will apply from 15 March 2004.

Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 (3) amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002, among other
things, relaxes the rules on the international use of 17 traditional Italian wine terms, which can be used,
from 15 March 2004, for wines produced in non-Community countries, provided that it is shown under
set criteria that the term had been used in the past.

It will no longer be necessary, however, for the same term to be recognised or protected in a national
legislative framework, as required by the previous rules. The result of the decision is a free-for-all, or at
least making it easier to market wine not produced in Italy internationally using traditional Italian terms.

In view of the above, does the Commission agree that:

(cid:1) the proposed new rules conflict with European legislation on labelling and consumer protection;

(cid:1) the term used on a wine label should indicate the characterisation, ageing, quality and colour of the
wine obtained by specific production methods in a geographical area inextricably linked with the
history and the culture of the wine described by the label;

(cid:1) the amendments to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 contained in Regulation (EC) No 316/2004
contradict the objective of combating food piracy, which is a fundamental part of the WTO agreement
to guarantee fair trade and to protect traditional production from international counterfeiting, to the
benefit of local development in all countries;

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(cid:1) in terms of the protection of typical
constitutes a choice for market
significant impact on Europe in terms of jobs and the economy;

transparency,

food products threatened with imitation, strict

legislation
increasing consumer protection, and also has a

(cid:1) the proposed new rules make it considerably easier to commit international wine piracy?

(1) OJ L 118, 4.5.2002, p. 1.
(2) OJ L 55, 24.2.2004.
(3) OJ L 55, 24.2.2004, p. 16.

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(28 April 2004)

Following notification of Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 (1) to the World Trade Organisation, several third
countries sent their observations and expressed reservations to the WTO. Exclusive protection of certain
traditional terms (List B) was regarded by the third countries as a new intellectual property right of the
Union covered by the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (additional to
that for geographical indications).

The Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 (2) amending Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 laying
down new wine labelling rules to counter the allegations made by some third countries following the
consultations in Geneva (WTO).

The amendments to Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 adopted by the Commission do not contradict the
Community’s wine labelling rules. Unlike Regulation (EC) No 753/2002, Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 (3)
makes no reference to two types of traditional term (List A and List B).

Nor are the amendments intended to liberalise the use of the traditional terms in List B in Annex III to
Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 at international level (cid:1) they only lay down conditions that are equivalent to
the requirements already in force for the traditional terms in List A in that Annex.

They include (see Article 1(10) of Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 amending Article 37(1)(e) of Regulation
(EC) No 753/2002) the following:

1.

2.

3.

the third country must present a substantiated request to the Commission and provide the justificatory
data for recognition of the traditional term;

the language of the traditional term must be the official language of the third country and the term in
that language must have been used for at least 10 years;

if the language of the traditional term is not the official language, its use must be provided for in the
country’s legislation;
language must have been used
continuously for at least 25 years;

in such cases the traditional

term in that

4. other requirements such as that the term be specific and distinctive and that there be no risk of

consumers being misled.

As regards references to the category, colour or method of production of products, these are optional
indications, both for Member States and third countries, which may appear on the label provided that the
conditions of use conform to the rules applicable to wine producers, including those emanating from
representative trade organisations.

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In the light of the above, the Commission takes the view that the amendments to Regulation (EC) No 753/
2002 are in line with the rules on consumer protection and do not encourage international piracy or
imitation.

(1) Commission Regulation (EC) No 753/2002 of 29 April 2002 laying down certain rules for applying Council
Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 as regards the description, designation, presentation and protection of certain wine
sector products, OJ L 118, 4.5.2002.

(2) Commission Regulation (EC) No 316/2004 of 20 February 2004, OJ L 55, 24.2.2004.
(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 1493/1999 of 17 May 1999 on the common organisation of the market in wine,

OJ L 179, 14.7.1999.

(2004/C 88 E/0227)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0790/04

by Roberto Bigliardo (UEN) to the Commission

(11 March 2004)

Subject: Presence of dangerous dioxin in the town of Acerra (Na), Italy

In March 2003, a set of analyses of milk from ewes grazing in roaming pasture in Acerra, a populous
town in the Province of Naples, Italy, which went unpublished until October 2003, made some disturbing
findings, recording a presence of dioxin of 12 pg, compared with the 3 pg limit set by the law.

In the face of such alarming data that demonstrates the existence of serious environmental damage, the
Campania Region, which is responsible for monitoring and the relevant provisions, has remained deaf to
all requests by the Acerra town authorities to carry out the necessary land reclamation.

The relevant local health authority for the area has taken no action.

The situation is currently extremely dangerous for the population (around 50 000 inhabitants) of the town.
The latest analyses carried out by the Mario Negri Institute in Milan have revealed unimaginable levels of
dioxin in milk from the same ewes: 50 pgTe/g.

This is an astonishing and highly serious statistic, unprecedented in the area, showing dioxin traceability in
the area at the level of serious pollutants, which was duly reported to the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Nola
on 31 October 2003 by local political representatives of Alleanza Nazionale.

Given that I have already written to the Chairman of the Committee on Petitions requesting a proper study
of the objective environmental situation in and around Acerra, can the Commission call on the Campania
Region to safeguard the environment and, with it, the life of tens of thousands of people living there?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

The Commission was informed of this contamination case on 26 March 2003 and the information was
distributed to the competent authorities of the other Member States through the Rapid Alert System for
Feed and Food on 28 March 2003. The contamination was detected by analysing sheep milk samples
taken in application of the monitoring plan provided for in Council Directive 96/23/EC of 29 April 1996
on measures to monitor certain substances and residues thereof in live animals and animal products (1).
The levels found exceeded significantly the maximum levels for dioxins established by Commission
Regulation (EC) No 466/2001 of 8 March 2001 setting maximium levels for certain contaminants in
foodstuffs (2), as amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 2375/2001 of 29 November 2001 (3).