CELEX: 31971R0166
Language: en
Date: 1971-01-26
Title: Regulation (EEC) No 166/71 of the Council of 26 January 1971 laying down common marketing standards for shrimps of the genus Crangon sp.p.

Official Journal of the European Communities                                   37
 29.1.71                              Official Journal of the European Communities                           No L 23 /3
                                   REGULATION (EEC) No 166/71 OF THE COUNCIL
                                                    of 26 January 1971
                 laying down common marketing standards for shrimps of the genus Crangon sp. p.
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                       Whereas shrimps have hitherto been graded only
                                                                 before being sold for the first time since a large
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                    proportion of these shrimps are immediately shelled
 European Economic Community;                                    or otherwise processed ; whereas application of
                                                                 common standards should therefore be limited to the
 Having regard to Council Regulation (EEC) No                    first marketing stage in the Community;
 2142/701 of 20      October 1970 on the common
 organisation of the market in fishery products, and in          Whereas the standards must apply to all shrimps,
particular Article 2 (3 ) thereof;                               including imported shrimps, marketed on the territory
                                                                 of the Member States of the Community; whereas it
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission ;              seems necessary, however, to exclude certain direct
                                                                 sales of small quantities to retailers or consumers
                                                                 from their field of application; whereas grading
Whereas Regulation (EEC) No 2142/70 provides for                 should also be dispensed with for shrimps which are
the possibility of determining common marketing                  proved not to be intended for human consumption ;
standards ; whereas the application of such standards
should help to improve the quality of shrimps
marketed and thus facilitate their sale;                        Whereas freshness is a decisive factor in assessing the
                                                                 quality of shrimps; whereas grading by size is also
Whereas one way of improving quality is to prevent               essential because of the diversity of consumers'
                                                                 buying habits and the processing methods normally
shrimps which are not of a given degree of freshness
or of a given size category being marketed for human
                                                                 used in the Community;
consumption ;
                                                                Whereas there is at present no objective method of
                                                                 assessing the freshness of shrimps both rapidly and
Whereas virtually all Community shrimps are boiled              cheaply; whereas only organoleptic examination,
in water immediately after being caught to prevent              which is, moreover, in use in the Member States,
any deterioration in their freshness ; whereas it is             meets this requirement and constitutes an acceptable
therefore advisable as a first priority to lay down              method;
standards for shrimps simply boiled in water;
                                                                Whereas, in view of normal practice in most Member
Whereas, in almost all Member States engaged in sea             States, it is advisable that the industry should grade
fishing, shrimps which have been judged fit for                 shrimps for freshness and size; whereas, with a view
human consumption under national regulations are                in particular to assessing freshness by organoleptic
offered for sale after grading by size; whereas                 criteria, provision should be made for the
shrimps are also graded according to degree of                  collaboration of experts appointed for this purpose
freshness ;                                                     by the trade organisations concerned ;
Whereas the adoption of standards for shrimps has               Whereas, in order to keep each other informed, each
assumed particular importance in view of the                    Member State should supply the other Member
measures on the determination and formation of                  States and the Commission with a list of the names
prices provided for in Regulation (EEC) No 2142/70;             and addresses of the experts and trade organisations
whereas the grading hitherto carried out at national            concerned;
level should therefore be standardised;
                                                                Whereas it is essential that shrimps imported from
                                                                third countries should conform to Community
1 OJ No L 236, 27.10.1970, p . 5 .                              standards ;
 ---pagebreak--- 38                                       Official Journal of the European Communities
Whereas the application of Community standards to                   category 2 of Article 7 (1) in accordance with the
these shrimps means that additional information                     procedure laid down in Article 29 of Regulation
must be given on packages; whereas, however, this                   (EEC) No 2142/70 .
information is not necessary in the case of shrimps ,
landed in the Community direct from the fishing                     5 . Detailed rules for the application of paragraphs
grounds from third country vessels, it being understood             2 and 3 shall be adopted in accordance with the
however that these shrimps may only be marketed in                  procedure laid down in Article 29 of Regulation
accordance with the provisions applicable to Com­                   (EEC) No 2142/70 .
munity catches :
                                                                                                 Article 4
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION :
                                                                    The marketing standards referred to in Article 1 shall
                            Article 1
                                                                    comprise :
Marketing standards are hereby laid down for                        ( a) freshness categories and
shrimps of the genus Crangon sp . p., simply boiled in              ( b ) size categories.
water, falling within sub-heading ex 03.03 A IV (b) 1
of the Common Customs Tariff.
                                                                                                 Article 5
                            Article 2
                                                                    1.      The shrimps referred to in Article 1 shall be
For the purposes of this Regulation ;                               classified by lot in Freshness Category A, B or C.
( a) 'marketing' means the first offering for sale and
                                                                    FRESHNESS CATEGORY
       the first sale after arrival in the Community;
 ( b) 'lot' means a quantity of shrimps packed as a                 ( a) Minimum, requirements:
      unit;
                                                                          — the shell must have a moist and shiny surface;
(c) 'packaging' means the type of container in which
      the shrimps are offered for sale, such as boxes,                    — the shrimps must fall out separately when
      baskets, etc.                                                           poured from one container to another;
                                                                          — the flesh must be free from any foreign
                            Article 3                                          odour;
1 . The shrimps referred to in Article 1 which form                       — the shrimps must be free from sand and other
                                                                               foreign bodies ;
part of Community catches may be marketed within
the Community only if they comply with the
provisions of this Regulation.                                       (b ) Appearance of shrimp with shell:
                                                                          — clear reddish-pink in colour with small white
2. The shrimps referred to in Article 1 which are                              flecks ; • pectoral part of the shell should be
graded in Freshness Category C referred to in Article                          light in colour;
5 ( 1 ) and those graded in Size Category 2 referred to
in Article 7 . ( 1 ) may not be marketed for human                        — very incurved";
consumption.
                                                                    ( c) Condition of flesh during and after shelling:
3.      The provisions of this Regulation shall not,                      — it should shell easily with technically
however, apply to :                                                            unavoidable losses of flesh;
( a) small quantities of shrimps disposed of by                           — it should be firm, not tough ;
      inshore      fishermen     direct   to     retailers  or
      consumers ;
                                                                     ( d) Fragments :
(b ) shrimps which the rightful owner can prove not
                                                                           Occasional fragments of shrimp allowed.
      to be for human consumption.
4.      To the extent necessary to ensure supplies for              FRESHNESS CATEGORY
certain regions of the Community, temporary                          (a) Minimum requirements:
exceptions to the provisions of paragraph 2 may
be made in respect of shrimps classified in size                          the same as for Freshness Category A;
 ---pagebreak---                                       Official Journal of the European Communities                                     39
 (b ) Appearance of shrimp with shell:                           2.     Each lot must contain shrimps of the same size.
                                                                 A small lot need not however be uniform; if this is
       — ranging in colour from slightly washed-out              the case the lot shall be placed in Size Category 2.
           reddish-pink to bluish red with white flecks ;
           pectoral part of the shell should be light
           coloured tending towards grey;                        3.     The size category must be clearly and indelibly
                                                                 marked, in characters which are at least 5 cm high,
      — incurved;                                                on labels affixed to the lots .
 ( c) Condition of flesh during and after shelling:
      — it should shell less easily with small losses of                                 Article 8
           flesh;
       — it can be less firm, slightly tough ;                   The industry shall grade shrimps for freshness and
                                                                 size in collaboration, where necessary, with experts
                                                                 designated for that purpose by the trade
( d) Fragments:
                                                                 organisations concerned.
      small quantity of fragments allowed.
FRESHNESS CATEGORY C                                                                     Article 9
Shrimps not satisfying the requirements for Freshness            Not later than one month before the system laid
Categories A and B shall be placed in this category.             down by this Regulation begins to apply, each
                                                                 Member State shall supply the other Member States
                                                                 and the Commission with a list of the names and
Water content shall also be taken into consideration
                                                                 addresses of the experts and trade organisations
when products are being classified by freshness                  referred to in Article 8 . The other Member States and
category.
                                                                 the    Commission      shall    be  informed     of  any
                                                                 amendments to this list.
Detailed rules for the application of this paragraph
shall be adopted in accordance with the procedure
laid down in Article 29 of Regulation (EEC) No
2142/70.                                                                                 Article 10
                                                                 1 . The shrimps referred to in Article 1 imported
                            Article 6                            from third countries may be put on the market in the
                                                                 Community only if:
1 . Each lot must contain products of the same
degree of freshness . A small lot need not however be            ( a) they comply with the provisions of Articles 4, 5, 6
of uniform freshness; if this is the case the lot shall               and 7;
be     placed     in    the    lowest freshness     category
respresented by the products it contains .                       (b) they are presented in packages on which the
                                                                      following     information       is   clearly    and
                                                                       conspicuously marked :
2.      The freshness category must be clearly and
indelibly marked, in characters which are at least 5                  — country of origin, printed in Roman letters
cm high, on labels affixed to the lots .                                  which are at least 20 mm high;
                                                                      — one of the following descriptions :
                                                                          Crevettes grises
                            Article 7
                                                                          Garnelen
1.      Shrimps shall be graded in the following size                     Gamberetti grigi
categories :
                                                                          Garnalen
                       Width of shell      Shrimps per kg                 (Shrimps)
                                                                      — freshness category and size category;
      Size 1       6-8 mm and over         620 or less
      Size 2       Less than 6-8 mm        621 and over               — net weight in kg of the shrimps in the
                                                                          package;
 ---pagebreak--- 40                                 Official Journal of the European Communities
    — date of grading and date of dispatch;                                        Article 11
    — name and address of sender.
                                                              This Regulation shall enter into force on the third
2. However, shrimps landed in a Community port                day following its publication in the Official Journal
direct from the fishing grounds from vessels flying           of the European Communities.
the flag of a third country shall be subject, when put
on the market, to the same provisions as those                The system provided for in this Regulation shall
applicable to Community catches.                              apply from 1 February 1971 .
              This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member
              States .
              Done at Brussels, 26 January 1971 .
                                                                                  For the Council
                                                                                   The P" resident
                                                                                      B. PONS