CELEX: 51984PC0023
Language: en
Date: 1984-01-26
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DIRECTIVE AMENDING DIRECTIVE 79/581/EEC ON CONSUMER PROTECTION IN THE INDICATION OF THE PRICES OF FOODSTUFFS

24.2.84                               Official Journal of the European Communities                              N o C 53/7
                                                               II
                                                        (preparatory Acts)
                                                 COMMISSION
              Proposal for a Council Directive amending Directive 79/581/EEC on consumer
                                   protection in the indication of the prices of foodstuffs
                                                       COM(84) 23 final
                            (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 31 January 1984)
                                                          (84/C 53/03)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                         the unit price should, wherever possible, be replaced
COMMUNITIES,                                                        by such standardization;
Having regard to the Treaty               establishing     the
European Economic Community,                                        Whereas ranges of quantities for prepackaged
                                                                    products are laid down by Directive 80/232/EEC of
and in particular Articles 100 and 235 thereof,                      15 January 1980 on the approximation of the laws of
                                                                    the Member States relating to the ranges of nominal
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                    quantities and nominal capacities permitted for
Having regard to the opinion of the               European          certain prepackaged products (3), Council Directive
Parliament,                                                         75/106/EEC of 19 December 1974 on the approxi-
                                                                    mation of the laws of the Member States relating to
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                    the making-up by volume of certain prepackaged
Social Committee,                                                   liquids     (4), as last amended          by   Directive
                                                                    79/1005/EEC (5), Council Directive 73/241 / E E C of
Whereas provisions imposing an obligation to indicate               24 July 1973 on the approximation of the laws of the
unit prices for foodstuffs exist in a number of                     Member States relating to cocoa and chocolate
Member States; whereas there are substantial                        products intended for human consumption (6), as last
differences between these provisions, notably as                    amended by Directive 80/608/EEC (7), and Council
regards the categories of foodstuffs exempted;                      Directive 73/437/EEC of 11 December 1973 on the
whereas these differences are liable to hinder trade,               approximation of the laws of the Member States
thereby directly affecting the operation of the                     concerning certain sugars intended for human
common market;                                                      consumption ( 8 );
Whereas Council Directive 79/581/EEC (*) requires
the Council to take a decision on conditions for                    Whereas the standardization achieved at Community
applying the obligation to indicate the unit price of               level to eliminate technical barriers to trade helps to
foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established quantities                simplify the ranges of quantities of foodstuffs offered
and at the same time to lay down the categories of                  to the consumer; whereas provision should be made
foodstuffs which may be exempted from this                          for the exemption of ranges of quantities established
requirement;                                                        at Community level;
Whereas the resolution adopted by the Council on
 19 June 1979 (2) lists the criteria that ranges of quan-           Whereas for certain categories of foodstuffs stan-
tities must satisfy to qualify for exemption from unit-             dardization at Community level is not appropriate;
pricing;                                                            whereas in the case of such foodstuffs provision
                                                                    should be made for the exemption of ranges of
Whereas, by establishing             simple and        easily
                                                                    quantities established at national level;
comparable quantity ranges, the standardization of
quantities of prepackaged foodstuffs is likely to make
it easier for the consumer to compare prices at the                 (3) O J N o L 5 1 , 2 5 . 2. 1980, p. 1.
place of sale; whereas the obligation to display                    (4) O J N o L 4 2 , 15. 2. 1975, p. 1.
                                                                    (s) OJ No L 308, 4. 12. 1979, p. 25.
                                                                    (6) OJ No L 228, 16. 8. 1973, p. 23.
(') OJ No L 158, 26. 6. 1979, p. 19.                                O   OJ No L 170, 3. 7. 1980, p. 33.
O OJ No C 163, 30. 6. 1979, p. 1.                                   (8) OJ No L 356, 27. 12. 1973, p. 71.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 53/8                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                24. 2. 84
Whereas the exemption of ranges of quantities                      deteriorating, be exempted by the Member States
established at national level should not be allowed to             from the obligation to indicate the new unit price.
affect trade between the Member States either
directly or indirectly; whereas the national ranges of
                                                                   3.      The obligation to indicate the unit price shall
quantities to be exempted from unit pricing should
                                                                   not apply to foodstuffs sold in quantities of
therefore be determined at-Community level;
                                                                   50 grams or 50 millilitres or less or 10 kilograms
Whereas steps should be taken to exempt from the                   or 10 litres or more.'
obligation to indicate unit prices those products for
which such indication would be meaningless, notably
foodstuffs sold by individual item;                             3. Article 8 is replaced by the following:
Whereas the rules laid down in this Directive are
                                                                    Article 8
needed for the purposes of consumer information and
protection and further the attainment of one of the
objectives of the Community by contributing to the                  1.     Foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
improvement of living conditions and the harmonious                quantities shall be subject to the obligation to
development of economic activites throughout the                   indicate the unit price.
Community; whereas the Treaty has not provided all
the powers necessary for this purpose,
                                                                   2.      The obligation referred to in paragraph 1
                                                                   shall not apply to the following:
HAS ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:
                                                                   — the foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
                          Article 1                                     quantities listed in Annex I (points 1, 2 and 3)
                                                                        to Directive 80/232/EEC, where they are sold
Directive 79/581/EEC is hereby amended as follows:                      in the ranges of nominal quantities of contents
                                                                        given in the said Annex, or where they are sold
1. In Article 1:                                                        in quantities of 50 grams or 50 millilitres or
                                                                        less or 10 kilograms or 10 litres or more,
    (a) Paragraph 2 is replaced by the following:
         '2.    This Directive shall not apply to                  -— the foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
         foodstuffs sold in hotels, restaurants, cafes,                 quantities referred to in Annex II (points 1 and
         public houses, hospitals, canteens and similar                 2) to Directive 80/232/EEC, where they are
         establishments and consumed on the premises,                   sold in rigid containers in the capacity ranges
         or to foodstuffs which the consumer purchases                  given in the said Annex and are not listed in
         for professional or commercial reasons, or to                  Annex I to the said Directive and where
         foodstuffs sold on the farm.'                                  Community filling standards have been laid
                                                                        down for such foodstuffs,
    (b) Paragraph 3 is deleted.
                                                                   — the foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
2. Article 7 is replaced by the following:                              quantities listed in Annex III to Directive
                                                                        75/106/EEC, where they are sold in the
     'Article 7                                                         nominal volumes given in column I of the said
                                                                        Annex,
    1.     The obligation to indicate the unit price shall
    not apply in the case of the following foodstuffs:             — the foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
                                                                        quantities referred to in Article 6 (1) of
    (a) foodstuffs for which indication of weight or                    Directive 73/241/EEC, where they are sold in
         volume is not required, in particular foodstuffs               the range of nominal quantities of contents
          sold by individual item;                                      given in the said Article, or where they are sold
                                                                         in quantities of 50 grams or less or 1 kilogram
    (b) foodstuffs     sold   from   automatic    vending                or more,
          machines;
    (c) prepared dishes or dishes for          preparation          — the foodstuffs prepackaged in pre-established
          contained in a single package;                                 quantities referred to in Article 1 (points 1 to
                                                                         3) of Directive 73/437/EEC, where they are
    (d) fancy products.                                                  sold in the range of nominal quantities of
                                                                         contents given in Article 8 of the said Directive
    2.      Highly perishable foodstuffs may, if sold at                 or where they are sold in quantities of 50
    reduced prices on account of the danger of their                     grams or less or 10 kilograms or more.'
 ---pagebreak--- 24. 2. 84                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 53/9
4. Article 9 is replace by the following:                             directly by the seller to the purchaser, where the
                                                                      indication of prices:
     'Article 9
    Where        Community      measures     are   adopted            — is likely to constitute an excessive burden on
    concerning the standardization of ranges of                           such businesses, or
    nominal quantities of contents relating to
    foodstuffs not referred to in Article 8 the Council,             — appears to be most impracticable owing to the
    acting on a proposal from the Commission, shall,                      number of foodstuffs offered for sale, the sales
    if necessary, amend Article 8.'                                       area, its layout or the conditions peculiar to
                                                                          certain forms of trade, such as certain cases of
5. Article 10 is replaced by the following:                               itinerant dealers.
     'Article 10                                                      2.    The exemptions referred to in paragraph 1
                                                                      shall be without prejudice to obligations to
    At the request of the Member State concerned and
                                                                      indicate prices existing under national or
    after having consulted the other Member States,
                                                                      Community provisions at the time of the adoption
    the Commission shall take a decision to exempt
                                                                      of this Directive.'
    from the obligation to indicate unit prices
    foodstuffs       prepackaged      in    pre-established
    quantities for which ranges of nominal quantities             7. Articles 9, 10 and 11 become Articles 12, 13 and
    of contents have been established in a Member                     14 respectively.
    State, in so far as:
    — these ranges satisfy the criteria set out in the                                      Article 2
         Council resolution of 19 June 1979 ('),
                                                                  1.     Member States shall bring into force the laws,
    — the proposed exemption is not likely to affect              regulations and administrative provisions necessary to
         trade between Member States either directly or           comply with this Directive by 31 March 1986. They
         indirectly.                                              shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof.
(') OJ No C 163, 30. 6. 1979, p. 1.'                              2.     Member States shall communicate to the
                                                                  Commission the texts of the provisions of national
6. Article 11 is replaced by the following:                       law which they adopt in the field covered by this
                                                                  Directive.
     'Article 11
    1.     Member States may exempt from the                                               Article 3
    obligation to indicate the unit price foodstuffs sold
    by certain small retail businesses and handed                 This Directive is addressed to the Member States.
                Proposal for a Council Directive concerning the introduction of Community methods of
                  sampling and analysis for the monitoring of foodstuffs intended for human consumption
                                                     COM(84) 39 final
                             (Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 6 February 1984)
                                                        (84/C 53/04)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN                                       Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
COMMUNITIES,                                                      Social Committee,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the                      Whereas the production, manufacture, marketing and
                                                                  use of foodstuffs intended for human consumption
European Economic Community, and in particular
                                                                  are of the utmost importance in the European
Article 100 thereof,
                                                                  Economic Community;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                Whereas it is the responsibility of the public auth-
                                                                  orities to ensure compliance with the provisions
Having regard to the opinion of the               European        relating to the composition, conditions of manu-
Parliament,                                                       facture, packaging and labelling of foodstuffs;