Commission Regulation (EC) No 730/1999 of 7 April 1999 laying down the marketing standard for carrots

COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 730/1999
of 7 April 1999
laying down the marketing standard for carrots
THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 of 28 October 1996 on the common organisation of the market in fruit and vegetables(1), as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 2520/97(2), and in particular Article 2(2) thereof,
Where carrots are listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 as products for which standards are to be adopted; whereas Commission Regulation (EEC) No 920/89 of 10 April 1989 laying down quality standards for carrots, citrus fruit and dessert apples and pears(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 2536/98(4), has been the subject of multiple amendments and no longer ensures legal clarity;
Whereas the rules in question should therefore be recast and Annex I to Regulation (EEC) No 920/89 repealed; whereas, to that end, for reasons of transparency on the world market, account should be taken of the standard recommended for carrots by the Working Party on Standardisation of Perishable Produce and Quality Development of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);
Whereas the effect of these standards must be to remove products of unsatisfactory quality from the market, gear production to satisfying consumer requirements and facilitate trade relations on the basis of fair competition, thereby helping to make production more profitable;
Whereas the standards are applicable at all stages of marketing; whereas transport over a great distance, storage for a certain lengh of time or the various handling operations to which the products are subjected may bring about deterioration due to the biological development of the products or their tendency to perish; whereas account should be taken of such deterioration when applying the standards at the marketing stages which follow dispatch; whereas, as products in the "Extra" class have to be particularly carefully sorted and packaged, only lack of freshness and turgidity is to be taken into account in their case;
Whereas the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,