COMMISSION REGULATION (EC) No 2335/1999
of 3 November 1999
laying down marketing standards for peaches and nectarines
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 Regulation (EC) No 1257/1999(2), and in particular Article 2(2) thereof,
Whereas:
(1) peaches and nectarines are among the products listed in Annex I to Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 for which standards must be adopted; many amendments must be made to Commission Regulation (EEC) No 3596/90 of 12 December 1990 laying down quality standards for peaches and nectarines(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 888/97(4). In order to ensure legal clarity, Regulation (EEC) No 3596/90 should be repealed and the rules it contains recast. To that end and in the interests of preserving transparency on the world market, account should be taken of the standard for peaches and nectarines recommended by the Working Party on Standardisation of Perishable Produce and Quality Development of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE);
(2) the standards for peaches and nectarines provide for the obligation to comply with a sizing scale; under Commission Regulation (EEC) No 1169/93(5), size D is authorised only during the period from the beginning of the marketing year until 30 June in order to permit early varieties of small fruits to be marketed while at the same time preventing the marketing after 1 July of late varieties of peaches and nectarines of size D, which are larger when ripe; this restriction need not extend beyond the marketing period for Community peaches and nectarines;
(3) the market in fresh peaches and nectarines, particularly at the retail stage, is greatly dependent on the organoleptic quality of these products, which may vary considerably. The branch should therefore be allowed to indicate on the packaging minimum or maximum values for essential maturity criteria to allow consumers freedom of choice in purchasing fruit of an optimal organoleptic quality;
(4) applying these standards should result in products of unsatisfactory quality being removed from the market, bringing production into line with consumer requirements and facilitating trade relationships based on fair competition, thereby helping improve the profitability of production;
(5) the standards apply to all marketing stages. Long-distance transport, storage over a certain period and the various processes which the products undergo may cause certain alterations owing to the biological development of the products or to their relatively perishable nature. Account should be taken of such deterioration when applying the standards at the marketing stages which follow dispatch. Since products in the "Extra" class must be sorted and packaged with particular care, only lack of freshness and turgidity is to be taken into account in their case;
(6) the measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for Fruit and Vegetables,
The marketing standards relating to peaches and nectarines falling within CN code 0809 30 shall be as indicated in the Annex hereto.
This standard shall apply at all marketing stages, under the conditions laid down in Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.
However, at stages following dispatch, the products may show in relation to the provisions of the standard:
- a slight lack of freshness and turgidity,
- for products graded in classes other than the "Extra" class, slight deteriorations due to their development and their tendency to perish.
Regulation (EEC) No 3596/90 is hereby repealed.
This Regulation shall enter into force on the third day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
It shall apply from the first day of the month following that of its entry into force.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.