COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 594/2013
of 21 June 2013
amending Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 as regards marketing standards in the fruit and vegetables sector and correcting that Implementing Regulation
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) (1), and in particular point (a) of the first paragraph of Article 121and Article 127 in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 and Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors (2) provide for marketing standards for fruit and vegetables.
(2)
Certain fruit and vegetable products may have a size or other features that do not conform to the applicable marketing standards, due to their special organoleptic characteristics or for other reasons. A traditional cultivation and local consumption may nonetheless be well-established in respect of those products. To ensure that products which are deemed to be fit for consumption by local communities but which do not conform to the Union marketing standards are not prevented from being marketed locally, those products can be exempted from the Union marketing standards by a Commission Decision taken at the request of the Member State concerned. It is appropriate to clarify that such products may be sold by the retail trade of that Member State, and exceptionally even outside the region concerned.
(3)
Third countries of which the conformity checks have been approved under Article 15 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 are allowed to adopt conformity certificates in respect of compliance with specific marketing standards. In order to facilitate trade and to reduce the administrative burden, those third countries should be allowed to issue certificates of conformity for all fruit and vegetables.
(4)
During the E-coli crisis in 2011 it became apparent that it is not always possible to identify the producers of lots of fruit and vegetables. For the purpose of traceability, the general marketing standard needs to be amended so as to allow a better identification of producers.
(5)
In 2011 the Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) revised the UN/ECE standards on apples and pears. In order to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade, the specific standards for apples and pears provided for in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should be aligned with the new UN/ECE standards. At the same time it is appropriate to remedy some inconsistencies and imperfections in the marketing standards for peaches and nectarines and those for citrus fruit.
(6)
Certain mandarins other than satsumas and clementines that are currently grown, in particular Mandoras and Minneolas, are edible at a lower sugar/acid ratio than the one which has been laid down in Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, aligning the Union marketing standard to the UN/ECE standard. To give producers time to adapt to the UN/ECE standard by replanting rootstocks, a lower sugar/acid ratio should temporarily be allowed.
(7)
Israel is a third country of which the conformity checks have been approved under Article 15 of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011. Israel may therefore issue conformity certificates. For the sake of market transparency and in accordance with public international law, it should be clarified that the territorial coverage of the certificates is limited to the territory of the State of Israel excluding the territories under Israeli administration since June 1967, namely the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the rest of the West Bank.
(8)
In order to ensure a correct application of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011, some obvious errors relating to references and dates should be corrected.
(9)
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should therefore be amended and corrected accordingly.
(10)
In order to allow Member States, traders and packers to prepare for the new provisions introduced in relation to the marketing standards, this Regulation should apply as from 1 October 2013. However, since the correction of obvious errors should have a retroactive effect which duly respects the legitimate expectations of those concerned, the corrections of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 should apply as from the date of entry into force of that Implementing Regulation.
(11)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1
Amendments to Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 is amended as follows:
(1)
In Article 4(1), point (c) is replaced by the following:
"(c)
products recognised in a Commission Decision taken at the request of a Member State in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 as products of a given region which are sold by the retail trade of that region or, in exceptional and duly justified cases, of that Member State, in case of well established traditional local consumption;"
(2)
In Article 15, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following:
"1. At the request of a third country, the Commission may, in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 195(2) of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007, approve checks on conformity to marketing standards carried out by that third country prior to import into the Union."
(3)
Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation.
(4)
Annex IV is replaced by the text in Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 2
Correction of Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011
Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 is corrected as follows:
(1)
In Article 12(5), the dates "30 June 2009" and "1 July 2009" are replaced by "21 June 2011" and "22 June 2011" respectively;
(2)
In Article 26(4), "paragraph 3" is replaced by "paragraph 2";
(3)
In the second subparagraph of Article 126(2), "Article 96(1)" is replaced by "Article 96(2)".
Article 3
Entry into force and application
This Regulation shall enter into force on the seventh day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
It shall apply from 1 October 2013. However, Article 2 shall apply from 22 June 2011.
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.
Done at Brussels, 21 June 2013.