Commission Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001 of 12 June 2001 on checks on conformity to the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables

Coming into Force01 January 2002,20 June 2001
End of Effective Date31 December 2007
Celex Number32001R1148
ELIhttp://data.europa.eu/eli/reg/2001/1148/oj
Published date13 June 2001
Date12 June 2001
Official Gazette PublicationOfficial Journal of the European Communities, L 156, 13 June 2001
EUR-Lex - 32001R1148 - EN 32001R1148

Commission Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001 of 12 June 2001 on checks on conformity to the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables

Official Journal L 156 , 13/06/2001 P. 0009 - 0022


Commission Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001

of 12 June 2001

on checks on conformity to the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables

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 911/2001(2), and in particular Article 10 thereof,

Whereas:

(1) Commission Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92 of 29 July 1992 on quality inspection of fresh fruit and vegetables(3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 766/97(4), must be amended in a number of places to take account of the development of and improved professionalism in the trade in fresh fruit and vegetables and of changes in the common organisation of the markets in this sector, and in order to clarify a number of ambiguities in that Regulation. In the interests of simplification and improved clarity, the rules should be completely recast and Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92 should be repealed.

(2) The Member States must designate the inspection bodies who are responsible for carrying out checks on conformity at each stage of marketing. Given the very diverse circumstances in the Member States, one or other of these bodies in each Member State should be responsible for contacts and coordination between all designated bodies.

(3) Conformity checks should be carried out by sampling and should concentrate on traders most likely to have goods which do not comply with the standards. Depending on the characteristics of their national market, Member States must lay down rules prioritising checks on particular categories of trader. To ensure transparency, these rules should be notified to the Commission. Since knowledge of traders and their main characteristics is an indispensable tool in Member States' analysis, it is essential to set up a database on traders in fresh fruit and vegetables in each Member State, following the register drawn up according to Regulation (EEC) No 2251/92.

(4) Exports of fruits and vegetables to third countries must conform to the standards. Member States must ensure it is the case and certify conformity, in accordance with the Geneva Protocol on standardisation of fresh fruit and vegetables and dry and dried fruit concluded within the United Nations Economical Commission for Europe and the OECD scheme for the application of international standards for fruit and vegetables. Imports of fresh fruit and vegetables from third countries must conform to the marketing standards or to standards at least equivalent to them. Checks on conformity must therefore be carried out before these goods enter Community customs territory, except in the case of small lots which the inspection authorities consider to be low risk. In certain third countries which provide satisfactory guarantees of conformity, checks may be carried out by the inspection bodies of these third countries. Where this option is applied, the Member States are to verify regularly the validity of the checks carried out by third country inspection bodies and inform the Commission of the results of these verifications.

(5) Products intended for processing are not required to conform to these standards, so it must be ensured that they are not sold on the market for fresh products. Such products should be suitably labelled and, in certain cases, accompanied by a processing certificate stating the end-use and allowing checks to be made.

(6) Fruit and vegetables checked for conformity to the marketing standards should be subject to the same type of check at all stages of marketing. The inspection guidelines recommended by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, themselves in line with the relevant OECD recommendations, should be adopted to this end. Specific arrangements should however be laid down for checks at the retail sale stage.

(7) The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Committee for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables,

HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1

Member States shall carry out checks at all stages of marketing on conformity to the marketing standards laid down in Articles 7, 8 and 9 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96 in accordance with this Regulation.

Article 2

Competent bodies

1. Each Member State shall designate a single competent authority responsible for coordination and contacts in the areas covered by this Regulation, hereinafter called "the coordinating authority".

2. The Member States shall communicate to the Commission:

- the name and postal and e-mail address of the coordinating authority they have designated in application of paragraph 1,

- the name and postal and e-mail address of the inspection bodies they appointed in application of the third subparagraph of Article 7 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96, hereinafter called "the inspection bodies", and

- an exact description of the respective spheres of activity of the inspection bodies they appointed.

3. The coordinating authority may be the inspection body or one of the inspection bodies or any other body designated according to paragraph 1.

4. The Commission shall publish the list of coordinating authorities designated by the Member States in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Communities.

Article 3

Trader database

1. The Member States shall set up a database on traders in fruit and vegetables, which shall list, under the conditions defined by the present Article, traders involved in marketing fresh fruit and vegetables for which standards have been laid down in application of Article 2 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96.

By "trader" is meant any natural or legal person holding fresh fruit and vegetables subject to marketing standards with a view to their displaying or offering for sale, their sale or their marketing in any other manner for itself or on behalf of a third party in the Community's territory and/or export to third countries.

Member States shall determine the conditions under which the following traders are included or not in the database:

- traders whose activities are exempt from the obligation to comply with the marketing standards pursuant to Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 2200/96,

- natural or legal persons whose activities in the fruit and vegetables sector are limited either to the transport of goods, or to the sale of small quantities at the retail stage.

2. Where the database is composed of several distinct elements, the coordinating authority shall ensure that the database, its elements and their updating are uniform. The updating is done in particular by the inspection bodies using the information collected during checks carried out at all stages of marketing.

3. This database shall contain, for each trader, the registration number, name, address, information needed for its classification in one of the categories mentioned in Article 4 of this Regulation, in...

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