The Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) made progress, on Monday 16 October, in negotiations on proposals to revise the marketing standards applicable to agri-food products such as fruit and vegetables, fruit juices and jams, honey, poultry and eggs.
The Commission has proposed the mandatory indication of all the countries of origin (Member States and third countries) of the honey (see EUROPE 13167/1).
The Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU has drawn up a draft text on ‘Breakfast Directives’, which has been discussed on several occasions in an EU Council working group. There was a broad consensus between Member States on jams, juices and milk. On the labelling of honey blends, there is as yet no consensus or clear majority within this EU Council working group.
At the SCA meeting, many delegations generally welcomed the text proposed by the EU Council Presidency. There was some support for the suggested changes to the labelling of honey blends. They require all countries of origin to be listed, in descending order of weight, along with the percentage that each country represents. If there are more than four countries of origin, only the percentage of the first four must be indicated, according to the compromise on the table.
The Spanish Presidency of the EU Council’s proposal on small packages received general support (no need for a specific derogation, as one already exists for small packages with a surface area of less than 10 cm² in Regulation 1169/2011 on consumer information). However, the Presidency’s text gives Member States the option of indicating countries of origin using a two-letter code, in accordance with ISO standards.
Work on these texts will continue in the EU Council. The SCA will shortly be examining a negotiating mandate on the ‘Breakfast Directives’ with a view to starting technical discussions with the European Parliament, possibly in December. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)