At the meeting of the Special Committee on Agriculture (SCA) on Monday 8 January, the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council indicated that the next negotiations with the European Parliament (trilogue) on the proposal concerning marketing standards for a number of products (see EUROPE 13312/26) would take place on 30 January.
The main differences between the EU Council’s mandate and the European Parliament’s position are as follows.
With regard to the origin labelling of honey, the mandates of the EU Council and Parliament stipulate that the countries of origin should be indicated on the label in descending order according to the proportion they represent in the final product.
However, Parliament’s mandate does not provide for national exemptions, as is foreseen in the EU Council’s mandate for the four largest shares. Both institutions are in favour of an exemption for small packaging.
The European Parliament aims to implement a traceability system, mandating Member States to track the complete supply chain of honey, linking it back to beekeepers or to harvested operators in the case of imported honey. This is not foreseen in the EU Council’s mandate. The European Parliament also wants to change the definition of honey by banning ultrafiltration, artificial evaporation and vacuum evaporation, and by introducing a new type of honey, called ‘unheated honey’. This is not in the EU Council’s mandate either.
Fruit juices. The Parliament seeks to implement origin labelling for fruit juices, specifying the country of origin of the fruit utilised in the juice production (a provision not anticipated in the EU Council’s mandate). The two institutions want to introduce two new categories: ‘reduced-sugar fruit juice’ and ‘reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate’. The EU Council’s mandate also includes ‘concentrated reduced-sugar fruit juice’.
In the case of these reduced-sugar fruit juices, the European Parliament wants to prohibit in the labelling any claim suggesting that the product has positive properties compared with non-reduced fruit juices (for example, that it contains fewer calories or is healthier). This is not foreseen in the EU Council’s mandate.
On jam, Parliament is advocating for the introduction of origin labelling for jams, ensuring that the label specifies the country of origin for both the fruits and sugar used (a provision not outlined in the EU Council's mandate).
The delegations within the SCA discussed the following subjects in particular: the traceability of honey, the origin labelling of fruit in fruit juices and the origin labelling of fruits and sugar in jams and jellies.
Six interinstitutional technical meetings are scheduled before the trilogue on 30 January. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)