Brussels, 22/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 June, the Council of ministers of the European Union believes that “existing EU quality policies have in general worked well in fulfilling agriculture objectives of Community interest”. However, the Council considers that their positive effects should be further strengthened and promoted and “at the same time some improvements, clarification, innovation and simplification are required”. In the conclusions, European agriculture ministers state that common EU approach on quality is “essential for securing the Community's interests vis à vis third countries”. Member states welcome the Commission's intention to “prepare the ground” for possible legislative initiatives on geographical indications and trading standards, including optional reserved terms to define additional information about product qualities and farming attributes for consumers should be kept voluntary.
The Council declares its ambition to bring about further progress and improvements to quality policy in particular in terms of: improved communication among farmers, buyers and consumers on the quality of EU agricultural products and the level of farming requirements to which the EU agricultural production is subject to; increased coherence of agricultural product quality legislation with other relevant Community legislation; simplification for farmers and producers to apply for, as well as for consumers to benefit from, the various schemes and labelling terms.
Geographical indications (GIs). The Council considers that “EU geographical indications systems are essentially sound and deliver benefits to consumers, producers and to the sustainable development of rural areas, in particular by improving the incomes of farmers and by retaining the rural population in these areas”. It also encourages the Commission in its efforts to carry out further simplification, clarification and streamlining and invites the Commission to prepare the ground for a possible recast of the geographical indications legislation. In this context, the Council considers that bringing together the three registration systems for wines, spirit drinks and agricultural products and foodstuffs could be explored with a view to bringing improvements in terms of coherence, simplification and clarity for stakeholders, while at the same time fully respecting the specificities of these systems and ensuring that the resulting regulatory structure does not lead to an increase in the administrative burden; CONSIDERS that greater clarity is needed on the different types of intellectual property rights; invites the Commission to consider clarification on "generic terms"; reiterates that the Commission should seek enhanced protection for EU GIs with respect to third countries, through improvements within the WTO framework as well as bilateral agreements and by inclusion of GIs in the scope of the “Anti-counterfeiting trade agreement” as well as the forthcoming “European observatory on counterfeiting and piracy”. The Council also concurs with the suggestions that the Commission should streamline administrative procedures with a view to shortening registration processes.
It notes that the "traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG)" scheme has yet to prove its potential but believes that the TSG scheme can still play an important role in the future and therefore invites the Commission to explore effective ways for improving the scheme.
Specific Optional Reserved Terms. that the use of optional reserved terms to define additional information about product qualities and farming attributes for consumers should be kept voluntary; it encourages the Commission to examine areas where laying down specific optional reserved terms would bring improved clarity and coherence in the Community market; and notes the Commission's intention to develop some definitions in this regard, in particular of "mountain" products.
Certification. The Council recognises the potential of private and national food certification schemes to meet information needs; however, considers that more should be done to avoid confusing consumers and therefore welcomes the Commission's intention to bring about improved coherence to such schemes by developing good practice guidelines for certification schemes. Finally, the Council welcomes the Commission plans for further developments in the field of organic farming in the EU and third countries and highlights the need for controls in this regard. (L.C./trans/rh)