News Focus | Standards backlash

European fresh produce association Freshfel has moved to criticise the European Commission's decision to alter regulations on the market standards of certain fruit and vegetables – one of a number of organisations to do so since the decision was made.

EU member states voted in favour of EC proposals to repeal existing standards on 26 different types of fresh produce – a move designed to simplify regulations and cut red tape, according to commissioner for agriculture and rural development Mariann Fischer Boel.

However, Freshfel slammed the move as 'populist' and stirred by a media campaign, despite widespread opposition from member states such as Spain, Italy, France, Greece and Poland.

'It is astonishing to see how the European Commission embarked on such a costly media campaign to support the rationale of its proposal,' said Philippe Binard, the general delegate of Freshfel Europe. 'The commission launched a significant and disproportionate media campaign to inform the public about the proposal and its potential benefits, communicating about a decision on this matter even before the discussion at the Management Committee level – a step in the EU decision process which is not even the final legal step for the adoption of a proposal!'

Since the announcement, the EC decision has faced a backlash from a number of quarters. Germany's association of fresh fruit and vegetable producers' organisations, BVEO, warned that the repeal of the standards would lead to an explosion of different standards developed by retailers and traders. 'Consumers won’t be able clearly to determine what they ought to buy,' said BVEO secretary Dr Markus Nöthen.

Paolo Bruni, president of Italian fresh produce company Apo Conerpo and Italy's National Federation of Agricultural and Agri-Food Cooperatives (Fedagri-Confcooperative), labelled the European Commission's decision to remove marketing standards for certain fresh fruits and vegetables 'a joke', warning it will bring about an inevitable race to the bottom in terms of prices, to the detriment of quality production.

'As Italian cooperatives, we are doubly disappointed by this outcome as, during the course of this year, we had already shown our full opposition, countersigned by cooperative organisations in France, Spain and Greece, to this deregulation, both in the proposal's initial publication phase and also after the management committee meeting on 23 July, when a sufficient majority was not reached,' explained Mr Bruni, one of the pre-eminent figures of the Italian fresh produce business. 'For that reason, we asked the Commission to be more reasonable and not to abuse its vote in order to reach agreement on the regulations.'

According to Mr Bruni, the Commission decided to go against the committee's original 16 votes against the proposal versus nine (largely northern European countries) in favour. 'They have distanced themselves from the interests of the European supply chain and in particular the main producer countries,' he added.

The decision to remove marketing standards on most items of fresh produce sold in the EU also puts consumers at a disadvantage, argued Mr Bruni. 'This is also a joke for consumers, who will find themselves spending the same amount for products of inferior quality and ripeness, while no longer having a means of deciding what to buy according to the relationship between quality and price,' he observed. 'Consumers will continue to pay, for example, two euros for a kilogramme of fresh produce, but one day they will buy a good product and the following day they will buy a bad product. The price won't be connected to quality. Instead it will be strongly influenced by speculation and a foreseeable rise in the power of the retailers.'

Elsewhere in Europe, Spanish producer-exporter association Fepex claimed the vote would 'end transparency' in the EU market and could turn Europe into a depository for second-class quality products from around the globe.

Almería-based fresh produce association Coexphal also slammed the development as being 'a very negative move for both producers and consumers'.

And Alfonso Gálvez Caravaca, general secretary of Asaja Murcia, claimed the approval of the plans would 'threaten the interests' of fresh produce companies in Murcia, arguing that it could lead to 'unfair competition' between markets.

'We feel the EC has used the marketing standards dossier solely to fulfil its own communication agenda, without at any time seriously having taken into account the points of view of the fruit and vegetable sector,' Mr Binard added. 'The commission's proposal could lead to unripe or undesirable produce possibly ending up on the market - those lower quality produce could damage the already very sensible fruit and vegetable market.'

However, the decision to repeal the standards was backed by Mariann Fischer Boel, the European Commissioner for agricultural and rural development, as a sensible move.

'This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the nobbly carrot,' she said. 'It's a concrete example of our drive to cut unnecessary red tape. We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at an EU level, so therefore it is far better to leave it to market operators.'

The new standards, which will come into force on 1 July 2009, apply to apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocados, beans, brussel sprouts, carrots, cauliflowers, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell and watermelons as well as chicory.

Marketing standards will remain in place for apples, citrus fruit, kiwifruit, lettuce, peaches, nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes. However, these products can be exempted if they are sold with a label clearly distinguishing them from 'extra', 'class I' and 'class II' standard fruit.

'In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties, consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible,' Ms Fischer Boel added. 'It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape.'