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, and in particular Articles 2(2),
Whereas:
(1)
Marketing standards for fresh fruit and vegetables established according to Article 2 of regulation (EC) No 2200/96 lay down provisions concerning the presentation of products in the package and stipulate that all packages shall be labelled with all the information required with regard to identification of the packer or of the dispatcher, the nature of produce, its origin and commercial specifications.
(2)
It is common practice in the sector to affix stickers individually on fruits for publicity purposes or other purposes. The development of such practice for the most delicate ones makes it necessary to adopt rules aiming at avoiding products are damaged by the stickers.
(3)
Recent trends in the fruit and vegetables sector show in particular the preparation, more and more frequently in the region of production itself, of sales packages, as defined in Annex IV, part 1, item l) of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001 of 12 June 2001 on checks on conformity to the marketing standards applicable to fresh fruit and vegetables. Often, when this happens, goods are then shipped to the consuming markets in re-usable transport packages.
(4)
In order to take this practice into account, and in particular to avoid risks of confusion when labels of re-usable transport packages are changed, transport packages should be exempted from the labelling of the information required by the marketing standards, provided however that sales packages are correctly labelled and visible. In the case, transport packages are palletised, the pallet should be marked.
(5)
In addition, it shall be possible to label pre-packages, as defined in annex IV, point 1, item l) of Regulation (EC) No 1148/2001, with the name of the seller instead of that of the packer and/or the shipper, in particular to be more in line with the provisions applicable to all pre-packed food stuffs as defined by Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advertising of foodstuffs, provided that the particulars placed on the pre-package allow easily to know the packer and/or the shipper.
(6)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for fresh fruit and vegetables,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: