Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1333/2011
of 19 December 2011
laying down marketing standards for bananas, rules on the verification of compliance with those marketing standards and requirements for notifications in the banana sector
(codification)
THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,
Having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of 22 October 2007 establishing a common organisation of agricultural markets and on specific provisions for certain agricultural products (Single CMO Regulation) , and in particular Article 121(a) and Article 194, in conjunction with Article 4 thereof,
Whereas:
(1)
Commission Regulation (EC) No 2257/94 of 16 September 1994 laying down quality standards for bananas , Commission Regulation (EC) No 2898/95 of 15 December 1995 concerning verification of compliance with quality standards for bananas and Commission Regulation (EC) No 239/2007 of 6 March 2007 laying down detailed rules for the application of Regulation (EEC) No 404/93 as regards the requirements for communications in the banana sector have been substantially amended . In the interests of clarity and rationality the said Regulations should be codified by assembling them in a single act.
(2)
Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 makes provision for laying down marketing standards for bananas. The purpose of those standards is to ensure that the market is supplied with products of uniform and satisfactory quality, in particular in the case of bananas harvested in the Union, for which efforts to improve quality should be made.
(3)
Given the wide range of varieties marketed in the Union and of marketing practices, minimum standards should be set for unripened green bananas, without prejudice to the later introduction of standards applicable at a different marketing stage. The characteristics of fig bananas and the way in which they are marketed are such that they should not be covered by the Union standards.
(4)
It seems appropriate, in view of the objectives pursued, to allow the banana-producing Member States to apply national standards within their territory to their own production but only at stages subsequent to unripened green bananas, provided those rules are not in conflict with Union standards and do not impede the free circulation of bananas in the Union.
(5)
Account should be taken of the fact that, because climatic factors make production conditions difficult in Madeira, the Azores, the Algarve, Crete, Lakonia and Cyprus, bananas there do not develop to the minimum length laid down. In those cases such bananas should still be allowed to be marketed, but only in Class II.
(6)
Measures should be adopted to ensure uniform application of the rules on marketing standards for bananas, in particular as regards conformity checks.
(7)
While taking due account of the nature of a highly perishable product and of the marketing practices and inspection procedures used in the trade, it should be laid down that checks on conformity are to be carried out in principle at the stage to which the standards apply.
(8)
A product which has satisfied checks at that stage is deemed to comply with the standards. That assessment should be without prejudice to any unannounced checks carried out subsequently up to the ripening depot stage.
(9)
The check on conformity should not be systematic but random, by assessment of an overall sample taken at random from the lot selected for checking by the competent body and assumed to be representative of that lot. For that purpose, the appropriate provisions of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011 of 7 June 2011 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors apply.
(10)
The banana trade is subject to strong competition. The traders concerned have themselves introduced strict checks. Checks should not, therefore, be carried out at the stage laid down on traders who offer suitable guarantees as regards staff and handling facilities and who can guarantee that the bananas they market in the Union conform with Union standards. Such exemptions should be granted by the Member State on the territory of which the check is in principle to be carried out. Such exemptions should be withdrawn where the standards and conditions relating thereto are not met.
(11)
In order for checks to be carried out, information should be supplied to the competent bodies by the traders concerned.
(12)
The certificate of conformity issued upon completion of the checks should not constitute an accompanying document for the bananas up to the final stage of marketing, but a document of proof of the conformity of the bananas with Union standards up to the ripening depot stage, in accordance with the scope of the standard, to be presented at the request of the competent authorities. It should be stressed that bananas not conforming with the standards laid down in this Regulation may not be marketed for fresh consumption in the Union.
(13)
In order to monitor how the banana market functions, it is necessary for the Commission to receive information on the production and marketing of bananas produced in the Union. Rules covering the notification of such information by Member States should be laid down.
(14)
The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Management Committee for the Common Organisation of Agricultural Markets,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1.
OJ L 245, 20.9.1994, p. 6.
OJ L 304, 16.12.1995, p. 17.
OJ L 67, 7.3.2007, p. 3.
See Annex V.
OJ L 157, 15.6.2011, p. 1.