Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429 of 17 August 2023 supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards marketing standards for the fruit and vegetables sector, certain processed fruit and vegetable products and the bananas sector, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 1666/1999 and Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) No 543/2011 and (EU) No 1333/2011
Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2023/2429of 17 August 2023supplementing Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council as regards marketing standards for the fruit and vegetables sector, certain processed fruit and vegetable products and the bananas sector, and repealing Commission Regulation (EC) No 1666/1999 and Commission Implementing Regulations (EU) No 543/2011 and (EU) No 1333/2011THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 establishing a common organisation of the markets in agricultural products and repealing Council Regulations (EEC) No 922/72, (EEC) No 234/79, (EC) No 1037/2001 and (EC) No 1234/2007OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 671., and in particular Article 75(2), Article 76(4) and Article 89 thereof,Whereas:(1)Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 establishes a common organisation of agricultural markets, which includes, among others, the fruit and vegetables sector, the processed fruit and vegetable products sector and the bananas sector. It also empowers the Commission to adopt delegated and implementing acts on marketing standards for these sectors or products therein.(2)Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 543/2011Commission 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 (OJ L 157, 15.6.2011, p. 1). lays down detailed rules in respect of the fruit and vegetables and processed fruit and vegetables sectors, providing for marketing standards for all fresh fruit and vegetables and detailed provisions concerning checks on conformity to marketing standards. Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 1333/2011Commission 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 (OJ L 336, 20.12.2011, p. 23). lays down the marketing standards for bananas, rules on the verification of compliance with those marketing standards and requirements for notifications in the bananas sector. Commission Regulation (EC) No 1666/1999Commission Regulation (EC) No 1666/1999 of 28 July 1999 laying down detailed rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/96 as regards the minimum marketing characteristics for certain varieties of dried grapes (OJ L 197, 29.7.1999, p. 32). lays down detailed rules as regards the minimum marketing characteristics for certain varieties of dried grapes. Those Regulations were adopted on the basis of Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilCouncil 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) (OJ L 299, 16.11.2007, p. 1).. Regulation (EC) No 1234/2007 has since been replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, which contains empowerments based on the legal framework for empowerments introduced by the Lisbon Treaty.(3)In order to harmonise and simplify the rules on marketing standards, on checks on conformity and on notifications for the above referred sectors, to incorporate the amendments necessary in the light of experience and to align the rules to the empowerments of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, it is appropriate to merge them in a single set of rules contained in a Delegated Regulation and an Implementing Regulation and to repeal Regulation (EC) No 1666/1999 and Implementing Regulations (EU) No 543/2011 and (EU) No 1333/2011.(4)Article 75(1), points (b), (c) and (d) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 authorises the Commission to provide for marketing standards for fruit and vegetables, processed fruit and vegetables and bananas, respectively. Pursuant to Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, fruit and vegetables, which are intended to be sold fresh to the consumer, may only be marketed if they are of sound, fair and of marketable quality and if the country of origin is indicated. To provide for a uniform implementation of that provision, it is appropriate to set out details of and provide for a general marketing standard for all fresh fruit and vegetables.(5)Specific marketing standards should be maintained for the fruit and vegetables subject to the application of Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013, based on an assessment of their relevance, taking into account, in particular, products which continue to be most traded in value terms on the basis of the figures held in the Eurostat’s reference database for detailed statistics on international trade in goods, Comext.(6)Processed fruit and vegetable products and ripened bananas are not covered by Article 76(1) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 nor by a specific marketing standard. Nonetheless, the labelling of the origin is relevant for consumers and necessary for consumers in the context of the Commission communication of 20 May 2020 entitled "A Farm to Fork Strategy for a fair, healthy and environmentally-friendly food system"COM(2020) 381 final. ("Farm to Fork Strategy"), that also aims at empowering consumers to make informed and sustainable food choices and should therefore be mandatory also for such products intended for direct consumption after simple operations like drying or ripening.(7)Given the wide range of varieties of bananas marketed in the Union and of marketing practices, minimum standards should be maintained for unripened green bananas. However, it is appropriate to align the marketing standard for bananas to the Codex Alimentarius and extend to more varieties to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade. In view of reducing food waste and food loss in the context of the Farm to Fork Strategy, notably by improving the flexibility for the portioning, it is appropriate to leave out the minimum of four fingers by hand or cluster set out in the Codex Alimentarius. It is appropriate, in view of the objectives pursued, to allow banana-producing Member States to apply national standards within their territory to their own production provided those rules are not in conflict with Union standards and do not impede the free circulation of bananas in the Union.(8)Account should be taken of the fact that, climatic factors make production conditions difficult in Madeira, the Azores, the Algarve, Canary Islands, Crete, Lakonia and Cyprus. As a result, certain bananas do not develop to the minimum length laid down in the international standard when produced in those geographical areas. In those cases, such bananas should be allowed to be marketed.(9)In order to avoid unnecessary barriers to trade, where specific marketing standards are to be laid down for individual products, those standards should be those set out in the standards adopted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). Where no specific marketing standard has been adopted at Union level, products should be considered as conforming to the general marketing standard where the holder is able to show that the products are in conformity with any applicable UNECE standard.(10)In order to take into account the Farm to Fork Strategy and consumers’ interests, the marketing standards for all the sectors covered by this Regulation should maintain the high-quality requirements that make international consensus while encouraging alternative uses in order to avoid food loss and food waste when the standard is not complied with. This should be the case for all products that do not comply with the requirements of Class II of the UNECE marketing standards but are still edible. Therefore, exemptions from the application of marketing standards should be provided for in the case of certain products that are intended for processing, or that are sold by the producer directly to consumers.(11)Certain fruit and vegetable products may have characteristics that do not conform to the applicable marketing standards. A traditional cultivation and local consumption may nonetheless be well-established in respect of those products. To ensure that products which are deemed to be fit for consumption by local communities but which do not conform to the Union marketing standards are not prevented from being marketed locally, those products should be exempted from the Union marketing standards unless this exemption is likely to prevent or distort competition in a substantial part of the internal market, or to jeopardise free trade or the attainment of any of the objectives of Article 39 of the Treaty.(12)Several fruit and vegetables products may derogate from the marketing standards in view of reducing the administrative burden both for the traders and for the authorities carrying out the controls in accordance with Article 76(4) of Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013. Nonetheless, the labelling of origin is necessary for the consumers and in line with the policy orientation of the Farm to Fork strategy to provide more information to allow consumers to make a better informed choice, the indication of the country of origin should be mandatory for such products.(13)Marketing standards relative to products for donations should be simplified in order to reduce the administrative burden for the traders without affecting the quality. Provided the product is clearly labelled to inform that it is for donation, other marking particulars should be optional. It should nonetheless conform to the general marketing standard regarding the quality in order to protect the beneficiary of the donation.(14)In order to ensure that checks may be properly and effectively carried out, invoices and accompanying documents, other than those for consumers, should contain certain basic information included in the marketing standards.(15)The information particulars required by marketing standards should be clearly displayed on the packaging and/or on the label. To avoid fraud and cases of misleading consumers, the information particulars required by the marketing standards should be available to consumers before purchase, including in case of distance selling, where experience has shown the risks of fraud and avoidance of the consumer protection offered by the standards.(16)In order to avoid misleading the consumers regarding the class, the information particulars required at retail stage should not include terms such as "supreme", "premium" or similar wording which are not regulated for defining an actual quality of the product, notwithstanding the possibility to display any other information such as "transport by air" or similar factual information which does not mislead the consumer.(17)In order to avoid misleading consumers regarding the origin of the products, the indication of the country of origin should be better visible than the indication of the country of the packer.(18)Packages containing mixes of different products or species of products covered by this Regulation are becoming more common on the market in response to certain consumers demand. Fair trading requires that products or species of products sold in the same package are of uniform quality. For products for which Union standards have not been adopted this can be ensured by recourse to general provisions. Labelling requirements should therefore be laid down for mixes of different products or species of products in the same package. They should be less strict than those laid down by the marketing standards as labelling of mixes is more burdensome and their application risks to obstacle the marketing of those products.(19)Imports of fruit and vegetables from third countries are to conform to the marketing standards or to standards equivalent to them. Therefore, conditions under which imported products are considered to have an equivalent level of conformity to the Union marketing standards should be laid down.(20)In order to give operators and the national administrations sufficient time to adapt to the changes introduced by this Regulation, this Regulation should apply as from 1 January 2025.(21)Given the substantive link between the empowerments in Regulation (EU) No 1308/2013 regarding the rules on marketing standards, on the minimum quality requirements for products of the fruit and vegetables sector and on the conformity of imported products to Union marketing standards, it is appropriate to lay down those rules in the same delegated act,HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: