Freshfel Newsletter. 6 November 2009 Number 42

Transcription

1 Freshfel Newsletter This Newsletter contains information for the personal use of Freshfel s members only, and must not be further disseminated to non-members. Freshfel s members are kindly invited to inform the Secretariat about any specific country or industry developments which are appropriate for circulation in this Newsletter. For more information on the contents of this Newsletter, contact Philippe Binard, Raquel Izquierdo de Santiago, Sebastian Kruse, Simon Pettinger or Frederic Rosseneu at the Association s Secretariat. 6 November 2009 Number 42 1) SPECIALITY CROPS AND MINOR USES CONFERENCE 4 NOVEMBER ) EMERGENCY MEASURES FOR IMPORTS OF TURKISH PEARS INTO THE EU ) NUTRITION AND HEALTH CLAIMS REGULATION AMENDMENTS TO ANNEX I (NUTRITION CLAIMS) ) EVALUATION OF CURRENT COMMUNITY PLANT HEALTH REGIME ) FOOD ETHICS COUNCIL DISCUSSION PAPER ON SEASONAL FOOD ) MRL CHANGES ) EU FOOD SAFETY ALMANAC ) RAPID ALERT SYSTEM FOR FOOD AND FEED WEEK ) WTO SPS NOTIFICATIONS ) MONITORING OF APPLE IMPORTS WEEK ) SPECIALITY CROPS AND MINOR USES CONFERENCE 4 NOVEMBER 2009 On Wednesday Freshfel Europe along with 7 other food chain associations jointly organised a policy conference on minor uses in the framework of the new plant protection product legislation. A call was made for more investment to ensure the availability of crop protection solutions for speciality crops and minor uses in the European Union. Representatives from the European Commission, Member States and the different sectors concerned (fruit and vegetables, flowers and ornamentals, cereal storage, seeds, hops, etc. discussed together for the first time the challenges and future of crop protection solutions for speciality crops and minor uses under the new Regulation on the authorisation of plant protection products. The Conference reached a general consensus on four key points: Protection of specialty crops: Minor use authorizations ensure the protection of high value specialty crops that contribute to the availability of high-quality healthy and affordable food for all consumers. Greater coordination: There is a need to have specific EU workgroups and coordination units to look at minor use issues and find common crop protection solutions for specialty crops. The Commission s commitment given at the Conference to re-instate these groups was supported by all participants. A step towards improved cooperation: The workshop was a first step and broader cooperation between all the players in the public and private sector is required, including wider cooperation with third countries. Minor use fund: The IR-4 programme from the United States is an excellent model that provides solutions and has shown a high return on the investment. A similar approach could be beneficial in Europe. 1

2 A joint position paper will now be sent to the chairman of the European Commission Mr. Barrosso; the paper will also be distributed to selected MEPs with a view to have the issue tackled during the hearings of the new Commissioner for Public health and Food Safety later this year. The presentations will be made available through the Freshfel website s member section. 2) EMERGENCY MEASURES FOR IMPORTS OF TURKISH PEARS INTO THE EU EU Member States agreed this week to impose special conditions and increased official controls governing the imports of pears originating in or consigned from Turkey after controls repeatedly indicated high levels of the pesticide amitraz in Turkish pears. The levels of amitraz were exceeding the acceptable threshold (Acute Reference Dose). From now on Member States should control at least 10 percent of consignments of pears originating from Turkey for the presence of amitraz at import. Consignments already on the market should also be subject to adequate official controls. The Member States should report to the Commission any unfavourable result of the laboratory analysis through the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed and, on a fortnightly basis, all results including the favourable ones. Based on this information the measure will be reviewed regularly and adapted, if needed. The measure is similar to the measures foreseen in the framework of Regulation 669/2009 on imports of high risk products which will enter into force on 25 January Given the urgency of the issue, this temporary emergency measure was put in place and will last till 24 January The main destinations of Turkish imports are listed. Reporter 2008 Import (MT) Austria 567,40 Belgium 43,40 Bulgaria 667,30 Denmark 6,50 Germany 2,10 Greece 142,00 Netherlands 43,50 Poland 2,40 Romania 803,40 Sweden 8,80 United Kingdom 70,10 EU ,90 3) EVALUATION OF CURRENT COMMUNITY PLANT HEALTH REGIME Following the decision to develop a new Community plant health strategy, the evaluation of the plant health regime currently in place is underway through various consultations with stakeholders and authorities affected by this issue. This evaluation will help to determine whether the current regime is fulfilling its objectives, and to clarify which aspects of the regime can be improved with regard to its structure and working practices. Freshfel has been contacted to provide input for the evaluation of the Community Plant Health Regime (CPHR), and we would encourage members to participate fully by completing the evaluation surveys in order to ensure the revision of this regime takes into account the views of the fresh produce sector. The general survey on the plant health regime for stakeholders is available at the following address: or by contacting the Freshfel secretariat. We encourage members to complete the survey (via the word document) as fully as possible and return them to the secretariat by the 15 th November at the latest. We will then transmit responses received to the evaluating body, the Food Chain Evaluation Consortium. 2

3 We have also received a cost survey for the evaluation of the plant health regime by . This survey covers the costs, benefits and opportunities to improve the cost-beenfit balance of the CPHR. We would also encourage members to complete this evaluation as soon as possible, and to return it to the secretariat by the 15 th November deadline. This survey is available from the secretariat upon request. 4) NUTRITION AND HEALTH CLAIMS REGULATION AMENDMENTS TO ANNEX I (NUTRITION CLAIMS) The European Commission has started discussions with Member States over a further eight possible amendments to the nutrition annex for nutrition claims on food. Amendments in discussion are the following: 5) FOOD ETHICS COUNCIL DISCUSSION PAPER ON SEASONAL FOOD This week the British NGO Food Ethics Council released a discussion paper regarding public and private initiatives to promote seasonal food. Such inititiaves have gained track in the framework of the climate change debate and Freshfel has regularly called for a pragmatic approach in dealing with this issue. 3

4 The discussion paper tackles the issue in a comprehensive manner, examining the evidence and making recommendations. The conclusions are balanced and suggest supermarkets should consider greater seasonal variation in their product ranges as one possible outcome not a goal in itself of a concerted strategy to improve the environmental and social footprints of their supply chains. Seasonal marketing should be seen as one of package of ways that retailers can help match demand to variability in supply, and should be carefully monitored for its effectiveness in promoting wider objectives of campaigns on seasonal food, including green citizenship and healthy eating. The full report is available from 6) MRL CHANGES On 6 November Regulation (EC) No 1050/2009 was published in the Official Journal L290. The regulation introduces MRL-changes for the following substances: Azoxystrobin, Acetamiprid, Clomazone, Cyflufenamid, Emamectin benzoate, Famoxadone, Febutatin oxide, Flefenoxuron, Fluopicolide, Indoxacarb, Ixoynil, Mepanipyrim, Prothioconazole, Pyridalyl, Thiacloprid and Trifloxystrobin. Since all MRLs increase, the regulation is directly applicable as of 7 November. All changes are integrated in the EU MRL database accessible through the Fresh Quality Guide at 7) EU FOOD SAFETY ALMANAC The German risk assessment body BfR recently published its almanac on EU food safety. The short, transparent country profiles in the brochure present the main public authorities and expert committees in the 27 Member States as well as Iceland, Norway and Switzerland which are involved in food safety. It also indicates their functions in the state legal system. The BfR EU Food Safety Almanac contains, for instance, information on which public authorities in each of the 30 states are responsible for the assessment of pesticides, health claims or zoonoses, which ministries are responsible in the Member States for the various aspects of management, how risks are communicated and the extent to which risk assessment and risk management are separated from each other institutionally. The brochure is intended for everyone interested in finding out more about the legal structures and institutions of food safety in Europe, and is available in English from 8) RAPID ALERT SYSTEM FOR FOOD AND FEED WEEK 45 During week 45, the following notifications on fresh fruit and vegetables were received by the EU s rapid alert system for food and feed. Border rejections concern food and feed consignments that have been tested and rejected at the external borders of the EU when a health risk was found. Type Date Notified by Reference Reason for notifying Country of Origin Border rejection 04/11/2009 Spain 2009.BXC Salmonella (presence /25g) in fresh banana leaves Thailand Border rejection 03/11/2009 Italy 2009.BWV endosulfan (3.05 mg/kg - ppm) and dimethoate (0.44 mg/kg - ppm) in fresh mint Morocco 4

5 9) WTO SPS NOTIFICATIONS The Secretariat of the WTO SPS Committee has recently received the following notifications: Notifying country Brazil Anastrepha Grandis (South American cucrbit fruit fly) Object of the notification Inclusion of municipality of Minas Gerais State in the systems approach for pest risk management of Anastrepha grandis (South American cucurbit fruit fly). 10) MONITORING OF APPLE IMPORTS WEEK 44 In February 2006, the Commission introduced, by way of Regulation 179/2006/EC, a license system to monitor apple imports from all third countries into the EU (See Newsletters 2,3 and 5 of 2006). Under the system, Member States must transmit weekly data to the Commission regarding the volumes of apples for which licenses have been requested. The system of electronic data transmission based on the import licenses issued by Member states will continue to stay in force. The licenses are valid for a period of three months and there is no data available to indicate when these licenses have actually been used. To simplify access and visibility of the information we summarise the information in the table and chart below: Table: Licence requests, cumulative volume, 2009 up to week 44, Source EC Commission: 2009 Apple Licence Requests Jan-Aug Sep-Dec Total New Zealand Australia South Africa Chile Argentina Brazil Uruguay Others SH Canada USA China Others NH Total The following table illustrates data on apple Exports from Southern Hemisphere, cumulative volume at departure, up to week 44, courtesy of SHAFFE: Total Argentina Brazil Chile New Zealand South Africa Total

6 The following chart illustrates total volume requested in import licences up to week 44: Apple import license requests up to Week 44 for SHAFFE countries SHAFFE exports 1 up to Week Data collected at departure by export authorities in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, New Zealand and South Africa, grouped under the Southern Hemisphere Association of Fresh Fruit Exporters (SHAFFE). The following table shows a comparison of apple licence import request for the last four years: 6