Hooray finally the EU sees sense and has re-written its rules and will allow misshapen vegetables to be sold and not kept from the market. Below are press releases on behalf of the EU and East Midlands regional Assembly.
I remember reading from our Euro enthusiasts that these rules were figments of us Euro-sceptics imaginations. Well we had to wait a long while but we have been vindicated. Interestingly there are still rules that apply to fruits and of course we have to wait and see what the Labour Government do – will they accept this new ruling as is or ‘gold plate’ it as usual?
Press releases:-
BRUSSELS -- Misshapen fruit and vegetables may be sold across the European Union from next year after member states voted on Wednesday to scrap the bloc's much-maligned standards for size and shape.
Bent cucumbers, nobbly carrots and undersized melons can be sold by retailers from next July following the approval of proposals by the EU's farm chief to ditch EU marketing standards which set permitted sizes, lengths and "bendiness'' for produce.
"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the nobbly carrot,'' EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said in a statement.
She hopes the move will help end years of jibes about EU over-regulation in which European Commission bureaucrats are portrayed as over-zealous, and at the same time provide more affordable fruit and vegetables amid high food prices.
"We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators,'' the commissioner said.
"In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties, consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape.''
Wednesday's vote means an end to minimum shapes and sizes for 26 fruits and vegetables, such as aubergines and apricots, cherries, garlic, leeks, peas, spinach and watermelons.
But 10 standards will remain, including those for apples, citrus fruit, peaches, pears and tomatoes. The 10 categories account for three-quarters of EU cross-border fruit and vegetable trade.
However, governments could let shops sell these 10 products as long as they are labelled properly. For example, an apple not meeting the standard may still be sold as long as it is labelled "product intended for processing'' or equivalent wording.
“The Regional Assembly has welcomed the abolition of European size standards for fruit and vegetables, claiming it could boost local farmers and producers.
At the moment, stores reject around 20 per cent of produce, because it does not meet EU marketing standards, which specify shapes and sizes for 27 types of fruit and vegetables.
Today, a European Union committee was due to back European Commission plans to relax the standards, which would enable stores to sell misshapen fruit and vegetables at cheaper prices from June next year.
EMRA’s chairman, Councillor David Parsons, said: “I welcome this very sensible step forward.
“In the current economic downturn, it makes sense, for both producers and shoppers, if perfectly edible but oddly shaped food can be sold at a discount price.”
I remember reading from our Euro enthusiasts that these rules were figments of us Euro-sceptics imaginations. Well we had to wait a long while but we have been vindicated. Interestingly there are still rules that apply to fruits and of course we have to wait and see what the Labour Government do – will they accept this new ruling as is or ‘gold plate’ it as usual?
Press releases:-
BRUSSELS -- Misshapen fruit and vegetables may be sold across the European Union from next year after member states voted on Wednesday to scrap the bloc's much-maligned standards for size and shape.
Bent cucumbers, nobbly carrots and undersized melons can be sold by retailers from next July following the approval of proposals by the EU's farm chief to ditch EU marketing standards which set permitted sizes, lengths and "bendiness'' for produce.
"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the nobbly carrot,'' EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said in a statement.
She hopes the move will help end years of jibes about EU over-regulation in which European Commission bureaucrats are portrayed as over-zealous, and at the same time provide more affordable fruit and vegetables amid high food prices.
"We simply don't need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators,'' the commissioner said.
"In these days of high food prices and general economic difficulties, consumers should be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the 'wrong' shape.''
Wednesday's vote means an end to minimum shapes and sizes for 26 fruits and vegetables, such as aubergines and apricots, cherries, garlic, leeks, peas, spinach and watermelons.
But 10 standards will remain, including those for apples, citrus fruit, peaches, pears and tomatoes. The 10 categories account for three-quarters of EU cross-border fruit and vegetable trade.
However, governments could let shops sell these 10 products as long as they are labelled properly. For example, an apple not meeting the standard may still be sold as long as it is labelled "product intended for processing'' or equivalent wording.
“The Regional Assembly has welcomed the abolition of European size standards for fruit and vegetables, claiming it could boost local farmers and producers.
At the moment, stores reject around 20 per cent of produce, because it does not meet EU marketing standards, which specify shapes and sizes for 27 types of fruit and vegetables.
Today, a European Union committee was due to back European Commission plans to relax the standards, which would enable stores to sell misshapen fruit and vegetables at cheaper prices from June next year.
EMRA’s chairman, Councillor David Parsons, said: “I welcome this very sensible step forward.
“In the current economic downturn, it makes sense, for both producers and shoppers, if perfectly edible but oddly shaped food can be sold at a discount price.”
