Legal provisions of COM(2012)530 - Amendment of Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey

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dossier COM(2012)530 - Amendment of Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey.
document COM(2012)530 EN
date May 15, 2014

Contents

Article 1 - Amendments

Directive 2001/110/EC is amended as follows:

(1)In Article 2(4), point (a) is replaced by the following:

‘(a)the country or countries of origin where the honey has been harvested shall be indicated on the label.

Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, if the honey originates in more than one Member State or third country, the indication of the countries of origin may be replaced with one of the following, as appropriate:

—“blend of EU honeys”,

—“blend of non-EU honeys”,

—“blend of EU and non-EU honeys”.’.

(2)In Article 2, the following point is added:

‘5.Pollen, being a natural constituent particular to honey, shall not be considered to be an ingredient, within the meaning of point (f) of Article 2(2) of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (10), of the products defined in Annex I to this Directive.

(10) Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1925/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2002/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004 (OJ L 304, 22.11.2011, p. 18).’."

(3)Article 4 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 4

1. For the purposes of the second paragraph of Article 9 of this Directive, the Commission may, taking into account international standards and technical progress, by means of implementing acts that are in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (11), set out methods of analysis to verify whether honey is compliant with the provisions of this Directive. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 7(2) of this Directive. Until the adoption of such methods, Member States shall, whenever possible, use internationally recognised validated methods of analysis such as those approved by the Codex Alimentarius to verify compliance with the provisions of this Directive.

2. For the purpose of ensuring fair commercial practices and protecting consumer interests and enabling the setting out of relevant methods of analysis, the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 6 to supplement this Directive by laying down the quantitative parameters relating to the following:

(a)the criterion of “mainly” as regards the floral or vegetable origin of honey as referred to in the first indent of Article 2(2)(b); and,

(b)the minimal content of pollen in filtered honey following removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter referred to in point 2(b)(viii) of Annex I.

The Commission shall provide, in those delegated acts, for appropriate transitional arrangements for products placed on the market before the date of application of those delegated acts.

(11) Regulation (EC) No 882/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on official controls performed to ensure the verification of compliance with feed and food law, animal health and animal welfare rules (OJ L 165, 30.4.2004, p. 1).’."

(4)Article 6 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 6

1. The power to adopt the delegated acts is conferred on the Commission subject to the conditions laid down in this Article.

2. The power to adopt delegated acts referred to in Article 4(2) shall be conferred on the Commission for a period of five years from 23 June 2014. The Commission shall draw up a report in respect of the delegation of power not later than nine months before the end of the five-year period. The delegation of power shall be tacitly extended for periods of an identical duration unless the European Parliament or the Council opposes such extension not later than three months before the end of each period.

3. The delegation of power referred to in Article 4(2) may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication of the decision in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force.

4. As soon as it adopts a delegated act, the Commission shall notify it simultaneously to the European Parliament and to the Council.

5. A delegated act adopted pursuant to Article 4(2) shall enter into force only if no objection has been expressed either by the European Parliament or the Council within a period of two months from the date of notification of that act to the European Parliament and the Council or if, before the expiry of that period, the European Parliament and the Council have both informed the Commission that they will not object. That period shall be extended by two months at the initiative of the European Parliament or of the Council.’.

(5)Article 7 is replaced by the following:

‘Article 7

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health (the “Committee”) established by Article 58(1) of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council (12). The Committee is a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13).

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Article 5 of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

Where the Committee delivers no opinion, the Commission shall not adopt the draft implementing act and the third subparagraph of Article 5(4) of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 shall apply.

(12) Regulation (EC) No 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Food Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matters of food safety (OJ L 31, 1.2.2002, p. 1)."

(13) Regulation (EU) No 182/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 February 2011 laying down the rules and general principles concerning mechanisms for control by Member States of the Commission's exercise of implementing powers (OJ L 55, 28.2.2011, p. 13).’."

(6)In Annex II, the third paragraph is replaced by the following:

‘Without prejudice to point 2(b)(viii) of Annex I, neither pollen nor any other constituent particular to honey, may be removed except where this is unavoidable in the removal of foreign inorganic or organic matter.’.

Article 2 - Transposition

1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with points (1), (2) and (6) of Article 1 and Article 3. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those measures.

When Member States adopt those measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. Member States shall determine how such reference is to be made.

2. Member States shall apply the measures referred to in paragraph 1 from 24 June 2015.

Article 3 - Transitional measures

Products which are placed on the market or labelled before 24 June 2015, in accordance with Directive 2001/110/EC, may continue to be marketed until the exhaustion of stocks.

Article 4 - Entry into force

This Directive shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

Article 5 - Addressees

This Directive is addressed to the Member States.