Considerations on COM(2023)201 - Amendment of Council Directives 2001/110/EC relating to honey, 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption, 2001/113/EC relating to fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human consumption, and 2001/114/EC relating to certain partly or wholly dehydrated preserved milk for human consumption - Main contents
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| dossier | COM(2023)201 - Amendment of Council Directives 2001/110/EC relating to honey, 2001/112/EC relating to fruit juices and certain similar ... |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2023)201 |
| date | May 14, 2024 |
(2) Council Directive 2001/110/EC0 lays down definitions, names, common rules on composition and labelling requirements for honey.
(3) In light of the close link between the quality of honey and its origin and the need for the consumer not to be misled regarding the quality of the product, Directive 2001/110/EC lays down rules on the labelling of the origin where the honey has been harvested. In particular, Article 2(4) of that Directive requires the country or countries of origin where the honey has been harvested to be indicated on the label and provides that, if honey originates in more than one Member State or third country, the mandatory indication of the countries of origin may be replaced by one of the following, as appropriate: ‘blend of EU honeys’, ‘blend of non-EU honeys’, ‘blend of EU and non-EU honeys’. The different rules adopted on this basis by Member States may have misled consumers and may have hindered the functioning of the internal market. In the light of the Farm to Fork Strategy’s objective of strengthening consumers in making informed choices, including on the origin of their food, and in the interest to preserve the efficient functioning of the internal market throughout the Union through a harmonisation of the labelling rules, it is appropriate to revise the rules for honey origin labelling and provide that the country or countries of origin should be mentioned on the packaging. In light of the reduced size of the packs containing only a single portion of honey (breakfast packs) and the resulting technical difficulties, it is therefore appropriate to exempt those packs from the obligation of listing all individual countries of origin, where the honey originates in more than one country.
(4) Council Directive 2001/112/EC0 lays down the essential requirements to be met regarding production, composition and labelling of fruit juices and certain similar products intended for human consumption in order to protect the interests of consumers and to enhance the free movement of those products.
(5) In 2012, Directive 2001/112/EC was amended by Directive 2012/12/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council0 to reflect the new rules on authorised ingredients, such as those pertaining to the addition of sugars, which were no longer authorised in fruit juices. In the light of this change of compositional requirements for fruit juices, the fruit juice industry was allowed to use, for one year only, a statement indicating that no fruit juices contain added sugars, in order to inform consumers and enable them to make an immediate clear distinction between fruit juices and other certain similar products in terms of the addition of sugars in the products. This short time-span proved insufficient to inform society that, following the new rules on authorised ingredients, the addition of sugars is no longer authorised in fruit juices. As a result, for some of the consumers and health practitioners, it is still not clear that fruit juices, contrary to fruit nectars, cannot contain added sugars.
(6) In turn, in accordance with Part II, point 2, indent 5 of Annex I, to Directive 2001/112/EC, fruit nectars containing neither added sugars nor sweeteners could bear the nutrition claim ‘with no added sugars’ or any claim likely to have the same meaning for the consumer, accompanied by the indication ‘contains naturally occurring sugars’, as listed in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council0. This, together with the fact that fruit juices may not bear a nutrition claim on sugars nor the indication ‘contains naturally occurring sugars’, may have misled consumers as research has shown that among several products with identical or very similar nutrition composition, the product with a nutrition claim would be preferred.
(7) Therefore, considering, in particular, that consumers are increasingly aware of health concerns linked to the consumption of sugar, it is appropriate to revise the rules on the use of statements on sugar for fruit juices to allow consumers to make informed choices. It is therefore appropriate to reintroduce, without a time limitation, the possibility for the industry to use the statement indicating that no fruit juices contain added sugars.
(8) As a result of technical progress, new processing techniques have been or are being developed to entirely or partially remove naturally occurring sugars in fruit juices and fruit juices from concentrate, in order to address the growing consumer demand for products with a lower sugar content. Such products can be marketed in the Union to the extent that they comply with all relevant legislation. However, those products are obtained by applying a treatment that is not one of the authorised treatments in Part II, point 3, of Annex I to Directive 2001/112/EC and their total sugar content, known as Brix level for an aqueous solution, is lower than that of juice extracted from the fruit. As a result, they may not bear the product name ‘fruit juice’ or ‘fruit juice from concentrate’.
(9) Such products are becoming increasingly available on the Union market. In order to facilitate the placing on the internal market of those products, taking also into account the need to encourage product reformulation to reduce the amount of sugars present in fruit juices, a new category of products should be created for fruit juices whose naturally occurring sugars have been entirely or partially removed while keeping all the other essential physical, chemical, organoleptic and nutritional characteristics. These products should bear the product name ‘reduced-sugar fruit juice’ or ‘reduced-sugar fruit juice from concentrate’ and to have a Brix level lower than that of the juice extracted from the fruit. In order to ensure consistency with Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 the reduction of sugar content should be at least 30 % compared to fruit juice and fruit juice from concentrate. It is therefore appropriate to add the new category of products in Part I of Annex I to Directive 2001/112/EC as well as to lay down rules on the authorised ingredients for those products, as well as the authorised treatments and substances.
(10) In accordance with Annex I to Directive 2001/112/EC, fruit nectars may contain added sugars and/or honey. In order to support the production and marketing of fruit, while taking into account the need to stimulate product reformulation to reduce the amount of sugars present in fruit nectars, the proportion of sugars and/or honey that may be added to fruit nectars that are naturally low in acidity and palatable should be lowered.
(11) Part II, point 3, of Annex I to Directive 2001/112/EC regulates the authorised treatments and substances for fruit juices and certain similar products. Protein from sunflower seeds is increasingly used for direct human consumption and has demonstrated to be an efficient tool for clarification of fruit juices. In order to take into account this further progress, proteins from sunflower seeds should be added to the list of authorised treatments and substances.
(12) The juice extracted from coconuts is increasingly marketed and consumed in the Union. In accordance with Article 3(2) of Directive 2001/112/EC, the legal name of that product is ‘coconut juice’. However, the international standard reflected in the Codex General Standard for fruit juices and nectars (Codex Stan 247-2005), adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission during its 28th session held from 4 to 9 July 2005, indicates that the name ‘coconut water’ is a synonym of ‘coconut juice’ which is directly extracted from the coconut without expressing the coconut meat. In order to bring Directive 2001/112/EC in line with that international standard, it is therefore appropriate to add ‘coconut water’ as a particular designation in Annex III to that Directive. In order to ensure that the particular designation can be easily understood by all consumers in the Union, it is appropriate to provide the possibility of using ‘coconut water’ in the official languages of the Union. In addition, as coconut juice may be obtained by reconstituting concentrated coconut juice with drinkable water, it is appropriate to define a minimum Brix level for this product in Annex V to that Directive.
(13) Council Directive 2001/113/EC0 lays down the essential requirements to be met regarding production, composition and labelling of fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée intended for human consumption.
(14) Article 2(4) of Directive 2001/113/EC requires the mandatory labelling of sugar content on the labelling, unless a nutrition claim for sugars is made on the labelling. This requirement went further than the rules laid down in Council Directive 90/496/EEC0, where the inclusion of nutrition information on prepacked foods was voluntary unless a nutrition claim was made and where the nutrition claim was made for sugars, it was to include the amounts of sugar. Directive 90/496/EEC has been repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council0. Pursuant to that Regulation the provision of nutrition information on packaging is now mandatory. Therefore, a specific provision on sugar labelling is no longer necessary in Directive 2001/113/EC and it is appropriate to delete it.
(15) Part I of Annex I to Directive 2001/113/EC lays down the minimum quantity of fruit to be used in the manufacture of jam, jelly, extra jam or extra jelly. The use of the terms ‘extra jam’ and ‘extra jelly’ is reserved for products manufactured with a higher quantity of fruit compared to ‘jam’ and ‘jelly’, respectively. Part II of that Annex sets the minimum content of soluble dry matter (i.e. sugars whether naturally occurring in the fruit or added) for those products, and, in order to take into account existing national traditions in the making of fruit jams, jellies and marmalades and sweetened chestnut purée, it allows Member States to authorise a lower minimum content of soluble dry matter.
(16) Where the quantity of fruit used to manufacture jams and jellies is increased, the amount of added sugar needed to reach the minimum content of soluble dry matter in these products is reduced. In order to stimulate the production of jams with an increased level of fruit content and thus support the fruit market while taking into account the need to reduce free sugar content, the minimum quantity of fruit to be used in the manufacture of jam, and extra jam laid down in Annex I to Directive 2001/113/EC should be increased. In order to stimulate the production of jellies with an increased level of fruit content and thus support the fruit market, the minimum quantity of fruit to be used in the manufacture of jelly and extra jelly laid down in Annex I to Directive 2001/113/EC should be increased. Similarly, in view of helping consumers to make better informed, healthy food choices, it is appropriate to authorise the use of the reserved names defined in Part I of that Annex for products which have a soluble dry matter content of less than 60 % but meet the conditions applying to the nutrition claim ‘reduced sugars’ laid down in the Annex to Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 as regards reduced sugar.
(17) Annex I to Directive 2001/113/EC restricts the term ‘marmalade’ to a particular citrus fruit mixture. However, in a number of official languages of the Union, while the legal names laid down in that Annex have been used in trade to designate the products referred to therein, the society at large uses interchangeably the terms ‘marmalade’ and ‘jam’ to refer to jams from fruits other than citrus fruits. In order to take into account these practices where it is the case, Member States should be able to authorise that the term ‘marmalade’ may be used for the product name ‘jam’. In order to avoid consumer confusion, the term ‘citrus marmalade’ should be used across the Union for the product until now defined as ‘marmalade’ in order to distinguish the two product categories. This is also in line with the international standard reflected in the Codex General Standard for jams, jellies and marmalades, (Codex Stan 296-2009), adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission during its 32nd session held from 29 June to 4 July 2009, which establishes a distinction between citrus marmalade and non-citrus marmalade. It is therefore appropriate to revise that Directive accordingly as regards the product name ‘marmalade’.
(18) Annex II to that Directive lists the additional ingredients that may be used in the manufacturing of products covered by the Directive. Citrus fruit juice may be used as acidifying agent in jam, extra jam, jelly and extra jelly obtained from other types of fruit. Compared to juice not from concentrate, citrus fruit juice in its concentrated form is less voluminous and less heavy to transport, more stable, can be preserved a longer time and requires less energy consumption to evaporate the water content when manufacturing the final jam or jelly product. Its use in jam, extra jam, jelly and extra jelly production is therefore more sustainable than fresh citrus fruit juice. Therefore, it is appropriate to add concentrated citrus fruit juice in the list of additional ingredients laid down in that Annex.
(19) Council Directive 2001/114/EC0 lays down definitions and common rules governing the composition, manufacturing specifications and labelling of certain preserved milk.
(20) Point 3 of Annex I to Directive 2001/114/EC lists the treatments authorised to partly or wholly dehydrate preserved milk. In order to respond to evolving consumers’ needs, a treatment to produce lactose-free milk products should be authorised. Furthermore, the particular designation for the English term ‘evaporated milk’ in Annex II to that Directive should be aligned with the international standards defined in the Codex Standard for evaporated milks (Codex Stan 281-1971).
(21) Directives 2001/110/EC, 2001/112/EC, 2001/113/EC and 2001/114/EC contain references to repealed acts. Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council0 was repealed and replaced by Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011. Council Directive 89/107/EEC0 and European Parliament and Council Directive No 95/2/EC0 were repealed and replaced by Regulation (EC) No 1333/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council0. Those references should therefore be replaced by references to the relevant provisions of Regulations (EU) No 1169/2011 and (EC) No 1333/2008.
(22) Directives 2001/110/EC, 2001/112/EC, 2001/113/EC and 2001/114/EC should therefore be amended accordingly.
(23) In order to allow Member States to adopt national laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive, a transposition period of 18 months should be established. In order to allow operators to sufficient time to adjust to the new requirements, those national provisions transposing this Directive should only apply from 24 months after the date of entry into force of this Directive.
(24) In order to take into account the interests of economic operators who place on the market or label their products in accordance with the requirements applicable before the application of the national provisions transposing this Directive, it is necessary to establish appropriate transitional measures. Therefore, this Directive should provide that those products may continue to be marketed for a limited time beyond the transposition period.