Post by Fenlander on Jun 19, 2008 7:58:40 GMT 2
EU states oppose plan to end "bent cucumber" rule
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Bent courgettes and cucumbers, misshapen garlic, warped leeks and onions? Who sets the rules?
One of the most popular jibes about EU over-regulation, where zealous Brussels bureaucrats are portrayed as wanting to set permitted sizes, lengths -- and "bendiness" -- for household fruit and vegetables, has come back to haunt the European Union.
But this time, Brussels wants to cut the red tape and get rid of what it calls "unnecessary marketing standards".
The trouble is, several EU governments don't like the idea.
As part of last year's reform of fruit and vegetable rules, EU farm ministers signed up to a deal to simplify much of tortuous policy and subsidy regulations. But Europe's farm chief got a shock when she tried to put some of that into practice.
Her idea was to scrap 26 out of 36 marketing standards that apply to a wide range of products such as beans, cauliflower, melons, spinach and watermelon. The 10 remaining items account for 75 percent of the EU's cross-border trade in this area.
When national EU experts saw what was being planned, a large majority of them -- notably those France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain -- objected. Only eight countries approved.
"The need for marketing standards has diminished because supermarkets have imposed their own standards," a diplomat said
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Bent courgettes and cucumbers, misshapen garlic, warped leeks and onions? Who sets the rules?
One of the most popular jibes about EU over-regulation, where zealous Brussels bureaucrats are portrayed as wanting to set permitted sizes, lengths -- and "bendiness" -- for household fruit and vegetables, has come back to haunt the European Union.
But this time, Brussels wants to cut the red tape and get rid of what it calls "unnecessary marketing standards".
The trouble is, several EU governments don't like the idea.
As part of last year's reform of fruit and vegetable rules, EU farm ministers signed up to a deal to simplify much of tortuous policy and subsidy regulations. But Europe's farm chief got a shock when she tried to put some of that into practice.
Her idea was to scrap 26 out of 36 marketing standards that apply to a wide range of products such as beans, cauliflower, melons, spinach and watermelon. The 10 remaining items account for 75 percent of the EU's cross-border trade in this area.
When national EU experts saw what was being planned, a large majority of them -- notably those France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Spain -- objected. Only eight countries approved.
"The need for marketing standards has diminished because supermarkets have imposed their own standards," a diplomat said