17 Amendments of Pietro FIOCCHI related to 2023/0105(COD)
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) Council Directive 2001/110/EC20 lays down definitions, names, common rules on composition, quality, and labelling requirements for honey. _________________ 20 Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey (OJ L 10, 12.1.2002, p. 47).
Amendment 39 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 3
Recital 3
(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 Green Deal and Farm to Fork Strategy’s objectives of strengthening consumers in making informed choices, including on the geographical origin of their food, and the details of this origin in case of blending, 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 packagingin descending order and with their respective percentages on the packaging. Given the particular interest shown by consumers in the geographical origin of honey in relation to its characteristics and quality, and the need for total transparency in this area, the country or countries of origin in which the honey was harvested must appear on the label in the same visual field as the indication of the product. 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.
Amendment 124 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 a (new)
Recital 24 a (new)
(24a) The 2023 DG Health - JRC - and OLAF reports on honey adulteration "EU Coordinate action "From the hives"" and "EU Coordinate action to deter certain fraudulent practices in the honey sector - Analytical testing results of imported honeys" highlight a very high percentage of imported honeys suspected of being adulterated and confirm a range of frauds that exist in the honey sector. Some operators use "customised" sugar syrups that are very difficult to detect even with the most sophisticated analytical techniques. The lack of official, validated analytical methods for detecting new types of adulteration with sugar syrups means that national authorities are unable to identify as fraudulent honeys. The honey market is faced with a significant supply of honeys that have been adulterated by the addition of sugar syrups, either during the honeyflow or at some stage in the packaging process. Several elements should therefore be clarified or improved in Directive 2001/110/EC to limit the possibilities of fraud and facilitate controls: complementing mandatory traceability measures with a block-chain system, rejecting filtered honey and honeys whose excessive water content has been reduced by vacuum evaporation.
Amendment 125 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 b (new)
Recital 24 b (new)
(24b) In order to limit as much as possible fraud linked to the addition of products that do not correspond to the designation "honey", by making it possible, inter alia, to validate the percentage of honeys used in the composition of blends, and in order to offer maximum transparency for the consumer, the European rules on traceability should be supplemented by the introduction of a block-chain system so that, at all levels of the chain, the essential information concerning the origin of the honey or honeys in a blend can be known. Moreover, it should be ensured that the new traceability requirements set out in Directive 2001/110/EC complement the horizontal rules already applicable to the agri-food sector pursuant to Article 18 of Regulation (EC) No 178/2002. In the event of an inspection at any stage of production, access to detailed knowledge of the origin (country-region, year of production, producer identifier) of the honeys making up a blend makes it much easier for a honey analysis laboratory to check the geographical indication on the honey packaging and detect fraud. The additional rules on traceability (block- chain system) only concern beekeepers who sell their honey to other operators who do not resell it under the name of the original producer. These rules should not add to the administrative burden on producers, but they should make it easier for consumers and the supervisory authorities to keep track of the honey's entire journey from harvesting to bottling.
Amendment 126 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 c (new)
Recital 24 c (new)
(24c) The term filtered honey used in Directive 2001/110/EC is misinterpreted by consumers, who confuse this industrial filtration with the filtration carried out by beekeepers after extracting their honey to remove particles of wax and other foreign elements from the honey. Consequently, filtered honeys as defined in Directive 2001/110/EC should no longer be allowed to be marketed under the name "honey" and the definition of "filtered honey" should be deleted from the text of the Directive. The removal by filtration of some or all of the pollen and figurative elements present in a honey and a filter mesh size of less than 100 µm no longer allows the correct identification of the geographical and/or botanical origin of a honey. This makes it much more difficult to differentiate between sugar syrup or a mixture of honey and syrup and honey. Industrial filtration makes it impossible to trace honey using an analytical approach such as melissopalynology. Annex II of Directive 2001/110/EC should therefore be amended to specify the level of filtration permitted, which does not significantly alter the density and pollen spectrum of the honey, but which does remove most of the foreign matter in the honey.
Amendment 127 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 d (new)
Recital 24 d (new)
(24d) Both the definition of honey in Directive 2001/110/EC and that of the Codex Alimentarius clearly specify the work carried out by bees in the hive after they have harvested their crop, which they transform by combining it with specific materials of their own, deposit, dehydrate, store, and leave to ripen in the combs of the hive. Dehydration followed by ripening are operations carried out by the bees. Outside the European Union, some countries accept that the work of bees is limited to harvesting nectar secretions from plants or honeydew in the production of honey. Unripe honeys produced in this way have a moisture content well in excess of the 20% threshold laid down in Directive 2001/110/EC. Operators work with heated vats under a vacuum to limit the boiling temperature of the water in the honey. However, this process degrades the final product, depleting its aromas and enzymes. Directive 2001/110/EC should therefore prohibit this vacuum evaporation process for honeys.
Amendment 128 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 24 e (new)
Recital 24 e (new)
(24e) Heat treatment above 40°C (± 5°C) causes degradation of certain constituents of the honey. The indicators currently used, namely HMF and the diastase index, make it possible to evaluate the significant degradation of honeys but do not make it possible to highlight the degradation of more sensitive honey constituents such as invertase. Consumers should be able to differentiate between honeys not exposed to treatments involving heating above 40°C (± 5°C) and other honeys. The word “unheated honey" should thus appear on the label. In order to control the absence of thermal degradation of a honey, a minimum threshold should be set for the presence of invertase in honey, an enzyme that is much more sensitive and degrades very rapidly once high temperatures are reached.
Amendment 136 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – subparagraph 1
Amendment 142 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b a (new)
In Article 2, paragraph 2, the following point ba is added: "(ba) For honeys produced and imported into the EU, each honey marketed under an identification other than that of the harvesting beekeeper must have an identifier linked to a block-chain traceability system enabling the competent authorities to trace the entire history of the honey back to the harvesting beekeepers or operators in the case of imported honeys. Any personal information that may be included in the traceability system will only be accessible to consumers with the prior agreement of the producers of the batch or batches in question."
Amendment 143 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 2 – point b b (new)
In Article 2, paragraph 2, the following point bb is added: "(bb) Except for honeys intended for industrial use, these names may be supplemented by indications referring to the absence of significant heat treatment. The term referring to the absence of significant heat treatment such as "unheated honey" may be included on the label on the front of the commercial packaging of the honey if no heat treatment has degraded highly sensitive enzymes such as invertase, from harvesting to potting, while complying with the conditions referred to in Annex II, points 6 (diastase index and hydroxymethylfurfural content) and 7 (invertase index)."
Amendment 154 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – paragraph 4 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 4 – point a
(a) The country of origin where the honey has been harvested shall be indicated on the label and on the front of the package close to the commercial name of the product. If the honey originates in more than one country, the countries of origin where the honey has been harvested shall be indicated on the front label of packs containing more than 25 g in descending order and with their respective percentage in the blend;
Amendment 172 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 2
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – paragraph 4 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 4 – point b
(b) For the purpoExcept in the cases of Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 and in particular Articles 12 to 15 thereof, the particulars to be indicated according to point (a) of this paragraph shall be considered as mandatory particulars in accordance with Article 9 of that Regulation.. honey intended for industry, these names may be supplemented by indications relating to: - floral or vegetable origin, if the product comes entirely or essentially from the origin indicated and has the organoleptic, physico-chemical and microscopic characteristics thereof, - regional, territorial or topographical origin, if the product comes entirely from the origin indicated, - specific quality criteria.
Amendment 181 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 3
Article 3
Article 3 In the case of filtered honey and baker's honeis replaced by the following: "Article 3 In the case of honey intended for industry, bulk containers, packs and tradeaging and sales documentsation shall clearly indicate the full product name, as referred to in Annex I, point 2(b)(viii), and point 3. set out in point 3 of Annex I." Or. en (02001L0110)
Amendment 200 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Annex I – paragraph 2 – point b – point viii
Annex I – paragraph 2 – point b – point viii
Amendment 208 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Annex II – paragraph 2
Annex II – paragraph 2
In Annex II, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: "When placed on the market as honey or used in any product intended for human consumption, honey shall not have added to it any food ingredient, including food additives, nor shall any other additions be made other than honey. Honey must, as far as possible, be free from organic or inorganic matters foreign to its composition. With the exception of point 3 of Annex I, it must not have any foreign tastes or odours, have begun to ferment, have an artificially changed acidity or have been heated in such a way that the natural enzymes have been either destroyed or significantly inactivated. , Honey, when marketed as such or used in any product intended for human consumption, must comply with the compositional characteristics set out in points 1 to 6. In addition, when marketed as "unheated honey", honey must also comply with the compositional characteristics set out in point 6a." Or. en (02001L0110)
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 b (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Annex II – paragraph 3
Annex II – paragraph 3
Amendment 227 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 c (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Annex II – paragraph 6 a (new)
Annex II – paragraph 6 a (new)
In Annex II, the following paragraph 6a is added: "6a. Invertase index (Gontarski unit) for "raw honeys" or "unheated honeys". Determined after processing and blending. - generally, not less than 50 U/kg - honeys with a low natural enzyme content, not less than 25 U/kg."