The Fresh Produce Consortium (FPC) has welcomed guidance published by HMI on the implementation of the new EU marketing standards which come into force on July 1.

HMI has confirmed that General Marketing Standard (GMS) products will not have to be entered onto the PEACH system, which will save the fresh produce industry significant time and costs estimated at £250,000 every year.

PEACH applications will have to be made for the 10 products covered under Specific Marketing Standards (SMS) and for products that require phyto-sanitary certificates, such as aubergines, notified to Fera through the PEACH system.

Nigel Jenney, chief executive of the FPC, said: “The EU Marketing Standards were originally proposed with the aim of introducing simplification of regulation, yet at one point we were looking at the likelihood of having to enter around 400 new products onto PEACH, which would have placed a considerable burden on the industry. We rejected this proposal but provided alternative suggestions in response to the consultation and we are delighted that the UK government has listened and responded favourably to avoid additional cost pressures. Many small- to medium-sized businesses would have faced a mass of additional bureaucracy as well as having to deal with the current economic pressures.”

Concerns regarding the practicalities of advising the consumer of the country of origin of produce at the point of sale when purchasing online and other distance contracts were also dealt with.

DEFRA has stated that: “It will be acceptable, within reason, to list a number of countries of origin for a specific product if that product is regularly supplied from several countries and there is no guarantee at the time the order is made from which country it will actually be from on delivery. This is providing that when the goods are delivered, the consumer is advised of the actual country of origin via, for example, a deliver note, and at this point the consumer has the right to refuse the goods at no cost to themselves.”

But the FPC is still calling for greater clarity before the completion of HMI’s ‘advisory period’, which runs from July 1 to October 1, on arrangements for checking non-conformity of GMS produce, details for importers on joining the Approved Trade Status Scheme, and the potential application of UN-ECE standards.

“We want to ensure that any requirements to hold and check GMS products will be carried out on a risk-based approach, as a last resort, following existing intelligence held by HMI regarding the individual trader, the actual product and its country of origin. The ALV pilot currently underway to align PEACH and CHIEF systems will assist this process, but it needs to be fully functional before it is rolled out. It’s vital that a decision is made and communicated to the industry well before its implementation,” said Jenney.

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