DEFRA and the Rural Payments Agency are holding workshops as part of the consultation on the reworked European Commission Marketing Standards in fresh produce as the labelling debate heightens.

The current marketing standards are set to be reduced from 36 to 10 products - namely apples; citrus fruit; kiwi fruit; lettuces, curled leaved and broad leaved endives; peaches and nectarines; pears; strawberries; sweet peppers; table grapes and tomatoes.

A General Marketing Standard will apply to all other fresh produce not covered by the Specific Marketing Standards, which will require an extended product range to be entered onto the PEACH system.

There will be a removal of the requirement to notify and certify consignments for processing. The regulation also provides for the marketing of mixed packages of fruit and vegetables of a net weight of 5kg or less, providing the products are of uniform quality and comply with the relevant marketing standard.

If the produce in a mix originates from more than one member state or third country, the full names of the countries of origin may be replaced with either ‘mix of EC fruit and vegetables’ or ‘mix of non-EC fruit and vegetables’ or ‘mix of EC and non-EC fruit and vegetables’.

The new regulations extend to distance-selling meaning retailers will have to provide information online of the country of origin for all produce covered by the marketing standards to allow the purchaser to make an informed choice.

The Fresh Produce Consortium is preparing an industry response to the regulations and is canvassing opinion on risk based assessment systems, the PEACH system, the Approved Trader Scheme and cost benefits, as DEFRA believes reduced relabelling and regrading could save up to £385k per annum.

The three workshops are at London’s New Covent Garden Market (March 30), the Village Hotel in Warrington (April 7) and the Bull Hotel, Peterborough (April 15).

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