Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-16-Speech-3-329"
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"en.20010516.11.3-329"2
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"Mr President, it is now two years since the COM in olive oil was last reviewed.
Furthermore, our document includes a number of amendments aimed at making the Commission’s proposal more flexible and precise. The Commission intends it to be implemented in two years’ time, through the collaboration of what it terms the ‘organisations of economic agents’. Since the actions planned are to be financed partly from a deduction withheld from aid to production, it follows that producers will be involved in the administration. Some clearly defined entities already exist, such as producers’ organisations, their associations and interbranch bodies.
Given the circumstances, a two-year period for the introduction of the proposed actions should not be necessary. A clear list of actions which may not be included should also be drafted, to provide legal certainty and speed up and facilitate the preparation of programmes.
In conclusion, special thanks are due above all to the members of the Committee on Agriculture. Their amendments have enriched the report considerably, bringing it into line with the requirements of producers and consumers in all the states involved. This was evident at the meeting organised by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture in Verona as recently as last April.
Hoping to receive more and better information on the actual situation in the sector, the Commission has postponed the final review for two years. It has presented a proposal with a bearing on quality aspects and market actions. Although the proposal’s aim is commendable, it does have a number of shortcomings concerning three issues: the market situation, checks, and the marketing of blended oil.
Public intervention purchases were done away with in the 1998 reform, against Parliament’s wishes. This decision was taken even though their average cost was the lowest in existence. As a result, market prices have fallen dramatically and the producers’ income has dropped.
This matter is not part of the Commission’s proposal, but that does not justify turning a blind eye to the consequences of the last revision. In its replies to the Court of Auditors, the Commission stated that it would make provision for closer checks in this revision. It has to be said that in general, it has failed to do so. The report therefore formulates proposals to improve the efficiency of controls by increasing the frequency with which oil mills are to submit information and introducing similar conditions for aid to pomace oil.
Parliament has been speaking out about the problems ensuing from marketing blends of olive oil and other fats since 1996. We have called for similar protection to that in place for milk and butter, for example. Unfortunately, no regulations have been adopted in response to these requests. On this occasion, the proposal’s shortcoming is all the more conspicuous since the Commission’s proposal focuses on quality strategy. The European Parliament’s Committee on Agriculture therefore proposes a ban on marketing blends of olive oil and other fats, in line with measures already in place in most of the producer countries.
Regarding the content of the proposal, the designations proposed by the Commission have been somewhat modified. In addition, the report proposes a number of measures concerning labelling. The most significant of these is aimed at preventing the designation ‘olive oil’ being used as an advertising slogan, thus confusing the consumers. In cases where olive oil was not the only fat contained in a food product, the use of the denomination ‘olive oil’ would therefore be restricted to the quantitative description of ingredients.
As far as labelling is concerned, the inclusion of two other details is proposed: the origin of the oil, namely the place where the olives were grown, and in the case of ordinary oil, a requirement to state that it is produced from refined and virgin oils.
I trust the Commission will respond more positively to these points than it has in the past.
On 25 October last, for instance, the Commission rejected some thirty of our amendments to the proposal for the COM in fruit and vegetables on the grounds that they would be included in a later report. That report has now been published, but the substance of our amendments was not included."@en1
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