THE EUROPEAN Union has repealed its legislation concerning the size and shape of fruit and vegetables.
Under the previous system, the European Union had set strict standards for size, shape and colour of 36 fruits and vegetables. Since July 2009, the specifications for 26 products have been lifted.
The new rules are designed to streamline the regulation system and cut red tape, which would allow national authorities to permit the sale of all fruit and vegetables, regardless of their size and shape.
For consumers, this could see the return of the wonky cucumber and the knobbly carrot on the shelves.
Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development said, “We don’t need to regulate this sort of thing at EU level. It is far better to leave it to market operators.
“The changes also mean that consumers will be able to choose from the widest range of products possible. It makes no sense to throw perfectly good products away, just because they are the ‘wrong’ size and shape.”
However, this exposure to market operators could have dire consequences for Cypriot farmers, because the relaxation in the standards allows for oddly shaped or sized yet passable produce to flood the international market.
Previously this would have been binned or sold to the processing industry, but now the ‘non-regulation’ products can be sold directly to consumers at a lower price.
Christodoulos Photiou, Director at the Agriculture Ministry said yesterday, “We would prefer to retain the standards.
“By declassifying, they make the market more liberal, and so more products from across Europe can be traded. This could make it much cheaper for fruit and vegetable retailers to import vegetables than buy locally.”
This decision will affect Cypriot farmers more than other member states, whose products are of higher quality and grown in larger quantities.
Polycarpos Kattashis, President of the Cyprus Fruit Sellers Association, told the Cyprus Mail “For years now, imported fruit has competed with Cypriot fruit farmers. In terms of quality, foreign imported fruit is ten times better.”
Asked about the impact of the change in regulations on prices, he said
“There has been little change in quality or price here, but they vary between products. Vegetables such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers are very well priced, but many of the fruits like nectarines are unrealistically expensive. Prices are controlled, and I could even speak of a cartel in operation.”
One of the main problems, Kattashis said, is that fruit growers in the rest of Europe are far more organised and technologically advanced.
“They have machines to measure the size of their fruit, but here we do it by hand. Also, vendors here will mix up different grades of produce in the same container. They put the best at the top of each crate to make it look like it is good quality.”
So, while the regulations have been designed to allow third countries to compete on the European markets, it is the high tech and more organised EU farms that stand to benefit the most.
The effects of this repeal have yet to take effect.
“It is too early to tell what the effect of this is, we will have to wait and see,” Photiou added.
