Beijing Congress Report
The Largest Congress Ever
The 2010 INC Congress Report has been sent out to all INC members and participants. The report includes speakers and presenters, a summary of their presentations, the list of participants, and a pictures gallery. If you require any extra copies, please request these by e-mailing inc@nutfruit.org. |
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INC Recipe Booklet
Get a taste of healthy living with nuts and dried fruits
The INC has recently sent out a recipe booklet with a collection of quick, healthy and delicious recipes to all INC members. All recipes are also available in the website. The booklet contains 15 recipes with nuts and dried fruits that were specially created by Ms. Mariona Quadrada, a cookbook author with more than 40 publications, founder of a culinary teaching center and former TV cooking show host.
Additional copies may be provided to INC members upon request subject to availability.
First Shipment Date for the Turkish 2010 Crop Dried Fig
According to the Aegean Exporters’ Association, the first shipment date for the Turkish 2010 crop dried figs was determined as 24th September 2010 by the Prime Ministry’s Undersecretariat for Foreign Trade. The Turkish Crop Monitoring Committee announced a 2010 crop of Dried Figs at 58,662 tons (± 5%).
www.egebirlik.org.tr
ACA Fifth Annual Conference
Maputo (Mozambique), 14-16 September 2010
The INC is planning to participate in the 5th Annual African Cashew Alliance (ACA) Conference, which will take place on September, 14-16, 2010, at the Joaquim Chissano Conference Center in Maputo, Mozambique. The conference will showcase how strategic alliances between farmers, processors, government, and development agencies can promote the African cashew sector. The program also features visits to processing facilities, nurseries and cashew farms in the Nampula Region.
www.africancashewalliance.com
New Scientific & Regulatory Issues on the INC website
Scientific Studies
Cashews:
Macadamias:
Walnuts:
Peanuts:
Dried Fruit:
Dates:
Prunes:
Regulatory Issues
DATA RELEASE
| MONITORING FOOD LAW AND TRADE |
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EUROPEAN UNION |
EU - Clarifications to Regulations on Common Organization of the Fruit and Vegetable Market
Commission Regulation 687/2010 amending Regulation 1580/2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations 2200/96, 2201/96 and 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector, has been published in OJ L 199.
The Regulation introduces a number of clarifications to the existing regulations on the common organization of the market in fruit and vegetables and the common organization of the market in processed fruit and vegetable products.
For reasons of judicial clarity, the Regulation:
- Modifies the definition of “by-product” in Art. 21 of Regulation 1580/2007 to read “”by-product” means a product which results from preparation of a fruit or vegetable product which has a positive economic value but is not the main intended result”;
- Deletes the definition of “first-stage processing” and modifies Art. 21 of Regulation 1580/2007 to read “”preparation” means preparatory activities such as cleaning, cutting, peeling trimming and drying of fruit and vegetables, without transforming them into processed fruit and vegetables”;
Since the calculation of the value of fruit and vegetables intended for processing has proven difficult, Regulation 687/2010 stipulates that “the value of the marketed production shall not include the value of processed fruit and vegetables or any other product that is not a product of the fruit and vegetables sector”. The Regulation introduces a flat rate to calculate the value of fruit and vegetables intended for processing, representing the value of the basic product, namely fruit and vegetables intended for processing and activities which do not amount to genuine processing activities. For dried fruits, this rate is fixed at 81% of the invoiced value of the processed products.
“Processed products” are listed in Annex I to Regulation 687/2010, and include “fruit, dried, other than that of headings 0801 to 0806”, “dried figs”, “dried grapes”, and “other nuts, otherwise prepared or preserved, whether or not containing added sugar or other sweetening matter, not elsewhere specified or included, excluding tropical nuts and their mixtures”.
The Regulation further stipulates that “the marketed production of fruit and vegetables shall be invoiced at the “ex-producer organization” stage where applicable, as product (...) which is prepared and packaged, excluding: VAT; and internal transport costs, where the distance between the centralized collection or packing points of the producer organization and the point of distribution of the producer organization is significant”.
In order to allow for more flexibility in the use of market withdrawals, the Regulation increases the annual margin of overrun set out in Article 80(2) of Regulation 1580/2007, from 3 to 5 percentage points.
The Regulation further provides for the possibility to allow charitable organizations and institutions to ask a symbolic contribution from the final recipients of products subjected to market withdrawals, in case those products have undergone processing, and updates the flat-rate amounts for transport, sorting and packaging costs for free distribution of fruit and vegetables withdrawn from the market set out in Article 83(1) and Annex XI of Regulation 1580/2007.
In order to ensure the smooth transition to the new system for the calculation of the value of the marketed production for fruit and vegetables intended for processing, operational programs approved by 20 January 2010 should not be affected by the new calculation method, without prejudice to the possibility to amend those operational programs in accordance with Articles 66 and 67 of Regulation 1580/2007.
The Regulation entered into force on 7 August 2010.
Commission Regulation (EU) No 687/2010 of 30 July 2010 amending Regulation (EC) No 1580/2007 laying down implementing rules of Council Regulations (EC) No 2200/96, (EC) No 2201/96 and (EC) No 1182/2007 in the fruit and vegetable sector
Biocidal Products - Dazomet
Commission Directive 2010/50 including dazomet as an active substance in Annex I to Directive 98/8 on the placing on the market of biocidal products, has been published in OJ L 210.
The Directive includes dazomet in Annex I to Directive 98/8 (“List of active substances with requirements agreed at community level for inclusion in biocidal products”). Since not all potential uses have been evaluated at EU level, Member States shall assess those uses and associated risks when assessing the application for authorization of a product containing dazomet. Member States shall, in particular, assess any use other than professional use outdoors for the remedial treatment of wooden poles by insertion of granules.
The Directive entered into force on 31 August 2010.
Commission Directive 2010/50/EU of 10 August 2010 amending Directive 98/8/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council to include dazomet as an active substance in Annex I thereto
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UNITED STATES |
USDA - Volume Regulation for California Seedless Raisins
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) has published a proposed rule in Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 151 regarding raisins produced from grapes grown in California. The proposed rule invites comments on using an estimated trade demand figure to compute volume regulation percentages for 2010-11 crop natural (sun-dried) seedless raisins covered under the Federal marketing order for California raisins. The order regulates the handling of raisins produced from grapes grown in California and is administered locally by the Raisin Administrative Committee. This proposed rule would provide parameters for implementing volume regulation, if necessary, for 2010-11 crop raisins for the purposes of maintaining a portion of the industry's export markets and stabilizing the domestic market.
Under the Committee's proposal, if the 2010-11 crop estimate is less than 110 percent of the previous year's domestic shipments, no volume regulation would be recommended. If the October 2010-11 crop estimate for NS raisins is 110 percent or more of the previous year's domestic shipments and no more than 10 percent above the computed trade demand, the Committee would use an estimated trade demand figure to compute preliminary free and reserve percentages for the 2010-11 crop.
According to AMS, volume regulation may not be warranted for 2010-2011 raisins, due to a number of factors, including: extraordinary high shipments of California raisins during the 2009-2010 crop year; the continuing trend of grapevine removals; unseasonal rain and cool temperatures in spring; the potential for higher prices in the wine and juice markets; and potential losses due to the European Grape Vine Moth.
Raisins Produced from Grapes Grown in California; Use of Estimated Trade Demand to Compute Volume Regulation Percentages, Proposed rule. Federal Register Vol. 75, No. 151 Friday, August 6, 2010
FAS - Trade Adjustment Assistance - Prune Bargaining Association
The Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) published, in Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 154, a notice of receipt of a petition for trade adjustment assistance filed under the Fiscal Year 2011 program by the Prune Bargaining Association on behalf of prune and dried plum producers in California. The Administrator will determine within 40 days whether increasing imports of prunes and dried plums contributed importantly to a greater than 15% decrease in the average annual price of prunes and dried plums compared to the average of the three preceding marketing years. If the determination is affirmative, producers who produce and market prunes and dried plums in California will be eligible to apply to the Farm Service Agency for free technical assistance and cash benefits.
EPA - Mancozeb in Walnuts
The US Environmental Protection Agency has recently published a final rule establishing tolerances for residues of mancozeb in or on walnuts, amongst other products (Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 159). The rule establishes a time-limited tolerance for mancozeb in or on walnuts at 0.015 ppm. The tolerance will expire on 31 December 2013.
US Mancozeb in Walnuts; Pesticide Tolerances. Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 159, Wednesday, August 18, 2010
EPA - Pymetrozine - Pecans - Reaffirmation of Established Tolerance
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has published, in Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 151, a regulation denying the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC)’s objections to an action establishing tolerance regulations for the pesticide pymetrozine in or on pecans, amongst other products. According to the NRDC, EPA had unlawfully removed or lowered the children's safety factor to several risk assessments for pymetrozine. EPA, in its regulation, denies this objection to the establishment of pymterozine tolerances, as “EPA's revised risk assessment (...) shows pymetrozine exposure to be safe”.
The final rules thus reaffirms, over objections, tolerances established for pymetrozine in or on pecans (set at 0.02 ppm), amongst other products.
The regulation is effective 6 August 2010. Objections must be received on or before 5 October 2010.
US Pymetrozine; Regulation Denying NRDC’s Objections on Remand, Final Regulation. Federal Register Vol. 75, No. 151, Friday, August 6, 2010
Pesticide Petition - Zeta-Cypermethrin in Pistachios
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published, in Federal Register Vol. 75 No. 149, a notice of receipt of several pesticide petitions filed for residues of pesticide chemicals, including a petition filed by IR-4 Project, Rutgers, The State University of NJ, to establish a tolerance for residues of the insecticide zeta-cypermethrin, in or on pistachio at 0.05 parts per million (ppm).
Comments must be received on or before 3 September 2010.
OTHER COUNTRIES / REGIONS
| Mercosur Establishes Customs Code |
Mercosur, South America’s largest trade bloc, finalized at long last its customs code at the 39th Mercosur Summit in Argentina on August 3rd. According to ICTSD, Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest, Mercosur members decided to eliminate by 2012 the double recovery of the common external tariff (AEC). Previously, non-Mercosur products were charged a tariff both when they entered the bloc and when they were re-exported to another Mercosur member. The agreement, which took years to establish, now makes Mercosur a genuine customs union and will be phased in over the next year and a half before fully taking effect in 2012. Officials also agreed upon a mechanism for the redistribution of customs revenue among members. These two items were among the last remaining subjects of contention.
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CHINA - Proposed MLs for Contaminants in Food |
China has notified to the SPS (Sanitary and Phytosanitary) Committee of the World Trade Organization (WTO) its “National Food Safety Standard: Maximum Levels of Mycotoxins in Foods”, prescribing the maximum levels of aflatoxins B1, aflatoxins M1, deoxynivalenol, patulin, ochratoxin A and zearalenone in foods. According to the notification, China’s proposed regulation conforms to the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (193-1995). No proposed date of adoption, publication or entry into force is indicated. Final date for comments is 11 October 2010.
In addition, China has notified its “National Food Safety Standard: Maximum Levels of Contaminants in Foods”, prescribing the maximum levels of lead, cadmium, mercury, arsenic, tin, nickel, chromium, nitrate, nitrite, benzo[a]pyrene, n nitrosamines, polychlorinated biphenyls and 3-chloro-1, 2-propanediol in foods. According to the notification, China’s proposed regulation conforms to the Codex General Standard for Contaminants and Toxins in Food and Feed (193-1995). No proposed date of adoption, publication or entry into force is indicated.
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TURKEY - Regulation on the Genetically Modified Organisms and Products thereof |
Turkey has notified the World Trade Organization its “Regulation on the Genetically Modified Organisms and Products thereof”, determining the procedures and principles on the application, evaluation, decision, processing, importation, exportation, labeling, monitoring, marketing, inspection and control of genetically modified organisms and products thereof intended for food and feed; the activities intended for the research and development and controlled experimental works of the genetically modified organisms and products thereof being in such a way to prevent their contact with the external environment to be done in a restricted area in a controlled manner; the research and development, application, permission, evaluation, decision, importation, exportation, production, processing, labeling, monitoring, marketing, inspection and control of genetically modified organisms and products thereof. Final date for comments is 15 October 2010.
RASFF NOTIFICATIONS
EU Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed
Weeks 31-33, 2010
Week 31
Week 32
Week 33
Alert Notifications are released when a food or feed presenting a serious risk is on the market and when immediate action is required.
Information Notifications concern a food or feed for which a risk has been identified, but for which the other member states do not have to take immediate action, because the product has not yet reached their market.
Border Rejections concern food and feed consignments that have been tested and rejected at the external borders of the EU and the European Economic Area when a health risk was found. The notifications are transmitted to all EEA border posts in order to reinforce controls and to ensure that the rejected product does not re-enter the Community through another border post.
http://ec.europa.eu
E-mail: inc@nutfruit.org