§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food for what reasons the EU Commission has placed restrictions on the size of nectarines which may be sold. [12337]
§ Mr. RookerThe EU Marketing Standard for nectarines has been in place since 1990.
There is substantial over-production of nectarines, brought about largely by the Intervention (withdrawal) system. The Commission has sought to tackle this to some extent by limiting the size of the fruit that can be marketed and thus intervened (withdrawn), thereby limiting the cost to EU taxpayers. Although the EU regime for fresh fruit and vegetables has only recently been reformed, with significant reductions in the amount of produce that may be withdrawn, ultimately we would prefer to see an end to the withdrawal system.
The establishment of minimum sizes helps to ensure that only nectarines which are sufficiently developed, and able to ripen, are available to the consumer.