18 Amendments of Jan MULDER related to 2008/2220(INI)
Amendment 1 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 5 a (new)
Citation 5 a (new)
- having regard to the mandate issued by the European Council to the Commission for the negotiations in the field of agriculture, as laid down in the Commission’s Proposal for Modalities in the WTO Agriculture Negotiations (document 625/02) of January 2003,
Amendment 2 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 6 a (new)
Citation 6 a (new)
- having regard to the conference organised by the Commission in Brussels on 5 and 6 February 2007 on the topic of ‘Food Quality Certification – Adding Value to Farm Produce’,
Amendment 3 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7 a (new)
Citation 7 a (new)
- having regard to the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the provision of food information to consumers (COM(2008)0040),
Amendment 7 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
H. whereas counterfeiting causes economic damage to both producers and end- consumers,
Amendment 10 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Believes that ensuring conditions of fair competition for strategic goods such as agricultural and food products should be a major European objective of public interest; considers it vital that there should also be conditions of fair competition for imported products, which tend not to meet standards comparable to those governing Community products; believes that the EU's quality standards need to be appliedapplicable to third- country products having access to the single European market also need to be laid down on the basis of agreement in the WTO;
Amendment 13 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Reaffirms that the goal of higher food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection standards should be that of attaining a high level of product quality offering a strong competitive advantage to agricultural producers, and that food safety and the requirements of environment- friendliness must not be allowed to generate signiagricultural producers must also be able to earn enough to cover the costs generated by EU food safety, animal welfare and environmental requirements; believes that, should the competitive advantage offered to agricultural producers not be sufficaient extra costs for European farmers; belieto enable them to covesr thatose costs, a key role needs to be played here by CAP funding, which farmers in Europe should use for ensuring product safety and higher product qualitysafety, animal welfare and environmental protection in agriculture;
Amendment 20 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Recalls that the ongoing liberalisation of world agricultural markets is exposing EU producers to direct international competition, and that any additional measures that have to be complied with may be detrimental to competition; emphasises that the quality of agricultural products which meet EU requirements in the areas of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection can offer agricultural producers a strong competitive advantage, but that European law must put them in a position to exploit that advantage;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7a. Emphasises that in the WTO negotiations the Commission must seek to secure an agreement on the ‘non-trade concerns’ which ensures that as many imported products as possible meet the same requirements as those imposed on European farmers, so that the quality of agricultural products which meet EU requirements in the areas of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection offers agricultural producers a strong competitive advantage;
Amendment 33 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Is concerned at the fact that the majority of European consumers are not sufficiently well-informed concerning the food chain, especially as regards products' and raw materials' origins; advocates mandatory indication of place of production of primary products via a 'made in the EU' or 'non-EU' label; believes such a system should also apply to processed food products and should account for the origins of the main ingredients and raw materials, specifying their place of origin as well as the place of final processingquality; takes the view that it should be easy to identify agricultural products which meet EU quality requirements in the areas of food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection; advocates mandatory indication of products which meet EU quality requirements through the use of an EU logo and, for example, a label bearing the words 'meets EU quality requirements';
Amendment 45 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12 a (new)
Paragraph 12 a (new)
12a. Takes the view that the use of the general European quality label, bearing the words ‘produced in the European Union’, must ultimately ensure that European products stand out on the market, on the basis of the high quality standards governing their production;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Advocates taking measures to simplify the EU rules and limit the scope for self- regulation; believes that common marketing standards are necessary and can be established in a more efficient fashion; considers, in this connection, that joint regulation should be promoted as the usual means of adopting EU legislation in the field; calls for municipal authorities,alls for food industry representatives and farmers' representatives to be involved in the prodraw up their marketing standards together, where necessary;
Amendment 57 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Calls for detailed consideration of the option of a special label for European quality products which meet higher quality requirements than stipulated by EU law, on the basis of the existing models; calls on the Commission, in this connection, to examine and propose the launching of a European quality mark to complement the existing national and regional marks; reaffirms the position expressed in its resolution of 9 October 1998, as mentioned above; believes that any such label must also guarantee fair treatment for all market players at all stages of the production and distribution chain, in an environment- friendly context;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Believes that there needs to be a more transparent labelling system enjoying broad consumer recognition; advocates, in addition, a voluntary system for indicating place of origin for agricultural and food products, on the basis of which all of food products manufactured in the European Union would be labelled as genuine products of EU origin, and for the most important raw materials in all systems adopted;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Favours simplifying the procedure for registering designations of origin and reducing the time required for obtaining them; believes one means of achieving this would be to delegate responsibility to the competent national bodies;
Amendment 104 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Suggests setting up a European Office for Product Quality, which would work closely with the European Food Safety Authorityclose cooperation between the European Food Safety Authority, the Food and Veterinary Office (FVO) and the Commission’s units responsible for food quality;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Favours preserving and simplifying the system of guaranteed traditional specialities (GTSs); expresses disappointment at the performance of this instrument, under which so far only a small number of GTSs have been registered (20, with 30 applications pending); stresses that producers prefer the national instruments for certifying traditional products, in many cases in order to obtain exemptions from certain obligations (e.g. plant health rules);
Amendment 113 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Believes that organic farming offers European farmers a major growth opportunity; notes, however, that the EU regulation on the subject lays down a single standard, even though the certification procedure varies between Member States and is expensive;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 33 a (new)
Paragraph 33 a (new)
33a. Calls on the Commission to facilitate mutual recognition of the various quality standards and systems employed in Member States, in order to simplify matters for consumers and minimise obstacles to trade; takes the view that ultimate supervision should be carried out by a Commission body;