Activities of Bart STAES related to 2012/0260(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
Honey (debate)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 2001/110/EC relating to honey PDF (241 KB) DOC (315 KB)
Amendments (17)
Amendment 9 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) Following the judgment of the Court of Justice of 6 September 2011 in case C- 442/09, pollen in honey is to be considered as an ingredientderived from genetically modified crops is to be considered as an ingredient of honey, or of food supplements containing pollen, within the meaning of Directive 2000/13/ECRegulation 1169/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 March 2000 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the labelling, presentation and advert5 October 2011 on the provisiong of foodstuffs. The judgment of the Court was based on the consideration relying on the facts brought before it that pollen in honey is mainly due to the centrifugation carried out by the beekeeper for the purposes of honey collection. However, pollen only enters into the hive as a result of the activity of the bees and it is naturally present in honey regardless of whether or not the beekeeper extracts the honey through centrifugation. It is necessary therefore to clarify, without prejudice to the application of Regulation information to consumers, amending Regulations (EC) No 1924/2006 and (EC) No 1829925/20036 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed to genetically modified pollen in honey, that pollen is a constituent of honey, which is a natural substance that has no ingredients, and not an ingredient within the meaning of Directive 2000/13/EC. Therefore, Council, and repealing Commission Directive 87/250/EEC, Council Directive 90/496/EEC, Commission Directive 1999/10/EC, Directive 2000/13/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council, Commission Directives 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001 relating to honey should be amended accordingly2/67/EC and 2008/5/EC and Commission Regulation (EC) No 608/2004.
Amendment 16 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 a (new)
Recital 1 a (new)
(1a) As honey is a natural product, it should be exempted from the requirement to bear a list of ingredients.
Amendment 19 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 b (new)
Recital 1 b (new)
(1b) In accordance with Directive 2001/18 and Regulation 1829/2003, the unintended presence of substances containing genetically modified DNA and/or genetically modified proteins in honey has to be avoided.
Amendment 21 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 c (new)
Recital 1 c (new)
(1 c) In accordance with Regulation 1829/2003 of the European Parliament and the Council of 22 September 2003 on genetically modified food and feed, honey and other foods or food supplements containing pollen derived from genetically modified crops are to be labelled as foodstuffs containing ingredients produced from genetically modified organisms.
Amendment 22 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 d (new)
Recital 1 d (new)
(1d) Regulation 1169/2011 indicates that an ingredient is a substance used in the manufacture of a food. It is indispensable for the production of honey and for the pollination of crops that bees are intentionally placed to visit certain plant species, as the composition of honey mainly depends on where the bee-hives are located and when it is harvested. Pollen derived from genetically modified crops should therefore be regarded as ingredient species-specifically.
Amendment 23 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 e (new)
Recital 1 e (new)
(1e) The presence in honey of pollen originating from genetically modified organisms is, like the presence of GMO in any other harvest, technically avoidable by implementing adequate coexistence measures.
Amendment 24 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 f (new)
Recital 1 f (new)
(1f) Coexistence measures at member state level established in accordance with Article 26a of Directive 2001/18 should ensure that standard analyses of honey are not necessary, inter alia by setting minimum distance requirements.
Amendment 25 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 1 g (new)
Recital 1 g (new)
(1g) Pollen enters into the honey both as a result of the activity of bees and as a result of centrifugation conducted by the beekeeper. As bees are purposefully placed to collect certain plant-specific pollen, and as the beekeeper purposefully carries out centrifugation, the presence of pollen in honey cannot be regarded as adventitious.
Amendment 28 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 4
Recital 4
Amendment 31 #
Proposal for a directive
Recital 6
Recital 6
Amendment 40 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – point 5
Article 2 – point 5
Amendment 48 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 a (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – point 5
Article 2 – point 5
(1a) In Article 2, the following point is added: "5. By way of derogation from Article 9 of Regulation 1169/2011, a list of ingredients shall not be required for honey."
Amendment 49 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 b (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – point 6
Article 2 – point 6
(1b) In Article 2, the following point is added: “6. Honey and other foods or food supplements containing pollen derived from genetically modified crops are to be considered as foodstuffs containing ingredients produced from genetically modified organisms and have to be labelled in accordance with the requirements of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003, and in particular Art 12 (2) and 24 (2) thereof.”
Amendment 50 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 c (new)
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 1 c (new)
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 2 – point 7
Article 2 – point 7
(1c) In Article 2, the following point is added: “7. For the purpose of labelling of pollen originating from genetically modified organisms, the labelling threshold referred to in Articles 12 (2) and 24 (2) of Regulation (EC) No 1829/2003 has to be calculated species-specifically.”
Amendment 52 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 6
Article 6
Amendment 57 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Article 1 – paragraph 1 – point 3
Directive 2001/110/EC
Article 6a– point 3
Article 6a– point 3
The delegation of power referred to in Articles 4 and 6 may be revoked at any time by the European Parliament or by the Council. A decision to revoke shall put an end to the delegation of the power specified in that decision. It shall take effect the day following the publication in the Official Journal of the European Union or at a later date specified therein. It shall not affect the validity of the delegated acts already in force.
Amendment 61 #
Proposal for a directive
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – subparagraph 1
Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Article 1, point (1) by [dat12 months after the date of entry into force]. They shall forthwith communicate to the Commission the text of those provisions.