Transcript COPA-COGECA VIEWS ON UNECE STANDARD AND RECOMMENDATION FOR APPLES Presented to COMMITTEE FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards Specialized Section.

COPA-COGECA VIEWS ON
UNECE STANDARD AND
RECOMMENDATION FOR APPLES
Presented to
COMMITTEE FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY AND ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT
Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards
Specialized Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Fifty-First session, 8-11 March 2005, Geneva
ITEM 4a of the provisional Agenda
1
SUMMARY
1. RESULTS OF COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
•
METHODOLOGY
•
HIGH INTER- AND INTRA-REGIONAL VARIABILITY
•
CORRELATION SIZE / SUGAR CONTENT
•
NEED TO CONSIDER ALL VARIABLES
•
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES
2. APPLE CONSUMPTION - European Case Study
3. CONCLUSIONS
2
COPA/COGECA
RESEARCH
3
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
METHODOLOGY
CULTIVARS:
ITALY:
Golden Delicious, Red Delicious (Red Chief clone), Gala 200 apples for each cultivar both in mountain areas (600-700m)
and valley (200-250m) picked on the same day (apart for Gala)
BELGIUM:
Elstar, Jonagold, Braeburn - 16 batches of 100 apples each,
picked on the same day
PARAMETERS MEASURED:
1. Content of soluble solids (refractometric method)
2. Firmness
3. Starch conversion (BE only)
4. Streif Index
5. Background color
Parameters variability with Low and High crop load (IT only)
4
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
HIGH INTER- AND INTRA-REGIONAL VARIABILITY
-
High degree of INTER-REGIONAL VARIABILITY
-
Set of relevant INTRA-REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
-
ENVIRONMENT is a BASIC FACTOR able to DETERMINE
QUALITY
“individual countries/regions need to establish their
own maturity standards, since it would be
unreasonable to expect that standards can be simply
transferred between countries or between cultivars”
Ref: TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2004/9, Page 6, Appendix One, Transmitted by New Zealand (Specialized
Section on Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables, Fiftieth Session, Geneva, May 2004)
5
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
CORRELATION SIZE/SUGAR CONTENT
ITALY, Golden Delicious
BELGIUM, Elstar
EXISTENCE of a SIGNIFICANT CORRELATION between SIZE
and SUGAR CONTENT
Therefore the CURRENT QUALITY SYSTEM based on FRUIT SIZE
PREVENTS the MARKETING of POOR QUALITY APPLES
6
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
NEED TO CONSIDER ALL VARIABLES
NEED TO AVOID ANY OVERSIMPLIFIED APPROACH
CLONES
MAJOR DISCREPANCIES in
SUGAR CONTENT 
PRODUCTION COULD BE CUT
OFF (-90%)
NEED TO INVESTIGATE MOST
KNOWN VARIETIES BUT ALSO
THEIR CLONES, IN DIFFERENT
ENVIRONMENTS AND
MULTIPLE SEASONS
Red Delicious, RED CHIEF CLONE
7
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES (GAP)
GAP REDUCE THE NEED FOR QUALITY PARAMETERS
EASIEST AND SAFEST WAY TO REACH A QUALITY LEVEL
ACCEPTABLE IN A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE FOR CONSUMERS,
TRADERS AND PRODUCERS
GALA, ALTO ADIGE - SOUTH TYROL
Green dots: production from thinned trees
Red Dots: production from un-thinned trees
Blue horizontal line: 9 °brix level (EC Services proposal
for “Gala” – see INF.10)
Black vertical line (80 grams, actual minimum weight
for Class I)
GAP to OBTAIN APPLES OF
THE BEST QUALITY
8
COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
IMPORTANCE OF GOOD AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES (GAP)
FINAL OBJECTIVE
NEED FOR GLOBAL IMPLEMENTATION OF GAP TO
PREVENT PRODUCTION OF LOW QUALITY FRUITS
IN THIS WAY THE “QUALITY PROBLEM” WOULD BE
ELIMINATED AND NEW INSTRUMENTS AND CONTROL
METHODS WOULD NOT BE NEEDED
9
APPLE CONSUMPTION
European Case Study
10
EUROPEAN APPLE MARKET
PRODUCTION INCREASING – CONSUMPTION DROPPING
NM-10
UE-25
7.058.000 Tons
3.344.000 Tons
10.402.000 Tons
Trend %
UE-15
Source: EC, Apples and Pears Working Group, Freshfel Consumption Monitor 2004
11
CONCLUSIONS
12
CONCLUSIONS
INTRODUCTION OF NEW QUALITY PARAMETERS
- THE SECTOR IS NOT READY TO ADOPT QUALITY PARAMETERS
CONTINUOUS MEASUREMENT
- SAMPLING MEASUREMENT IS DESTRUCTIVE AND PRESENT
MANY ASPECTS NOT CONVINCING PRODUCERS:
- SMALL AND SCARCELY REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLES
- UNCERTAINTY OF CONTROL PROCEDURES
- UNCERTAIN POINT OF CONTROL
13
CONCLUSIONS
CULTIVARS AND NEW QUALITY PARAMETERS
- DIFFICULT TO DEFINE QUALITY WITH A SINGLE PARAMETER
- BEST PARAMETER FOR MATURITY IS STARCH CONVERSION TEST
- MINIMUM °BRIX LEVEL SHOULD TAKE INTO ACCOUNT:
- ENVIRONMENT EFFECT
- SEASON EFFECT
- VARIETIES
- CLONES
NEED FOR GLOBAL
HISTORICAL
KNOWLEDGE !
- CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR
14
CONCLUSIONS
°BRIX AND DIAMETER / WEIGHT
GOOD CORRELATION
BETWEEN °BRIX AND SIZE
BASED ON EXISTING KNOWLEDGE
ACTUAL DIAMETER / WEIGHT
PROVISIONS ARE SIMPLEST AND MOST
ACCURATE QUALITY PARAMETERS
15
CONCLUSIONS
COPA/COGECA invites
UNECE delegates to fully evaluate – in light of technological
constraints – the consequences of introducing quality
parameters based on insufficient knowledge
and specifically requests a 3 YEAR
ADJOURNMENT in revising the standard,
and a similar approach to concurrent
discussions at Codex and EU level
16
FRESHFEL POSITION
• Freshfel welcomed the introduction of a weight-based
sizing, as it reflects current industry practices
• Sizing by diameter should be repealed as soon as
possible to prevent confusion
• Organoleptic criteria are commercial specifications –
implement them into compulsory legislation would
generate difficulties due to climatic factors, regional
variation, inter-varieties differences, different consumer
expectations,…
Freshfel supports COPA’s request for a 3 year
adjournment to the introduction of
maturity criteria
17
WAPA POSITION
•
WAPA (World Apple and Pear Association) represents main producing
countries in the World: Northern and Southern Hemispheres
•
WAPA meeting in Berlin (February 2005) adopted a consensual approach to
discussions on international and EU apples standards:
– EU marketing standards in force for 30 years did not create any
difficulties to apples producers and traders;
– Research conducted in South Africa, New Zealand , Belgium and Italy
shows the complexity of elaborating maturity criteria. WAPA also
initiated work in this field with Hortresearch New Zealand further
highlighting inherent problems; and
– It is internationally recognized by global experts that fixing criteria is
complex and that variation in fruit maturity occurs between regions,
varieties and seasons.
WAPA supports COPA’s request for a 3 year
adjournment to the introduction of maturity criteria
18