Diapositiva 1

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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
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SUMMARY

• 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
• APPLE CONSUMPTION - European Case Study
• CONCLUSIONS

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COPA/COGECA RESEARCH
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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
• Content of soluble solids (refractometric method)
• Firmness
• Starch conversion (BE only)
• Streif Index
• Background color
• Parameters variability with Low and High crop
  load (IT only)

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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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APPLE CONSUMPTION European Case Study
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EUROPEAN APPLE MARKET
PRODUCTION INCREASING CONSUMPTION DROPPING
UE-25 10.402.000 Tons
UE-15 7.058.000 Tons
NM-10 3.344.000 Tons
Trend
Source EC, Apples and Pears Working Group,
Freshfel Consumption Monitor 2004
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CONCLUSIONS
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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

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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
• CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR

NEED FOR GLOBAL HISTORICAL KNOWLEDGE !
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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
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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
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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 COPAs request for a 3 year
  adjournment to the introduction of maturity
  criteria

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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 COPAs request for a 3 year
  adjournment to the introduction of maturity
  criteria