UNCTAD Secretary-General's
High-Level Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue on Commodities
in the context of UNCTAD XII
28-29 January 2008
UNECE Commercial Quality Standards
for Agricultural Produce
By
Mr. Serguei Malanitchev
Head, Agricultural Standards Unit,
Trade and Timber Division, UNECE
The views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of UNCTAD
UNECE commercial quality standards
for agricultural produce
Serguei Malanitchev, UNECE
1
UNECE international standards
• Agricultural quality standards
• Importance for international trade
• How standards are developed and for
which groups of products
• Who uses them and where get training
2
United Nations economic Commission for
Europe (UNECE)
3
UNECE mission
• Facilitate economic integration and
cooperation
• Promote sustainable development and
economic prosperity
4
UNECE work areas
Transport
Economic cooperation
Statistics
Housing
Trade &
timber
Sustainable
energy
Environmental policy
5
UNECE standards are cost-free
• Fruit and vegetables
• Potatoes
• Dry produce
• Meat
• Eggs
• Flowers
6
International standards
• Define common trading
language
• Simplify international trade
• Create market transparency
• Prevent technical barriers
7
For business
• Clearer communication between buyer and
seller
• Easier price comparison for products from
different sources
• Confidence between contracting parties
8
For growers
• Equal perceptions of quality levels
• Homogeneity of products
• Higher quality - higher profits
9
Higher quality – higher profits
Category
Price
Quantity I
(Euros/kg)
(Kg)
Value Quantity II Value
(Euros)
(Kg)
(Euros)
“Extra”
0.95
150
142.50
200
190.00
Class I
0.80
600
480.00
650
520.00
Class II
0.50
200
100.00
150
75.00
Other
0.20
50
10.00
-
-
1000
732.50
1000
785.00
Total
Per kg
0.7325
0.7850
10
For consumers
• Protect the consumer
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Mandatory or voluntary
• Mandatory
(in EU regulations or national legislation)
• Voluntary
(as reference in commercial contracts)
12
Users
•
•
•
•
National authorities (all UN Member States)
Producers
Traders
Consumer
associations
• International
organizations
13
Agricultural standards within UN
General Assembly
Economic and Social Council
Economic Commission for Europe
Committee on Trade
Working Party
on Agricultural Quality Standards
Specialized Sections on Standardization of
Fresh Fruit
and Vegetables
Dry and
Dried Produce
Seed
Potatoes
Meat
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Standard layout for FFV
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Definition of produce
Quality (“Extra” Class, Class I, Class II)
Sizing
Quality and size tolerances
Presentation
Marking
Annexes (definitions, lists of varieties, testing
and sampling procedures)
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UNECE meat standards
• Porcine, bovine, ovine, chicken, turkey,
llama/alpaca
• Describe meat items traded internationally
• Define coding system for communication and
electronic trade
16
UNECE standard for ovine meat
17
Standard ovine primal cuts
18
OECD Scheme on fruit and vegetables
• Adopts UNECE standards as OECD standards
• Develops explanatory material
• Develops guidelines on conformity inspection
• Organizes meetings for national inspectors
• Carries out capacity-building activities
19
OECD explanatory brochures
A. Minimum requirements
In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the
tolerances allowed, the tomatoes must be:
-
intact:
Tomatoes must not have any mutilation or injury spoiling the
integrity of the produce.
Damaged tomato - Not allowed
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OECD explanatory brochures
-
sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit
for consumption is excluded.
Tomatoes showing the following defects are therefore excluded:
a) Marked bruises (soft patches) damaging the flesh occur due to rough
handling and/or too tight packaging.
Marked bruising - Not allowed
www.oecd.org/agr/fv
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International training
• Bonn, Germany
– International Meeting on Quality Control of Fruit and
Vegetables
• Guildford, United Kingdom
– International Meeting on Harmonization of
Interpretation of EC Marketing Standards and
Procedures for Fresh Fruits and Vegetables
• Mojmirovce, Slovakia
– International Training Course on Harmonization of
Fruit and Vegetables Quality Assessment
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agristandards@unece.org
http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/welcome.htm
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