UNITED

NATIONS

Distr.

GENERAL

TRADE/WP.7/GE.1/2001/19/Add.3

11 July 2001

ORIGINAL : ENGLISH

ECONOMIC COMMISSION FOR EUROPE

COMMITTEE FOR TRADE, INDUSTRY AND

ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

Working Party on Standardization of

Perishable Produce and Quality Development

Specialized Section on Co-ordination of

Standardization of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

Forty-seventh session, 15-18 May 2001, Geneva

REPORT OF THE FORTY-SEVENTH SESSION

Addendum 3

Note by the Secretariat: This document contains proposed amendments to UNECE Standards for Avocados, Beans, Sweet Peppers, Table Grapes and Strawberries. The Specialized Section recommends these amendments to be adopted by the Working Party to be included in the relevant standards.

GE.01-

UNECE Standard for Avocados:

The Specialized Section proposes to integrate the following amendments into the existing UNECE Recommendation for Avocados and test them for the remaining year of the trial period.

In section II.A., Minimum requirements insert the following text before the sentence "The ripe fruit should be free of bitterness.":

"The fruit should have a dry matter content, to be measured by drying to constant weight, of at least:

21%	for the variety "Hass";

20%	for the varieties "Fuerte", "Pinkerton", "Reed" and "Edranol";

19%	for the other varieties."

UNECE Standard for Beans:

The Specialized Section proposes to adopt the following amendments and to revise the standard accordingly.

In section II.B.(iii), Class II:

-	amend the second indent in the second paragraph to read as follows:

"-	free from rust spots in the case of needle beans"

-	add a new fifth indent at the end of the section to read:

"-	slight rust spots except in the case of needle beans"

UNECE Standard for Sweet Peppers

The Specialized Section proposes to adopt the following amendments and to revise the standard accordingly.

In section III: Provisions concerning sizing:

in (i): replace "30 mm" with "20 mm"

delete the paragraph:

"The above provisions do not apply to sweet peppers with slim pods of medium length ("peperoncini type") grown from particular varieties of Capsicum annuum L. var. longum. These must exceed 5 cm in length."

In section V.A.: Uniformity:

at the end of the second paragraph delete:

" and there is the same number of sweet peppers of each colour"

Amend sections VI. B. and C. as follows (new text underlined, deleted text crossed out):

"B.	Nature of produce

If the contents are not visible from the outside:

-	"Sweet peppers",

-	colour, or as the case may be, number of peppers of each colour when the numbers of peppers of each colour are not the same.

-	Commercial type ("elongated", "square blunt", "square tapering", "flat") or name of the variety

-	"Peperoncini" or equivalent denomination where appropriate.

C.	Origin of produce

-	Country or, where appropriate, countries of origin and, optionally, district where grown or national, regional or local place name.

UNECE Standard for Table Grapes:

The specialized Section proposes to adopt the following amendments as a UNECE Recommendation for a two year trial period.

In chapter III: Provisions concerning sizing; in the table add a footnote reference "*" after "150g" (minimum weight for large-berry varieties in Class I)

Add the following footnote at the bottom of the page:

"*	Table grapes of varieties Barlinka, La Rochelle and Dauphine, marked as late harvest table grapes (bunches from the secondary harvest) may conform to a minimum bunch weight of 100g, provided that the bunches show the characteristic twist of the stems."

In section VI. D. Commercial specifications, add a new indent as follows:

"-	"late harvest grapes", where applicable.

In section II. A. Minimum Requirements, insert the following paragraphs after the words "satisfactory ripeness" :

"The fruit must be such that the juice of the berries has a refractometric index of at least:

-	12 Brix for the Alphonse Lavallee, Cardinal and Victoria varieties,

-	13 Brix for all other seeded varieties,

-	14 Brix for all seedless varieties.

In addition all varieties must have satisfactory sugar/acid ratio levels."

UNECE Standard for Strawberries:

The Specialized Section provisionally agreed the following amendments to the UNECE Standard for Strawberries. As three producing countries (Israel, Italy and Spain) were not present at the session it was decided give countries until 30 September 2001 to comment on these amendments. They will be only be proposed to the Working Party for adoption and inclusion in the standard if no objections are received by the Secretariat by that date.

A.	Minimum requirements

1st, 7th and new 8th indent:

-	intact,

-	with the calyx (except in the case of wood strawberries and varieties that easily loose their calyx at harvest)

-	the calyx and the stalk (if present) must be fresh and green

B.	Classification (i) "Extra" Class

2nd paragraph:

(moved to chapter V. A. Uniformity)

new 5th paragraph in accordance with the standard layout:

They must be free from defects with the exception of very slight superficial defects provided these do not affect the general appearance of the produce, the quality, the keeping quality and presentation in the package.

(ii)	Class I

2nd paragraph, 1st and 2nd indent, new 3rd indent:

-	slight defect of shape (English version only)

-	a white patch not exceeding one tenth of the surface area of the fruit

-	slight pressure mark.

3rd paragraph - should become the 2nd paragraph:

(moved to V. A. Uniformity) They must be practically free from soil.

(iii)	Class II

3rd paragraph, 1st and 2nd indent:

-	defects of shape,
(already covered by the paragraph above)

-	a white patch not exceeding one fifth of the surface area of the fruit. (English version only)

V.	PROVISIONS CONCERNING PRESENTATION

A.	Uniformity

Insert new 2nd paragraph:

In Class Extra", strawberries - with the exception of wood strawberries - must be particularly uniform and regular with respect to degree of ripeness, colour and size. In Class I, strawberries may be less uniform in size.