Marketing standards for fruits and vegetables

Fruits and vegetables have to comply with certain standards if they are to be sold in an EU country. This applies to all stages of marketing, except products that are sold directly to the final consumer from the grower’s own farm. Whoever has the products in his/her keeping has to ensure that the products comply with the marketing standard.

Which standard should I use?

Use the EU standard if there is one. If there is no product-specific EU standard, you can use either the EU general marketing standard of the product-specific standards issued by the UNECE.

The Codex Alimentarius also has standards for certain products. You can only use these standards if your product complies with the EU general marketing standard.

If you want to know which standards are available for each product, please see this table of marketing standards for fruits and vegetables.

Product-specific EU standards apply to eleven products

The EU applies product-specific standards for the following products: apples, bananas (only green bananas), citrus fruit, kiwifruit, lettuces and endives, peaches and nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes, and tomatoes.

You can find the product-specific EU standards in part B of annex I of EU Regulation 543/2011 Pdf, 1 MB, opens in new window..

The general marketing standard applies to other products

If your product is not among the eleven products above, they have to comply with the general marketing standard instead. If you use only this standard, you must not say on the label that the products belong to any class.

You can find the general marketing standard in part A of Annex I of EU Regulation 543/2011 Pdf, 626.7 kB, opens in new window..

An alternative to the general marketing standard

If you prefer you can use the UNECE standards instead of the general marketing standard. It is common for those standards to be used in commercial contracts. The UNECE provides standards for some 50 fruits and vegetables.

It is important that the buyer and the seller agree on what standard to apply.

You can find the UNECE standards External link. here.

Sometimes the marketing standards to not apply

In the following cases your products do not need to comply with any standard:

• Products intended for industrial processing provided that they are clearly labelled as such.
• Products intended for use as feed, or for some other non-food use, provided that they are clearly labelled as such.
• Direct sales from the grower’s own farm to the final consumer. The products must have been produced at the farm and be sold on the premises. If you sell your products by the roadside some distance away, your products need to comply with the standards.
• Products that have been cut, chopped or processed in any other way to be ready for immediate use. In that case, the rules of the National Food Agency applies instead.
• Products marketed as edible sprouts.
• Products that are sold by retailers to consumers with the express intention of being processed at home, like oranges for juice-making, provided that they are clearly labelled as such.

Some products are exempt from the marketing standards: forest mushrooms, capers, dried meal bananas, dried citrus fruit, saffron, and most nuts.

However, the following nuts have to comply with the general marketing standard: sweet almonds in shell, hazelnuts in shell, walnuts in shell, and chestnuts.