1
International Standards for
International Standards for
Agricultural Products
Agricultural Products
Claudio Meza
Claudio Meza
Agricultural Standard Unit
Agricultural Standard Unit
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
2
Outline
• UNECE
• The role of agriculture and trade
• History, goals and role of commercial quality standards
• Quality of agricultural products
• UNECE Agricultural Quality Standards – Development
and Implementation
• Future work
3
5 Regional Commissions of the
United Nations
ESCWA - Beirut
ECA - Addis-Ababa
ESCAP - Bangkok
ECLAC - Santiago
ECE - Geneva
4
UNECE Data
• Set up in 1947 by ECOSOC
• 55 Member States in North America, Asia and
Europe
• 200 employees
5
UNECE Mission
• Encourage greater economic cooperation among
its member states
• Facilitate trade between member states and
beyond in all stages of the supply chain
• Encourage sustainable development of its member
states
6
UNECE Services
• Evaluate the economic situation in the UNECE area
• Provide a forum for governments to develop
conventions, regulations and standards
• Provide capacity building activities to facilitate
integration of member states
7
UNECE Work Areas
Environmental Policy
Inland
Transport
Statistics
UNECE
Sustainable Energy Trade
8
TRADE
UN/CEFACT
Timber
Agricultural Quality
Standards
Technical Harmonization
and Standardization
Policies, Conformity
assessment, Market
surveillance
UNECE Trade and Timber Division
9
Agriculture and trade: keys to civilization
• We all need to eat!
• We need to get the right quantity of good quality food
• How we get our food and what we eat determines how we
live
• Agriculture and trade have given us the time to create the
civilization we know today
10
Modern agriculture: A success story!
• More people than ever before have enough to eat and pay
less for it
• There are more people today – but the percentage of
people suffering from hunger and malnutrition has
decreased
• Average life expectancy has increased
• Science and technology allow us to produce more with less
workers
• There is more choice in food products than ever before and
most products are available all year around in many places
• ...
11
Modern agriculture: A success story?
• People are still starving or suffer from malnutrition in some
countries
• In the same countries and elsewhere a growing number of
people die from eating too much and inappropriate food (too
much fat, too much sugar)
• Small farmers have problems competing
• Many people complain about the taste of fruit and vegetables
• Agriculture has created problems with soils and water
• Agriculture has created new food safety problems
• ...
12
Could we do it differently?
• Good traditional cooking and gastronomy use high quality,
natural ingredients and are healthy and tasty
• Good quality food is not necessarily expensive or difficult
to prepare
• Competition could be based first on quality then on price
13
Values and education
• Problems: Lack of education
• Profit seeking can be a source of motivation – but when it
is missing values, responsibility and, most of all,
accountability, it can create problems
• We need responsible, well informed actors in the food
supply chain from the producers to the consumers
14
The role of agriculture and trade
• Agriculture and trade should give all of us:
– Enough, affordable, safe, healthy, tasty food
– That has been produced in a sustainable way, with
respect to our environment; and
• Agriculture and trade should give those who work
there a fair income and good working conditions
15
Trade in agricultural products in the
ECE region in 1949
• Countries use national quality standards to
regulate trade within their borders
• Producers market
• Growing interest in international trade
• Existing national regulations became barriers to
international trade
16
Harmonization of national standards
• 1949 The Working Party on Agricultural Quality
Standards takes up its work at UNECE in Geneva
• 1954 The Geneva Protocol and Standard Layout
are adopted
17
Why standards?
• To define common trading language for all
actors in the supply chain
• To facilitate fair international trade
• To avoid bad quality products on the markets
• To guide producers to meet market
requirements
• To build trust and market opportunities
• To encourage high quality production
• To improve producers’ profitability
• To protect consumers’ interests
• Remove technical barriers to trade
18
Aspects of quality: Two basic notions
• The totality of features and characteristics of a product,
process or service that bear on its ability to satisfy stated
or implied needs as broadly defined in ISO 9000:2000
•“Excellence" – something that distinguishes a product
from similar products and justifies demand
19
Aspects of quality for food:
absence, presence, excellence
• Absence of defect, fraud and adulteration (e.g.
food safety, quality defects) – regulated in food
safety and quality standards
• Presence of expected properties (e.g nutritional
components, external and internal quality aspects)
– regulated or starting to be in food quality or
labelling standards
20
Aspects of quality for food:
absence, presence, excellence
Excellence
• Added value through:
– Forms of production (organic farming, environmental
consideration, animal welfare)
– Specific production areas (designation of origin) and
their associated traditional production methods
• High interest in this area:
– Operators try to distinguish their products from similar
ones to attract customer attention and fidelity
– Regulators provide a legal framework
21
Aspects of quality: Commercial quality
• No quality without safety
• Quality is MORE than safety
• Commercial quality is a set of parameters
describing internal and external characteristics of
the produce, which are necessary to ensure
transparency in trade and good eating quality
22
Aspects of quality for food: Commercial Quality
Internal
Taste
Maturity
Nutrition…
Commercial quality
External
Cleanliness
Colour
Freshness
Shape
Presentation
Packing…
23
Evaluation of commercial quality
• Subjective
– Sensorial characteristics (taste, smell, texture,
colour…)
• Objective
– Analytical or physical measurements
24
UNECE Standard Layout
• Definition of produce
• Minimum requirements
• Maturity requirements
• Classification (Extra, Class I, Class II)
• Sizing provisions
• Tolerances (quality, size)
• Presentation (uniformity, packaging)
• Marking
• Annexes: Definitions, Lists of varieties,
Testing and Sampling procedures
25
Principles for the development of
UNECE Standards
• All relevant actors in the supply chain (buyers,
sellers, retailers, producers, consumers etc.
through their associations) should participate
• Cooperation with other international organizations
should be sought and any duplication avoided
• All UN member countries can participate with the
same rights
• Decisions are taken on a consensus basis
26
Participation
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia,
Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Côte
d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Georgia, Greece, Hungary,
India, Ireland, Italy, Kenya, Lithuania, Morocco,
Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Russian Federation, Slovakia, South
Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine,
Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States,
Uruguay, European Community
27
Organizational Structure
General Assembly
General Assembly
Economic and Social Council
Economic and Social Council
Economic Commission for Europe
Economic Commission for Europe
Committee on Trade
Committee on Trade
Working Party
Working Party
on Agricultural Quality Standards
on Agricultural Quality Standards
Specialized Section on Standardization of
Specialized Section on Standardization of
Fresh Fruit
Fresh Fruit
and Vegetables
and Vegetables
Dry and
Dry and
Dried Fruit
Dried Fruit
Seed
Seed
Potatoes
Potatoes
Meat
Meat
28
Process of developing a UNECE standard
Specialized Section
Specialized Section
and
and
Working Party
Working Party
agree to
agree to
create/amend a standard
create/amend a standard
Rapporteurs
Rapporteurs
prepares/amends text
prepares/amends text
Specialized
Specialized
Section
Section
discusses
discusses
text in detail
text in detail
Working Party
Working Party
discusses text in general
discusses text in general
UNECE
UNECE
Recommendation
Recommendation
trial period (1
trial period (1
-
-
3 years)
3 years)
UNECE Standard
UNECE Standard
29
Implementation of standards
UNECE
Standard
European
Commission
Codex
Alimentarius
Commission
Regulation
Codex Standard
Explanatory
Brochure
OECD Scheme
Government
National
Standard
30
Standards available
Dry and Dried Produce (17)
Fresh Fruit and
Vegetables (50)
UNECE
UNECE
Agricultural Standards
Agricultural Standards
Meat (5)
Eggs and Egg
Products (5)
Cut Flowers (8)
Seed Potatoes (3)
31
UNECE Standards for
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
Annonas
Apples
Apricots
Artichokes
Asparagus
Aubergines
Avocados
Beans
Bilberries and
Blueberries
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Garlic
Horse-radish
Kiwifruit
Leeks
Lettuce and endives
Mangoes
Melons
Onions
Peaches and
Nectarines
Pears
Peas
Pineapples
Plums
Potatoes: early
& ware
Radishes
Raspberries
Ribbed celery
Rhubarb
Scorzonera
Spinach
Strawberries
Sweet peppers
Table grapes
Tomatoes
Watermelons
Witloof chicory
Headed Cabbages
Carrots
Cauliflowers
Chinese Cabbages
Cherries
Citrus fruit
Cucumbers
Courgettes
Cultivated
mushrooms
Edible sweet
chestnuts
Fennel
Fresh figs
32
Current and future work in
Fresh Fruit and Vegetables
• Internal quality/Maturity requirements
• Control certificate
• Promoting trade in Fresh Fruit and Vegetables to
contribute to a WHO strategy on Diet, Health and Physical
Activity
• New standards for Shallots, Truffles and Ceps
33
Internal quality
• The goal (for now) is to define the minimum internal quality
which a fruit/vegetable must have in order to still deserve its
name.
• To remove external quality requirements from the standards
or reduce them (e.g. size for apples).
• To make it easier for organic produce to make it into Class I.
• To avoid immature fruit on the markets at the beginning of
the season.
• Question: Can a December tomato still be called a tomato?
34
Cooperation with WHO
• WHO recommends the intake of a minimum of
400g of fruit and vegetables per day for the
prevention of chronic diseases such as heart
disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity.
35
Postcards promoting the strategy
36
UNECE Standards for
Dry and Dried produce
• Pine nuts, decorticated peeled
• Pistachio kernels, decorticated and
decorticated peeled
• Pistachio kernels, unshelled
• Prunes, sweet
• Almonds, decorticated
• Sweet almonds, unshelled
• Walnut kernels
• Walnuts, inshell
•Apples, dried
•Apricots, dried
•Cashew kernels
•Dates, whole
•Figs, dried
•Grapes, dried
•Hazelnuts, inshell
•Hazelnut kernels
•Pears, dried
37
Current and future work in
Dried Produce
• Revision of standards for pistachios and almonds
• New standards for Dried Peaches, Pecan nuts,
Macademia nuts, Dried Peppers, Dried Tomatoes,
Peanuts
38
Colour chart for walnut kernels
Extra Class: Uniformly light-coloured
kernels with practically no dark straw
and/or lemon yellow and with no dark
brown.
Class I: Kernels of a colour not
darker than light brown.
Class II: Kernels of a colour not
darker than dark brown. Darker
kernels may be marketed in this class,
provided the colour is indicated on the
package
39
UNECE Standards for Meat
• Porcine Meat - Carcases and Cuts - 1998 -
currently being revised
• Bovine Meat - Carcases and Cuts – 2004
• Ovine Meat - Carcases and Cuts – 2004
• Chicken Meat - Carcases and Parts – 2004
• Llama/Alpaca Meat – 2004
• Other standards planned: Goat, Turkey, Veal
40
Example: Bovine Coding
( 01)91234567890121(3102)000376(7002)15111110205142111
(13) 001231( 10) 123ABC
(01) 91234567890121 - Global Trade Item Number (GTIN)
(3102) 000376 - Net Weight, kilograms
(7002) 15111110205142111 - UN/ECE Meat Carcasses and Cuts Code
(13) 001231 - Slaughter/Packaging Date
(10) 123ABC - Batch Number
41
The situation today
• Consumers market - Consumers concerned about quality
and safety
• Complex international supply chains
• Big retailers operate globally
• More countries enter the international markets
• Trade creates their own strict standards
• New technologies allow new types of quality testing
• Problems as mentioned in the introduction
42
Future work
• Private and public standard setting and implementation
bodies work together, complementing each other
• Definition of parameters and values for internal quality of
produce and use new technologies for testing
• Encourage good quality and good farming practices by
giving recognition to those who farm in a sustainable way
• Support the trade of organic produce by basing the
definition of quality less on external appearance and more
on internal parameters
• Codify standards to be used in electronic commerce;
Electronic export certification
• Develop training packages to assist countries in the
implementation of standards
43
Why participate in standardization?
• To be integrated in the international trading
system (to contribute and decide)
• To propose standards for local products for which
international standards do not exist
• To network, exchange experiences, learn from
others
44
Products with future
• High quality products which can command a high
price
• Promotion of “brand awareness” for local products
(controlled origin labels)
• Organic produce
