EU fights back over bendy bananas rule
Bendy bananas have been part of eurosceptic folklore for years.
Along with straight cucumbers and carrot jam, they have been the standard-bearer for all that’s supposed to be crazy about the Brussels bureaucracy.
But now the European Commission – which generally fights shy of entering debates it cannot win – has tackled the issue head-on.
Faced with a written question from UK Euro-MP Chris Davies, EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel said that the bendiness of bananas is a valid matter for Brussels – and not one banana grower, wholesaler, retailer or customer has ever complained about the European bendy banana legislation, first introduced more than 13 years ago.
Perhaps, said Liberal Democrat MEP Mr Davies, that is because the industry needs such standards to streamline international trade, and uniform banana rules were part of national laws in some countries long before the entry came into force in EU Regulation 2257/94 from September 16 1994.
He said he raised the issues with the Commission to try to clear up one of the long-standing arguments about over-regulation by eurocrats: “People think bananas are just bananas, but there’s a huge difference between a long, straight one from Costa Rica and a short, curvy one from Cyprus or the Canaries” he said.
“It may not matter much to most people, but it matters a lot to supermarkets buying bananas by the million. They want to know just what’s in the box, and they want a legal framework for the business.”
He added: “If the banana growers and the banana buyers want the rules, why should anyone else object? Strip away the anti-European nonsense and there are sound reasons for most EU laws.”
The Commissioner’s reply to Mr Davies’ parliamentary question explains that the law establishes Europe-wide quality classification and labelling requirements for bananas on sale in the EU.
The Commissioner states: “As for all European marketing standards, these requirements are established collectively by the member states.
“The aim is to facilitate trade by promoting the harmonisation of standards. At EU level, these standards have been considered the appropriate ones to replace the numerous national standards, and so facilitate intra-EU trade.”
The law says that bananas must be free from “abnormal curvature of the fingers” to take account of the need to pack them in standard-sized boxes. Over-bendy bananas would affect the packing rates and if bananas are packed too tightly together, they get damaged.
So slight shape defects are allowed in a “class 1” banana, but a banana categorised as “class 2” can have bigger defects “plus a tolerance of 10% for bananas presenting a malformation or abnormal curvature.”
Mr Davies, satisfied that a myth has been shattered, emphasised that no banana is banned from sale, however bendy it is. It just may not qualify for an EU class 1 or class 2 rating.
The Commission statement added: “No objections from banana growers, buyers, traders or consumers have been received regarding this requirement.”
