The New York Times' Stephen Castle reports from Brussels that on Wednesday November 12, the European Union has mostly done away with rules that banned "extra knobbly or oddly shaped produce' from grocery stores. The previous report that we cited on the matter concluded that Mariann Fischer Boel, the Danish European Commissioner for Agriculture faced "an uphill and probably losing battle' to simplify the regulations. The New York Times report quotes a now triumphant Boel who says:
"This marks a new dawn for the curvy cucumber and the knobbly carrot.'
The regulations were scrapped for 26 different types of fruits and vegetables, but left ten other types including apples, peaches, pears and strawberries regulated. While the article mostly seems to suggest that the regulations were absurd, it does note that 16 countries were against dropping the regulations , implying that doing so would lead to ever more complicated national standards for vegetables which could hinder EU wide trade. Harmonizing trade regulations throughout member states is a primary goal of the EU.
Further Reading:
‘Reprieve for curvy cucumbers and crooked carrots as EU bends rules’ November 12, 2008, The Times of London
'the Cucumber Laws that Drove a Nation Bananas’ November, 16, 2008 The Nation, United Arab Emirates
