Report of the Fifty-fifth Session of the UNECE Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce Geneva, Switzerland June 23 – 27, 2008 Dorian A. LaFond Ph.D. Chair, UNECE Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce

Attending were delegates representing:  Seven member countries  NGO – International Nut Council (INC)  By invitation of the secretariat as an observer a representative of the private company Société Général de Surveillance (SGS) participated in the meeting.  Representatives of walnut, hazelnut chilli pepper industries. The Specialized Section welcomed the Working Party’s new Terms of Reference (TOR) approved by the UNECE Committee on Trade in October 2007 and by the Executive Committee in March 2008 (doc. ECE/EX/2008/L.8). The new TOR allows “any member of the United Nations or of one of its specialized agencies to participate equally in the activities of WP.7 and its specialized sections”.

STANDARD LAYOUT Specialized Section reviewed the Standard Layout adopted by the Working Party for a trial period until the end of 2008, and 1.added an introductory paragraph on the cover page: “The Standard Layout is a guide to follow when developing or revising Standards. Due to various commodity characteristics not all sections of the Standard Layout may apply. It is permissible to use optional texts for those specific commodities”. 2. amended the definition of “shrivelled and shrunken” in annex III, section (b) “Specific definitions for nuts (inshell nuts and nut kernels)”, replacing the term “desiccated” by “dehydrated”. The 55 th Session of the UNECE SSD&DP submits the amended text of the Standard Layout to the Working Party for approval.

REVIEW OF UNECE RECOMMENDATIONS Based on the outcome of the trials the specialized session amended the recommendations to reflect industry and trade practices: Pistachio Kernels and Peeled Pistachio Kernels : Provisions Concerning Quality- Minimum requirements”, by adding the indent “Free from rancidity”. Provisions Concerning Sizing: making the sizing of pistachio kernels and peeled pistachio kernels optional; and when sized, sizing by the number of kernels per 100 grams or per ounce.” Provisions Concerning Presentation:- “Uniformity. Adding uniformity provisions for whole, Split and a combination of Whole and broken kernels lots. Commercial specifications of “Provisions concerning marking”; indication of size (if sized); and making crop year (optional). Table of Tolerances:- Tolerances for “Halves (split) and broken if wholes are specified” : increase in percentages allowed for Extra Class from 15 to 20 per cent and for Class I from 20 to 30 per cent. The Turkish delegation requested a delay in final adoption of these new values pending industry consultations with a response by August 15, The Specialized Section submits the amended recommendation for adoption by the Working Party as a new UNECE Standard.

Dried Peaches Definition of Produce: the Specialized Section decided that the, “This Standard does not apply to dried peaches that are processed by sugaring, flavouring or for industrial processing.” Section II. Provisions concerning quality”: with two exceptions: – Deleted “Sufficiently ripe” from the “Minimum requirements”; – In section “B. Moisture content”, the figures in the second paragraph should read: “The dried peaches treated with preservatives or preserved by other means (e.g. pasteurization) may have moisture content between 20.0 and 37.0 per cent”. Section D, Commercial specifications: “Provisions concerning marking: aligned with the standard layout. Deleted from the text were: “mandatory according to the legislation of the importing country” “Crop year” and “Best before” The Specialized Section submits the amended recommendation for adoption by the Working Party as a new UNECE Standard.

Blanched almond kernels Definition of produce:- indicating the Standard is intended for “whole” sweet blanched almond kernels. Provisions concerning quality:- a new Minimum Requirement- free of adhering skin exceeding an aggregated area of 6 mm in diameter. Provisions concerning sizing:- making the sizing of blanched almond kernels optional for every class. Table of Tolerances:- Gum, brown spot, blemishes and discoloration; split, broken and halves” in Extra class ; produce not conforming to the size indicated, if sized. Commercial Specifications, “Provisions concerning marking”, to indicate - size allowances, - crop year (optional) - “Best before” followed by the date (optional). The Specialized Section submits the amended text of the Recommendation for Blanched Almond Kernels to the Working Party for an extended one year trial 2009.

REVISION OF UNECE STANDARDS Hazelnut kernels : The Specialized Section amended the following section of the Recommendations Provisions concerning tolerances” to clarify the issue of indicating “old crop” in footnotes to the table of tolerances with respect to damage caused by cimiciatto pentatomidae; finalized the Table of Tolerances. And added the following sentence “However, pest damage caused by cimiciatto is allowed, provided that the flesh is not affected and the spot on the skin does not exceed 3 mm in diameter”. The Section recommended that the Working Party adopt the revised texts on hazelnut kernels for trial use until the end of Inshell Walnuts : The 2007 session of the Working Party returned this recommendation to the Specialized Section for revision because some delegations considered it did not reflect industry practices. The Inshell Walnut working group met on Monday 23 June 2008 and following extended discussion that included walnut industry representatives recommended reverting to the Inshell Walnuts standards adopted by the UNECE in 2002.

Inshell Walnuts cont’d: The recommendation was adopted by the Specialized Section with The delegation of Germany opposing on the following grounds: The Standard for Inshell Walnuts (2002 version) does not adhere to the Standard Layout submitted for approval to the Working Party The definitions annexed to DDP-01 are incorporated into the minimum requirements and thus clarify the situation on the limits allowed in the relevant requirement. The provisions on "mineral impurities" are replaced by a tolerance for foreign matter. The uniformity as to variety or commercial type is required only if the relevant information in given on the package. The commercialization of mixed varieties – even if the mixture is not officially defined in the country of origin – is allowed in Classes "Extra" and Class I. This reflects trade practice much better, especially in countries that do not have those official definitions. The Specialized Section recommends that the Working Party immediately end the trial period of the revised version of the standard ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2007/21 ; revert to the 2002 version of the Standard TRADE/WP.7/2002/9/Add.14

NEW UNECE STANDARDS The Specialized Section amended the following standards Inshell macadamia nuts Moisture content :- increasing the maximum accepted value from 3.0 to 10.0 per cent. Provisions concerning sizing :- indicating that size should be determined by the diameter of the shortest axis of the shell when the produce is sized; and uniformity in size. The table of size designations to reflect diameter values in inches. Amended the Table of Tolerances to reflect changes in minimum requirements that reflect trading practices. The Specialized Section submits Recommendation for Inshell Macadamia Nuts to the Working Party for trial use for two years until the end of Macadamia kernels Minimum requirements - “Provisions concerning quality”, making it explicit that “intact”, “sufficiently developed” and “free from blemishes” apply only to whole kernels: “ Provisions concerning sizing:-amended the sizing parameters and moved them to move from “Provisions concerning presentation”.

Macadamia kernels cont’d: Table of tolerances; - Tolerances for produce not conforming to the size indicated - Added “Loose foreign material, including particles of shell” to other tolerances The Specialized Section submits the Recommendation for Macadamia Kernels to the Working Party for two year trial until Whole Dried Chilli Peppers :- The Draft Standard led by the delegation of Mexico The Specialized Section suggested the following changes: Align the proposed draft standard with the UNECE D&DP Standard Layout; Simplify sizing provisions; Make description of defects explicable to non-experts applying the Standard; Commence collecting literature to prepare an explanatory brochure The Specialized Section plans to complete this standard for submission as a recommendation in 2009.

UNECE Colour Gauge for Walnut Kernels The United States distributed a revised colour gauge for discussion. The Specialized requested improvements in the colours to better illustrate difference between kernels of the same class. The amended draft of the brochure will be submitted to the Section by 15 August for comments prior to the November meeting of the Working Party. UNECE Brochure for Inshell Walnuts and for Walnut Kernels The delegation of United States informed the meeting of the US walnut industry offer develop and publish the brochures on inshell walnuts and walnut kernels- which will be donated to the UNECE. Other Business Whole dates:- Tunisia requested that Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom remove their reservations from the UNECE standard for Whole Dates (DDP-08). Germany expressed its interest in removing its reservation within the context of a revision of the standard. The Specialized Section endorsed the revision of the said standard rather than making minor amendments. Germany offered to lead the revision of the UNECE Standard for Whole Dates starting at 2009 meeting of the Specialized Section. Delegations were requested to forward their comments to the delegation of Germany.

Other Business cont’d Work by the OECD Scheme on the Sampling Plan:- The Specialized Section discussed this matter and decided to reactivate the work on the sampling plan, which the delegation of Germany offered to lead. Reference document TRADE/WP.7/GE.2/2003/15/Add.2. Inshell Hazelnuts: - Based on the proposal submitted by France, the Specialized Section made an editorial amendment to the Provisions Concerning Sizing. Proposed date of the 56 TH Session of the UNECE SSSD&DP (22 to 26 June 2009)

SUMMARY The UNECE SSSD&DP submits to Working Party 7 the following for adoption as new and revised UNECE Standards: Standard Layout - DDP ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/13 Dried Peaches – (new) ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/14 Pistachio Kernels and Peeled Pistachio Kernels – (new) ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/15 Inshell Walnuts – (revised) ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/16 The SSSD&DP submits to Working Party 7 the following for adoption as recommendations for: Trial ending in 2009: Blanched Almond Kernels (revised)ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/17 Hazelnut Kernels (revised)ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/18 Trial ending in 2010: Inshell Macadamia Nuts – (new) ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/19 Macadamia Kernels – (new ) ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2008/20

UNECE Specialized Section on Standardization of Dry and Dried Produce Chairman Dorian LaFond – United States of America Vice-Chairman Sait Sozumert – Turkey UNECE Secretariat Claudio Meza