Taste of success for new chocolate deal

Date: 17/06/1999

By Renée Cordes
A DEAL is finally in sight to end the long-running battle over new EU rules to govern the content of chocolate, with France and Spain expected to drop their opposition to the proposals at a meeting next week.

Internal market ministers are likely to give their blessing to the latest Bonn-brokered compromise next Monday (21 June), ending a bitter-sweet dispute which has dragged on for 25 years.

More than three years ago, the Commission proposed allowing all member states to use up to 5% non-cocoa butter in their chocolate, on condition that products were clearly labelled so that consumers would know what they were buying.

Acting Industry Commissioner Martin Bangemann argued that harmonised legislation was necessary to eliminate differences between national laws throughout the 15 EU member states and establish a genuine single market in chocolate.

But France, Spain and the Benelux countries, which prohibit the use of non-cocoa fats, feared their producers would suffer financially if a broad range of substitutes were permitted on the market. They also insisted that any products containing substitutes must be clearly labelled as such.

The German presidency came forward with a compromise proposal earlier this year scaling back the list of allowable substitutes. But although this found favour with the Benelux countries, France and Spain continued to take a hard line.

Now, however, they appear ready to agree to the latest compromise, which includes a list of half a dozen non-cocoa vegetable fats which would be permitted in chocolate and a labelling requirement.

"The last proposal is a step in the right direction. It is not impossible to get an agreement," said a French diplomat, although she added that there was still some fine-tuning to be done.

British concerns about the proposals have also been addressed in the latest proposal, with the Germans bowing to calls from the UK for British manufacturers to be allowed to continue selling their brand of milk chocolate, made up of 20% milk and 20% cocoa solids, as opposed to the 25% and 14% mix in other member states.

Under the latest compromise, UK companies would have to sell their products as 'family chocolate' to help consumers distinguish them from others.

EU diplomats say agreement is now likely because member states realise that the compromise now on the table is the best they can hope for. "If we do not reach agreement, there will be a continued fragmentation of the internal market," said one.

Resistance to the measure also appears to have been softened by a Commission report circulated to diplomats this week which suggests that the proposed new rules would have a "marginal" effect on Europe's chocolate market, which is expected to grow by 25% over the next ten years.