Prague - A draft version of a European directive on the
labelling of spirits has upset Czech slivovitz makers, as an
erroneous definition of their traditional Czech plum brandy would
force them to rename it.
Traditional, quality slivovitz is distilled from fermented plums,
but the directive only lists the definition of a lesser quality
version of this hard liquor. It says slivovitz is the mixture of a
plum distillate and an agricultural spirit.
While the amendment was published nearly five months ago and
debated by the parliamentary Committee on the Environment, Public
Health and Food Safety in January, the wrong definition was
discovered only this week and caused a stir in the Czech Republic on
Friday.
'I regard it utterly scandalous. A standard fruit distillate is of
course called slivovitz,' Pavel Dvoracek, the general manager of
well-known slivovitz maker, Rudolf Jelinek, told Deutsche Presse-
Agentur dpa.
A Czech Member of the European Parliament (MEP), Jan Brezina, told
dpa that if the directive was passed, slivovitz makers would either
have to rename their traditional product or sidetrack the directive
by, for example, adding a few drops of spirit to the distillate.
However, the first option was 'absurd' and the second 'embarrassing,'
Brezina said.
As for the culprit, Brezina said that the definition was allegedly
cut down by an unknowing MEP who wanted to simplify the text.
But, according to Robert Olma, the assistant of the directive's
rapporteur Horst Schnellhardt, no one had made a suggestion to alter
the definition. 'Neither personal or political intention' had been in
play, he said.
'It was a mistake. I don't know by whom. I can't track it down
any more,' Olma said.
As his boss suggested changing the categorization of spirits in
the proposed legislation, the words must have been omitted during the
cutting and pasting or translating, he explained.
'We will put it back as it was before,' he said.
The parliament was supposed to deal with the directive in its
April session, but Olma said it would be postponed until May because
the April agenda was already packed.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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