Government Decision No. HG252/2025 validating the Requirements for the quality and marketing of fresh and dried legumes.

This Government Decision approves binding national Requirements on the quality and marketing of fresh and dried legumes intended for direct human consumption in the national territory. It applies to a defined group of fresh and dried legume products (including various types of beans, peas, chickpeas, broad beans and lentils) classified under specified Combined Nomenclature codes, and excludes products produced for own consumption and goods merely transiting the country. The Requirements establish general marketing conditions, including the obligation that all covered products placed on the market, including imports, be accompanied by a quality certificate issued on the basis of laboratory test reports under the Food Safety Law. They define mandatory parameters for marketing standards: technical definitions and commercial names, classification criteria (categories, size, weight, species, variety), presentation and labelling, packaging and marking, physical and organoleptic characteristics, permitted substances and components, agricultural production methods, handling, storage, transport, origin, restrictions on certain substances and practices, specific uses, and rules on the management of non compliant products and by products. Products must be safe, hygienically produced and marketed, free from contaminants and toxic seeds of specified species, and stored and transported under prescribed temperature and humidity conditions. Operators must ensure safety and quality at all stages of the food chain and implement self control plans. Subsequent chapters set detailed product specific quality, presentation, tolerance, packaging and marking rules for fresh beans, fresh and dried peas, chickpeas, lentils and broad beans. For each product, the text defines minimum quality requirements, classification into categories or classes, permissible defects and tolerances, and, where applicable, calibration by size. It prescribes uniformity of contents within each package, acceptable packaging materials and conditions, and mandatory labelling elements on retail and transport packaging, including product name, class or category, origin, and, where relevant, calibre and type. Annexed tables specify technical characteristics and quality norms for different types and subtypes of beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils and broad beans, including moisture limits, impurity thresholds and organoleptic indices. The National Food Safety Agency is tasked with overseeing implementation of the Decision.