In 2002 the WUWM European regional group began efforts to produce a WUWM Guide to Good Hygienic Practice for Wholesale Market Management in the European Union (GPG). The recommendations made in this Guide are applicable to all types of wholesale markets, whatever the foodstuffs sold. It takes into account the recommended International Code of Practice, General Principles of Food Hygiene, the Codex Alimentarius, and existing national guides.

Under the chairmanship of Marc Spielrein, president director general of the Paris-Rungis wholesale market, a working team was formed for the drafting of this Guide. The authors being:

• Mr Rolf Brauer, Berlin Market, Germany (till June 2005)
• Mr Michel Escoffier, French Federation of Wholesale Markets (FFMIN), France
• Mr Andreas Foidl, Berlin Market, Germany (from June 2005)
• Mr Michel Ganneau, Paris-Rungis Market, France
• Mr Wolf Rohde, Hamburg Market, Germany
• Mr Graham Wallace, Glasgow Markets, Scotland, UK
• Mr Matthias Wegner, Hamburg Market, Germany

This WUWM GPG was developed in accordance with the following EC Regulations:

• Regulation (EC) N° 178/2002 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 28 January 2002 laying down the general principles and requirements of food law, establishing the European Safety Authority and laying down procedures in matter of food safety;
• Regulation (EC) N° 852/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the hygiene of foodstuffs;
• Regulation (EC) N° 853/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 laying down specific hygiene rules for hygiene of foodstuffs.

The final draft of the WUWM GPG was sent to the European Commission Health and Consumer Protection Directorate (SANCO) with a request that it be considered the Community Guide for the sector (in accordance with Article 9 of EC Regulation No. 852/2004) in January 2006. After some updates and amendments in its circulation to EU member states and interested industry partners, a restricted working group within the European Commission (SCFCAH) gave its final approval to the document in December 2009, and this guide was formally adopted by the European Commission as the European Community Guide for the sector. Now available free to all interested persons, a copy of this GPG can be obtained from the WUWM Secretariat and/or the European Commission (SANCO) website.

Please note that this Community Guide is a voluntary instrument and subsequently its recommendations are not to be seen as compulsory.

Meetings with institutional and governmental bodies have provided WUWM with the opportunity to directly show the scale and importance of food wholesale and retail markets to the global trade of fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers.

In 2006, a WUWM member-only study showed how our wholesale markets members are directly involved in 40% of European fruit and vegetable supply, accommodating more than 80,000 permanent operators, over 153,000 employees, and marketed volumes representing more than 26million tons a year.

A European retail market study launched by WUWM in 2008 showed that at least 25,000 retail markets exist within the EU alone, with more than 450,000 retail market traders operating businesses on those markets. Additionally, more than one million people are employed on EU retail markets, with the total turnover surpassing Euros 35billion.

Our aim is to continue to promote and increase the data available on the role and importance of markets to the local, regional and global economies – as well as to provide evidence of the enormous benefits that markets bring to those economies, as well as the communities within which they are situated.

WUWM Representation in Support of the Markets Sector

WUWM actively collaborates with the European Commission on several areas related to the wholesale and retail market sectors, as well as to the food supply chain and food distribution in general.

Since 2003, several meetings have been held with top level representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament, with WUWM participating in both political and technical discussions.

WUWM is currently working with the following European Commission Directorate Generals:

• DG Agriculture. WUWM has enjoyed communication (2008) with Mariann Fischer Boel, European Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, providing input into the consultation on the reform of the Common Market Organization (CMO) for fruit and vegetables. The WUWM position is to emphasize the need for organizing the production of fresh fruit and vegetables in a way that will provide consumers with quality product, and will allow for a better nutrition of the consumer by increased regular consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables.
• DG Enterprise. WUWM has been given member status within the European Commission’s ‘High Level Forum for a Better Functioning Food Supply Chain’, participating in Forum meetings that aim to support the development of better industrial policy in the agro-food sector.
• DG Internal Market & Services. WUWM is currently an active participant in the EC consultation on the European retail sector, especially as regards the recent retail monitoring report ‘TOWARDS FAIRER AND MORE EFFICIENT RETAIL SERVICES FOR 2020’.
• DG Competition. WUWM actively contributed to EC consultations (2009) with the sector on the paper: ‘Communication on Food Prices in Europe’ and remains available for ongoing consultation on this issue, pursuing the need to ensure fair returns for producers.
• DG Health & Consumer Protection. Working with SANCO, the WUWM Guide to Good Hygienic Practice for Wholesale Market Management in the EU was adopted in 2009 as the first European Community Guide for the sector.

Other European Parliament/Commission Collaboration:

• Meeting with Paolo de Castro (2010), Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, European Parliament
• Participation in meetings of the European Commission advisory group for the food chain and animal and vegetable health.
• Communications with Marianne Thyssen, Belgium Member of the European Parliament and "Internal Market" Commission.
• Meeting with Markos Kyprianou, European Commissioner (2006) Health and Consumer Protection, Thessalonica, Greece

• WUWM has been involved in supporting efforts to increase market visibility and representation within the United Nations (2009: CSD-17 meetings)
• WUWM has an active and ongoing collaboration with departments in the UN Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO), including supporting FAO efforts to identify expertise and consulting bodies within the market sector.

• WUWM enjoys ongoing collaboration with several industry partners committed to improving the sector and the promotion of markets and their traders, as well as efforts to increase the public consumption of fresh fruit and vegetables. This partnering includes a formal MOU with Freshfel Europe.