UNECE STANDARD DDP-08

concerning the marketing and

commercial quality control of

DATES
2010 EDITION

UNITED NATIONS
New York and Geneva, 2010
DDP-08: Dates - 2010

NOTE

Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards

The commercial quality standards developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
Working Party on Agricultural Quality Standards help facilitate international trade, encourage high-quality
production, improve profitability and protect consumer interests. UNECE standards are used by Governments,
producers, traders, importers and exporters, and other international organizations. They cover a wide range of
agricultural products, including fresh fruit and vegetables, dry and dried produce, seed potatoes, meat, cut flowers,
eggs and egg products.
Any member of the United Nations can participate, on an equal footing, in the activities of the Working Party. For
more information on agricultural standards, please visit our website <www.unece.org/trade/agr>.
The new Standard for Dates is based on document ECE/TRADE/C/WP.7/2010/12, reviewed and adopted by the
Working Party at its sixty-sixth session.

The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the
expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the United Nations Secretariat concerning the legal status
of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or
boundaries. Mention of company names or commercial products does not imply endorsement by the United
Nations.
All material may be freely quoted or reprinted, but acknowledgement is requested.
Please contact us at the following address with any comments or enquiries:
Agricultural Standards Unit
Trade and Timber Division
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
E-mail: [email protected]

2 Date of issue: November 2010

 DDP-08: Dates - 2010

UNECE Standard DDP-08 concerning the marketing

and commercial quality control of dates
I. Definition of produce
This standard applies to pitted and unpitted dates in their natural state or washed, re-hydrated,
dried, and/or coated and/or pasteurised from varieties (cultivars) grown from Phoenix
dactylifera L. intended for direct consumption. It does not apply to dates for industrial
processing.

II. Provisions concerning quality

The purpose of the standard is to define the quality requirements of dates at the export-control
stage, after preparation and packaging.
However, if applied at stages following export, the holder shall be responsible for observing the
requirements of the standard. The holder/seller of products not in conformity with this standard
may not display such products or offer them for sale, or deliver or market them in any other
manner.

A. Minimum requirements1

In all classes, subject to the special provisions for each class and the tolerances allowed, the
dates must display the following characteristics:
• intact; dates affected by mashing, tearing, breaking of the skin, leaving the pit visible so
that the appearance of the fruit is noticeably affected is excluded
• sound; produce affected by rotting or deterioration such as to make it unfit for human
consumption is excluded
• clean, practically free of any visible foreign matter; excluding coating ingredients
• free from living pests whatever their stage of development
• free from pest damage visible to the naked eye, including the presence of dead insects
and/or mites, their debris or excreta
• free from mould filaments visible to the naked eye
• free of fermentation
• free of unripe fruit, i. e. fruit light in weight, stunted or distinctly rubbery in texture
• free of unpollinated fruit; i. e. fruit not pollinated, as indicated by stunted growth,
immature characteristics and absence of pit

1
Definitions of terms and defects are listed in Annex III of the Standard Layout – Recommended terms and
definition of defects for standards of dry (Inshell Nuts and Nut Kernels) and dried produce
<http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/standard/dry/StandardLayout/StandardLayoutDDP_e.pdf>.

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DDP-08: Dates - 2010

• free of blemished fruit; i. e. fruit scarred, discoloured or sunburnt, or having blacknose

(noticeable darkening of the head, generally accompanied by severe checking or
cracking of the flesh) or side-spot (a very dark patch extending into the flesh) or similar
abnormalities affecting an area at least as large as a circle of 7 mm diameter
• free of abnormal external moisture
• free of foreign smell and/or taste.
The condition of the dates must be such as to enable them:
• to withstand transportation and handling
• to arrive in satisfactory condition at the place of destination.

B. Moisture content2

The dates shall have a moisture content not exceeding 26.0 per cent for cane sugar varieties and
30.0 per cent for invert sugar varieties3. In their natural state, however, for the variety Deglet
Nour the maximum moisture content shall be 30.0 per cent.

C. Classification

In accordance with the defects allowed in Section IV. Provisions Concerning Tolerances, dates
are classified into the following three classes: “Extra” Class, Class I and Class II.
The defects allowed must not affect the general appearance of the produce as regards quality,
keeping quality and presentation in the package.

III. Provisions concerning sizing

Size is determined by the unit weight of the fruit.
The minimum weight of dates shall be 4.0 g.

IV. Provisions concerning tolerances

Tolerances in respect of quality and size shall be allowed in each lot for produce not satisfying
the minimum requirements of the class indicated.

2
The moisture content is determined by one of the methods given in Annex I of the Standard Layout –
Determination of the moisture content for dried produce
<http://www.unece.org/trade/agr/standard/dry/StandardLayout/StandardLayoutDDP_e.pdf>. The
laboratory reference method shall be used in cases of dispute.
3
A list of varieties classified by the nature of their principal sugar component is given in the annex of this
standard.

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 DDP-08: Dates - 2010

A. Quality tolerances

Tolerances allowed
percentage of defective produce,
Defects allowed by number or weight

Extra Class I Class II

(a) Tolerances for produce not satisfying the

minimum requirements 5 10 20
of which no more than
- Immature or unpollinated fruit 1 2 4
- Sour, decayed or mouldy fruit 0 1 1
- Damaged by pests a,b 3 6 10
- Blemished, discoloured or blacknose, sunburnt,
cracking of the flesh 3 5 7
- Live insects (by number) 0 0 0
(b) Size tolerances
- Unpitted among pitted fruit (by number) 2 2 2
- Foreign matter (by weight) 1 1 1
- Dates belonging to other varieties than that indicated
on the package (by number) 10 10 10
(c) Tolerances for other defects
For dates not conforming to the minimum size 10 10 10
a
Reservations of Poland and the United Kingdom, which wish to retain the former tolerances: Extra, 2
per cent; Class I, 4 per cent; Class II, 6 per cent.
b
When applying its national legislation, Switzerland does not admit a tolerance higher than 6 per cent
for produce damaged by pests.

V. Provisions concerning presentation

A. Uniformity

The contents of each package must be uniform and contain only dates of the same origin,
quality and variety.
The visible part of the contents of the package must be representative of the entire contents.

B. Packaging

Dates must be packed in such a way so as to protect the produce properly.

The materials used inside the package must be clean and of a quality such as to avoid causing
any external or internal damage to the produce. The use of materials, particularly of paper and
stamps bearing trade specifications, is allowed, provided the printing or labelling has been done
with non-toxic ink or glue.

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DDP-08: Dates - 2010

Packages must be free of all foreign matter, excluding decorated material (rachis, stems, plastic
forks, etc.), in accordance with the table of tolerances in section “IV. Provisions concerning
tolerances”.

C. Presentation

Dates must be presented in bags or solid containers. All sales packages within each package
must be of the same weight.
Dates may be presented:
• in clusters (consisting mainly of the rachis and the stems to which the fruit is attached
naturally)
• in stems (stems which are separated from the rachis and to which the fruit is attached
naturally
• separated in individual fruit, arranged in layers, or loose in the package.
Stems presented in clusters or separated from the rachis must be at least 10 cm in length and
carry an average of four fruits per 10 cm of length.
Where the dates are presented in stems or clusters, there may be a maximum of 10 per cent of
loose dates.
The ends of the stems must be cleanly cut.

VI. Provisions concerning marking

Each package4 must bear the following particulars in letters grouped on the same side, legibly
and indelibly marked and visible from the outside:

A. Identification

Packer and/or Dispatcher:

Name and physical address (e.g. street/city/region/postal code and, if different from the country
of origin, the country) or a code mark officially recognized by the national authority5.

B. Nature of produce

• “Dates”, when the contents are not visible from the outside

4
Package units of produce prepacked for direct sale to the consumer shall not be subject to these marking
provisions, but shall conform to national requirements. However, the markings referred to shall in any
event be shown on the transport packaging containing such package units.
5
The national legislation of a number of countries requires the explicit declaration of the name and
address. However, in cases where a code mark is used, the reference “packer and/or dispatcher” (or
equivalent abbreviations) must be indicated in close connection with the code mark, and the code mark
should be preceded with the ISO 3166 alpha country code of the recognizing country, if not the country of
origin.

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• Name of the variety and/or commercial type (optional)

• “Cluster” or “stems”, where appropriate
• “Pitted”, where appropriate.

C. Origin of produce

• Country of origin and, optionally, district where grown, or national, regional or local
place name.

D. Commercial specifications

• Class
• Crop year (optional)
• "Best before" followed by the date (optional).

E. Official control mark (optional)

This standard was first adopted as UNECE Standard for Dates in 1987.
Last revised in 2010

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DDP-08: Dates - 2010

Annex

Non-exhausted list of cane sugar and invert sugar varieties of

dates

A. Cane sugar varieties

Varieties which contain mainly sucrose, including:

Name of the variety

Deglet Nour

Deglet Beidha

B. Invert sugar varieties

Varieties which contain mainly invert sugar (glucose and fructose), including:

Name of the variety

Barhi

Saiidi

Khadhraawi

Hallaawi

Zahdi

Sayir

Amri

Deri

Alig

Medjoul

Khouet Alig

Kenta

8 Date of issue: November 2010