What did the UK rules say, prior to the EU rules coming into effect?
(this is a very important question.)
You tell me as that might be something that supports your side of the discussion.
Try reading this
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriSer/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:31994R2257:EN:HTML
quote from that
Sizing is determined by:
- the length of the edible pulp of the fruit, expressed in centimetres and measured along the convex face from the blossom end to the base of the peduncle,
- the grade, i.e. the measurement, in millimetres, of the thickness of a transverse section of the fruit between the lateral faces and the middle, perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis.
The reference fruit for measurement of the length and grade is:
- the median finger on the outer row of the hand,
- the finger next to the cut sectioning the hand, on the outer row of the cluster.
The minimum length permitted is 14 cm and the minimum grade permitted is 27 mm.
As an exception to the last paragraph, bananas produced in Madeira, the Azores, the Algarve, Crete and Lakonia which are less than 14 cm in length may be marketed in the Community but must be classified in Class II.