New European organic regulation approved

The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) noted that today the European Council approved the revised new regulation for organic food and farming. This concludes the first stage in the process of replacing Council Regulation 2092/91, which was started 18 months ago with the publication of the Commission’s draft proposals. The focus will now move to the Implementing Rules, which will be critical to the success, or otherwise, of this new regulation.

“We and others have managed to secure some considerable improvements compared to the original proposal, which we welcome”, said Francis Blake, IFOAM EU Group President. “In particular, these include: deletion of unnecessary restrictions on label and advertising claims and deletion of the curbs on private standards (example, Soil Association and Demeter certification bodies hold higher standards than the minimum requirement set by EU reg’s 2092/91) – recognising the important role they play in innovation and promotion and in upholding consumer trust.

“However, we regret that the Council missed the opportunity of addressing other major concerns which would have enabled fuller support for this regulation”, he continued. “Worst of these are the inadequate exclusion of GM contamination, a compulsory EU logo and the lack of any formal means for the organic agriculture movement to be involved in making decisions about its own regulation. Another concern is the restriction on subsidiarity (right to have stricter national standards).”

Approval of this regulation now allows the second stage to begin: finalising the Implementing Rules. This will involve transferring the annexes from Regulation 2092/91, together with defining other details not covered by the new Regulation. Francis Blake commented, “much will now depend on the Implementing Rules, in particular to ensure the criteria for evaluating inputs and for allowing flexibility are sufficiently restrictive. It is vital that the Implementing Rules are adequate both to protect the integrity of organic food and farming, and to ensure a vibrant and successful organic sector.”

THE REACTION

EU logo sets organic standards too low
Organic foods can be labelled "GM-free" even if they contain up to 0.9% genetically modified content, European agriculture ministers decided yesterday. Europe's agriculture ministers have agreed on a compulsory logo for organic food as new figures showed more and more farmers are switching to the production method in response to consumer demand. The logo will be applied to foods meeting common standards across the European Union from 2009. However, some producers say these standards have been set too low as they permit genetically modified material that accidentally enters the food chain. To be classed as organic, food must contain 95 per cent organic ingredients but can contain up to 0.9 per cent GMOs, to allow for cross-contamination from other crops. Clio Turton, Soil Association

Cost of organic food 'could rise'
The UK's organic organisations have promised to maintain their higher standard of 0.1% of GM content. But they warn it could push up the cost for farmers and consumers. The Soil Association and Organic Farmers and Growers, which together certify more than 90% of the UK's organic food, say farmers and growers could incur extra costs as they seek to protect their crops from cross-contamination. The Soil Association has called for GM firms to foot the bill for clearing up any future contamination of organic produce. Policy director Peter Melchett said: "Either the cost to consumers will go up or they will lose the trust of consumers and their sales will go down." BBC NEWS: 21/06/07

The price of organic food could increase because of new rules about GM labelling, campaigners warn today. EU agriculture ministers last week agreed that food accidentally contaminated with up to 0.9 per cent genetically modified content could be labelled "GM free". But the Soil Association and Organic Farmers And Growers, which together certify more than 90 per cent of Britain's organic food, pledge to keep their own criteria at 0.1 per cent.

Organic campaigners argue that the EU ruling will lead to far more GM crops being grown across Europe, potentially contaminating organic crops. This will make it increasingly difficult for food producers to track down pure organic supplies, pushing up their costs, which they will be forced to pass on to consumers.

Alex Smith, who runs Alara Foods, which makes most of the organic muesli sold in UK supermarkets, said: "If there is more GM corn grown in this country that could contaminate the supply of maize for my gluten-free muesli. That will incur substantially higher costs for my business."

Campaigners also said the extra testing required would be a further burden on manufacturers, which they will pass on to consumers. Telegraph 21/06/07

Organic food can now contain almost 1 per cent genetically modified content, thanks to a new ruling by the EU. EU ministers voted yesterday to allow a 0.9 per cent limit on genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in organic food, whilst retaining the 'organic' label and without a requirement to inform consumers that GMOs are present. Levels below 0.9 per cent are deemed 'adventitious or technically unavoidable'.

The decision has angered environmental groups, who claim that European governments will simply take the 0.9 per cent level as an acceptable standard for GMO contamination, rather than keeping it as a 'buffer' against accidental contamination.

Clare Oxborrow, Friends of the Earth's GM Campaigner, described the situation as 'completely unacceptable': 'EU Ministers have put the interests of the biotech industry ahead of consumers who believe that organic food should be produced to strict environmental standards,' she said. 'Organic farmers will now find it increasingly difficult to protect their crops from GM. The Ecologist 13/06/07

Food with 0.9% GM still organic, say farm ministers
Organic foods can be labelled "GM-free" even if they contain up to 0.9% genetically modified content, European agriculture ministers decided yesterday. Some agriculture ministers too are uneasy. Josef Proell, of Austria, said: "We cannot simply go on raising the threshold and pretend we are on a path to organic farming."
The Guardian 13/06/07

Keep our food GM Free

Our supermarkets don’t sell GM food and 18.5 million of us live in self-declared GM-free zones. But the big biotech companies are still trying to sneak GM into our food - by getting the Government to legalise GM contamination of crops. The Government is now asking us what we think. A Government consultation to allow GM contamination will happen at the end of October

Make your voice heard - tell the Government to keep our food and farming GM free.
Click here to find out more from Friends of the Earth OR
click here for more information from GM FREEZE.