Brussels, 21/05/2012 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission feels that it is too early to propose a modification to Regulation 834/2007 on organic production and the labelling of organic products. The Commission also feels that it would be preferable to keep the threshold of 0.9% for the accidental presence of GMOs in organic products.
In a report published on 11 May on the application of the regulation on organic farming and the labelling of organic products, the European Commission raises three issues: - the scope of application of the regulation, particularly as regards organic foodstuffs prepared in mass catering; - the ban on the use of GMOs and in particular, the availability of products not obtained by GMOs, the declaration of the vendor, the feasibility of specific tolerance thresholds and their impact on the organic sector; - the functioning of the internal market and the control system, in particular determining whether the practices established bring about unfair competition or create any obstacles to the production and sales of organic products.
On the possibility of extending the scope of application of the regulation, the Commission takes the view that there is currently “no objective need to extend the scope of the regulation to mass caterers” (restaurants, hospitals, canteens and other businesses in the food sector). The labelling of organic textile and cosmetic products may give adequate protection to the interests of consumers and producers, the Commission adds.
As regards the prohibition on the use of GMOs in organic production, the Commission believes that this prohibition “is correctly implemented”. The report suggests a few possible improvements: - the use of the vendor declaration should be re-examined in greater detail and the availability of certain products in their non-GM version needs to be followed up. It goes on to conclude that “preventive measures and harmonised actions are preferred to a specific GMO threshold for organic products, which does not seem to be justified under current circumstances”. The Commission also states that the majority of actors to whom it has spoken would prefer to keep in place the threshold of 0.9% for the accidental presence of GMOs in organic products. “A specific threshold would increase complexity and costs to be borne by producers and consumers”, the Commission concludes.
Lastly, the Commission takes the view that in most cases, the control system suits the functioning of the internal market, despite some weaknesses in its application. The report notes, amongst other things, a certain diversity in interpretations of the EU legislation, which require its implementation to be harmonised or simplified. The Commission's staff are working towards this and are planning a more active monitoring of the competent authorities, both in the member states and in recognised third countries, particularly by means of controls carried out by the Food and Veterinary Office.
Organic farming took up 8.6 million hectares within the European Union in 2009, or 4.7% of the total agricultural surface area used in the EU27. Over the period 2006-2009, its average annual growth rate stood at 7.7% in the EU15 and 13% in the EU12 (the EU15 represented 81% of the surface area of the EU given over to organic farming in 2009). Some 197,000 farms were active in organic farming in 2008, which represents 1.4% of all farms in the EU27. It is believed that the organic farming sector represented 2% of the total of food costs in the EU15 in 2007. (LC/transl.fl)