Brussels, 13/10/2015 (Agence Europe) - In adopting the report by Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) on organic farming and the labelling of organic products by the wide majority of 33 votes to 4, with 7 abstentions, the European Parliament agriculture committee brought significant amendments to the initial proposal, among which, not setting new thresholds for pesticides in organic products.
The committee also approved (by 37 votes to 5, with 2 abstentions) the mandate to allow the rapporteur to begin with the Council to reach full agreement on the matter. It is unlikely, however, that agreement will be reached before the end of this year, Häusling acknowledged.
He said at a press conference on Tuesday that the 13 compromise amendments had for the most part been accepted by the committee.
No specific thresholds for pesticides. “There will be no new limit values (thresholds) for contamination by pesticides. Monitoring will have to be improved and the sector will have to bear greater accountability and ensure that more crops are not contaminated in future. For that, greater cooperation will be needed between the countries of the EU to avoid attempted fraud”, said the rapporteur (our translation).
MEPs brought in new precautionary measures to increase the accountability of operators throughout the organic supply chain and avoid the use of non-authorised techniques. If the EU's organic production rules are breached or the presence of, for example, a non-authorised pesticide is suspected, the final product should not bear the organic label until further investigations have been completed. The product can only be sold as an organic product if it is clear, after proper examination, that the contamination was unavoidable and the organic farmer had applied all the precautionary measures. The Commission will report on the situation by 2020. If deemed necessary the Commission could, after 2020, come up with a legislative proposal to set maximum thresholds for non-authorised substances and farmers' compensation for unavoidable contamination.
The Council and Parliament agree on this point, auguring well for the coming negotiations.
Mixed farms. Mixed farms, that is to say, those producing both conventional and organic produce, will be able to continue (the Commission wanted to get rid of them) on condition that their conventional farming activities are clearly separated and differentiated from organic farming activities. MEPs also backed group certification for small farmers. Debate was keen on the issue of mixed farms, the rapporteur admitted.
Monitoring. MEPs backed the Commission's plans to make monitoring more risk-based but, just like most in the Council, they demanded that at least an annual, physical, on-site check be carried out on all organic farms. Member states should also ensure the traceability of every product at all stages of production, preparation and distribution to guarantee to consumers that the organic products they are buying are truly organic.
Imports. The committee supported the Commission's initial proposal to ensure that all imported products comply with tough EU rules. Current equivalence rules, which require third countries to comply with similar but not identical standards, should be phased out within the next five years. However, to avoid sudden disruptions of supply on the EU market, the committee says the Commission should be able, for a maximum of two years, to adjust import requirements for some products which do not fully comply with EU standards, because of climate conditions, for example. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)