Brussels, 23/02/2016 (Agence Europe) - The inter-institutional negotiations on the revision of organic farming rules have led to some progress being made but there remains a substantial amount of work to be done before a compromise can be agreed.
The European Parliament agriculture committee took stock of the state of play in the negotiations on Monday 22 February. Rapporteur Martin Haüsling (Greens/EFA, Germany) said that the talks would probably come to an agreement acceptable to the Parliament but he could not say “whether we will finalise an agreement by 30 June. Everything will depend on the attitude of the other two institutions”.
At this stage, when major issues, such as monitoring and the presence of pesticides (see EUROPE 11491), still have to be broached, “we are managing to make progress. But things mustn't be done to the detriment of quality”, he underlined.
Scope. There has to be clarification of which products fall within the regulation and which come under the annex. “We have reached agreement”, Häusling said. The Commission will use delegated acts to add, but not to remove, products. “We still don't have an agreement on medicinal plants but we are working on it.”
Goals and principles. A compromise has been reached making a clear distinction between principles and objectives. It has to be determined whether human health features among the objectives. There is still no agreement on a major point: to what extent must organic farming be soil-related. A major issue here are the greenhouses in some northern countries. In the countries where there is production under glass, there have to be measures to guarantee that this production is organic.
Parliament and the Council are in agreement over keeping mixed farms (where both organic and conventional farming are carried on). “Mixed farming will continue to exist but we have to make a distinction at production unit level. We cannot have an organic cattle farm on one side and conventional cattle farming on the other. We mustn't abuse consumers' trust”, the rapporteur said. On converting to organic, the question that remains to be settled is that of organic fodder. “Rules mustn't be introduced that overly complicate the conversion process”, Häusling stated.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are and will remain banned in organic farming and it is important that, with regard to imports, EU rules are applied if the country from which the imports come has no law banning GMOs, the rapporteur said.
Imports. Council and Parliament are in agreement on the need for a system that ensures that imports comply with EU rules. Unfortunately, this notion cannot be transposed in all regions of the world. A compliance and equivalence system is therefore required. The Commission is concluding agreements with a number of countries guaranteeing equivalence. However, not all countries have such agreements.
In this context, the number of derogations has to be cut. Agreement has to be reached among the institutions on simplifying monitoring without compromising standards. “There has to be a reduction in the range of standards”, the rapporteur argued. A technical working group is working hard to achieve an agreement on standards.
Hannu Takkula (ALDE, Finland) feared a text that would no longer allow organic farming to be continued under glass in countries where the soil was liable to freezing. Albert Dess (EPP, Germany), Esther Herranz Garcia (EPP, Spain) and Eugenia Aguilera Garcia (S&D, Spain) stressed the need for stringency with imported organic products. Eric Andrieu (S&D, France) said the talks had to be speeded up of four key points: mixed farming, inspections, imports and thresholds (for the presence of chemicals).
The Commission representative called for more meetings so that a compromise could be reached before the end of June.
In response to the points raised, Häusling said: - a solution is expected to be found that will allow organic farming under glass in Finland and Sweden; - compulsory annual inspections would be retained (but monitoring could be carried out according to risk levels); - a solution would be found on the presence of chemicals, given that the Parliament and the Council positions are the same (no thresholds but measures to prevent contamination and improve monitoring). (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)