The EU institutions reached agreement in Brussels on Wednesday 28 June on a text updating the rules on organic products. The new text, the result of a compromise in this the 18th trialogue meeting and after 20 months of negotiation, will apply from July 2020.
Parliament’s rapporteur and chief negotiator Martin Häusling (Greens/EFA, Germany) expressed his satisfaction on Thursday 29 June with a compromise reached after 10 hours of trialogue discussions. Among the gains secured, he mentioned: - the tightening of checks; - enhancement of the precautionary principle (to avoid contamination); - the database that the member states will have to set up which will be compulsory for organic seeds (in 15 years’ time, “we’ll have security in the supply of organic seeds”) but optional for organic livestock; - the report to be submitted by the Commission in four years’ time on contamination of organic produce by pesticides (it is acknowledged that the compromise reached is far from ideal); - allowing organic baby food to be labelled and marketed as such (the risk of problems has been removed).
“The new legislative framework will match the dynamism and expectations of this fast-growing sector. After more than three years of negotiation, the agreement will remove obstacles to the sustainable development of organic production in the EU, thus guaranteeing fair competition for farmers and operators, while also improving controls and consumer confidence”, said European Agriculture Commissioner Phil Hogan.
Germany at work? MEP Norbert Lins (EPP, Germany), who also took part in the negotiations as part of the Parliament delegation, noted that, without the strong intervention by Christian Schmidt (CSU), the German agriculture minister, “we wouldn’t be where we are”.
Main points of the agreement
Frequent checks. Strict, risk-based controls along the supply chain will be carried out on-site and on all operators, at least annually or once every two years if no fraud is found in the last three years.
Imports to comply with EU standards. Current equivalence rules, requiring non-EU countries to comply with similar but not always the same standards, will be phased out within five years. To avoid sudden disruption of supply of organic products, the Commission could, for a renewable period of two years, allow imports of specific products, even if not fully compliant with EU standards (for example, due to specific climate conditions).
Contamination with pesticides. Both the Council and Parliament rejected the initial proposals that thresholds be established for pesticide residues in organic products. Farmers will be obliged to apply precautionary measures to avoid contamination by unauthorised substances (pesticides). In the event that the presence of a non-authorised pesticide or fertiliser is suspected, the final product will not be able to be labelled as organic until further investigation is carried out. If any contamination is proved to be deliberate or the farmer has failed to apply newly introduced precautionary measures, it will lose its organic status (and be classed as a conventional product).
Member states currently applying thresholds for non-authorised substances in organic food will be able to continue to do so, if they allow other EU countries’ organic foodstuffs complying with EU rules to access their markets. Four years after entry into force of the regulation, the Commission will report back on the efficiency of the EU anti-contamination rules and national thresholds and, if need be, come up with a draft law to harmonise them.
Growing crops under glass. The agreement allows organic products to continue to be grown in containers under glass (in Denmark, Finland and Sweden) only until 2030. The surface areas used have to have been certified organic before 28 June 2017. Extending the surface areas will not be allowed and the derogation will expire in 2030. The Commission will produce a report in 2025 on the use of containers. If necessary, the report may be accompanied by a legislative proposal.
Increasing the supply of organic seeds and animals. Better data gathering on the availability of organic seeds and animals should increase the supply to meet the needs of organic farmers. Derogations allowing the use of conventional seeds and animals in organic production will expire in 2035 but the end-date could be pushed back or forward, depending on the availability of organic seeds and animals.
Mixed farms. Farms producing both conventional and organic food will be allowed, on condition that the two farming activities are clearly and effectively separated.
Group certification. Group certification for small farmers will make their life easier and attract more into the organic farming business.
Next steps. The agreed text of the new regulation now needs to be approved by the Parliamentary agriculture committee, the Parliament and the Council before it can come into force. It will apply from 1 July 2020. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)