Even though the control system for organic products in the European Union has improved in recent years, some challenges do still remain, according to a report by the European Court of Auditors published on Thursday 14 March.
The auditors are of the opinion that further measures are needed to address the remaining weaknesses in the Member States, as well as to ensure import surveillance and product traceability.
In June 2012, the Court of Auditors published Special Report No. 9/2012 on the control system for organic products. In order to assess whether the Commission had addressed the weaknesses identified in this report, it subsequently followed up this audit by ensuring wider coverage of the import regimes for organic products.
The auditors found that the control system has improved and their previous recommendations had been generally acted upon. The Member States audited last time have taken action to improve their control systems and the Commission resumed its own control visits and has now visited most Member States.
However, a number of weaknesses remain; the use of enforcement measures for sanctioning non-compliance has not been harmonised across the EU, and Member States’ authorities and control bodies were sometimes slow in communicating cases of noncompliance.
The Court of Auditors identified a number of weaknesses, notably in Italy, France and Bulgaria.
Imports. This audit covered the import regimes more extensively. In 2018, the EU imported organic products from over 100 third countries. The auditors found that the Commission has started visiting control bodies in the countries exporting organic products to the EU. They also identified weaknesses in the Member States’ checks on incoming consignments and found that, in some Member States, the control bodies’ checks on importers were still incomplete.
In particular, the report highlighted the fact that in 2013, the Commission started to take action to address weaknesses in the control system for organic products originating from China.
Traceability. The auditors carried out a traceability exercise for organic products. Despite improvements in recent years, particularly in the EU, they found that many products could not be traced back to the agricultural producer, while it took more than 3 months for some to be traced back.
A fast-growing market. The total agricultural area devoted to organic farming in the EU has increased from 9.1 million hectares in 2010, to 12 million hectares in 2016, which is an increase of 33%. During this same period, retail sales of organic products have increased from €18.1 billion to €30.7 billion, constituting an increase of 69%.
New rules in 2021. New regulations on organic production and the labelling of organic products were published in June 2018. These new rules will come into force on 1st January 2021. Until then, the Commission will work in cooperation with Member States and relevant stakeholders in order to finalise and publish the delegated acts and implementing regulations. (Original version in French by Lionel Changeur)