At a major hearing organised by European Parliament today, Copa-Cogeca warned that the EU Commission proposal on organic production and labelling risks jeopardising the dynacism and fast growth of the sector.
“To respond to demand and support the growth of the organic market, we therefore call to maintain mixed farms in the sector otherwise a ban will deters farmers from converting to organic farming or maintaining this specific production method”, he stressed.
Outlining key points, Mr Rousseau said “We also ask to maintain the use of conventional seed and plant reproductive material otherwise ending this from December 31 2021 will limit the range of varieties on offer to producers or make crop production impossible due to a lack of supply in some areas and limit the range of biodiversity. Parallel to this, ending the possibility to use non-organic animals for breeding purposes would lead to a dramatic fall in the supply of genetic material available to organic holdings and would therefore run counter to the principle of genetic diversity, which is nonetheless defended in organic farming. We also believe that the requirement to have yearly controls should be maintained as it helps to maintain a regular link between certification bodies and operators, considering the rapid changes to regulation and the complexity of the regulatory framework”.
He continued “We also believe that the conditions to establish a specific European declassification level for organic products have not yet been met, given that there is no harmonisation of the detection and control practices, no analyses on the levels and volumes of adventitious contamination and no definition of the compensation system. We therefore reject the proposal to immediately introduce European declassification. Nonetheless, we believe that the changes introduced by the Commission in trade with non-EU countries are heading in the right direction in view of ensuring fairer competition between EU products and imports that can bear the same EU logo, thus maintaining consumer confidence”.
Copa-Cogeca demands were shared by many MEPs at the hearing who voiced major concerns about the proposal and called for evolution. The proposal has also come under severe criticism from other key stakeholders and EU Farm Ministers.
Note:
The NFU Food Chain team participate in the Copa-Cogeca Organic Working Party which meets on average four times per year. Copa Cogeca work as an umbrella organisation for many other member state farming associations.