Latvian Presidency reach compromise on the organicreform proposals at Agri-Council
The main sticking points with the reform moving forward for some time has been how to deal with pesticide residue rules and the frequency of controls on organic producers. By Agri-council now agreeing to a “general approach” it means that member states which currently impose national threshold limits which trigger automatic decertification of organic products can continue to do so until the end of 2020. Under the current proposal, member states are under no obligation to introduce residue thresholds.
On the issue of frequency of controls, the Council has favoured an approach to risk based controls which may mean that some low risk operators may not need to be inspected annually if they have shown a compliant track record for at least 3 years. However, it is still not clear what definition constitutes as “low risk” and the Commission will need to provide more clear definition.
Initial concerns
- The compromise position reached does create a fragmented approach on residue thresholds across the EU for the next 4-5 years. However, it means that UK producers will not be penalised for actions outside of their control. Our UK certification bodies are designed to identify fraudulent activity by the nature of the investigations process. It is worth noting that any residue threshold limits that member states put in place for domestic production cannot be enforced on organic imports from 3rd countries.
- On risk based inspections it gives operators a chance to get earned recogntion for consistent compliance. That being said, it is envisaged that the UK market place, as well as wider world markets for organic produce will potentially still demand annual inspections.
Next steps on regulatory reform
- In terms of timing, MEPs have now tabled amendments on the parliaments rapporteurs report at COMAGRI on July 15/16.
- Once the report on organic reform has been voted through COMAGRI (which may not be until late Autumn but proposed to be September 14/15) the European Parliaments negotiating team will decide whether to proceed with trilogue negotiations before the plenary vote or wait for the full parliamentary plenary approval first.
- If the rapporteurs report gets broad backing from the fellow Agriculture Committee members, trilogue discussionscould start immediately after adoption the report. If there isno broad backing of his report, MEPs would only enter into trilateral talks following the vote at the plenary session in Strasbourg which is provisionally scheduled for early October 5-8.
In summary
The compromise text that currently sits before us today is much improved than where it was over a year ago now, with changes now made to allow mixed farms to continue to be allowed to produce organic products being one such example. However, there are still much finer production rules that need to be clarified in due course.
The NFU will continue to represent our organic farmers best interests on the reform to ensure existing organic farmers can continue to farm in this way, whilst still making it a viable production method for farmers wishing to convert.