FAQ

The EU Council has approved a new regulation on organic agriculture and trade. It has also set out rules for its implementation. The objective is to bring clarity and uniformity in organic certification, organic labelling and imports. The current setup, however, is likely to create confusion amongst producers, certifying bodies and consumers.

Why? How?
The regulation indicates that certification bodies carry out inspections based on risk analysis to ensure that the most important risks are kept under control. The regulation does not stipulate how these risks should be assessed. On the contrary, each certification body can determine the nature and frequency of the controls (art. 27). Currently, certification bodies are applying different risk analysis systems. The lack of clear EC guidance may lead to unfair competition between certification agencies (reduction of samples in order to reduce the price of inspections) and to poor inspections.

Likewise, producers are demanded to reduce the risk of, for instance, contamination through the implementation of a management system (art. 63). Yet, the rule does not specify when such a system is adequate. This can lead to misconceptions and unmet expectations for producers.

A final result may be the loss of consumer confidence in the EU organic seal.

Therefore, action is needed.

Read further:

Towards a reliable tool
Teamwork
Trialing an validation