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Czech Presidency High Level Conference on Agricultural Product

Quality

C2 – Single market in organic products

Francis BlakePresident, IFOAM EU Group

www.ifoam-eu.org

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C2 – Single market in organic products

Organic farming delivers on all the CAP objectives:

• Produces high quality foods • Creates more jobs• Uses approximately a third less energy• Produces less pollution• Improves biodiversity

– both more species and higher populations

• High animal welfare• Protects soils and builds fertility

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C2 – Single market in organic products

The foundations of the EU organic market:• Regulations 834/2007 and 889/2008

– 3 months in force, generally a sound regulatory baseline

• European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming– Published 2004, now mostly implemented– Commissioner MFB just proposed a mid-term review

• Support measures under Pillar II, Rural Development– Action Plan urges MS to use this to the full– Wide variation in support measures for organic farming– Leading to wide variation in take-up of organic farming

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C2 – Single market in organic products

Consumer expectations of organic food:• Good for me and my children

– Taste– Lower pesticide residues– Higher nutritional content

• Good for the environment • High animal welfare• Socially just production, processing and distribution• Food I can trust• Food I can relate to

– Shortest distance between producer and consumer– Short supply chains– Know and trust the certifier and its standards

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C2 – Single market in organic products

Increasing consumption of organic foods:• Effective control to prevent fraud • Good promotion and information

– targeted to local conditions

• Require organic food in public procurement • Parity of prices

– Shouldn’t have to pay extra to protect the environment

• Enhance attractiveness of organic food and farming– Quality and taste– Health and environmental benefits– Animal welfare– Fairly traded– Local identity

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C2 – Single market in organic products

Carbon• Agricultural soils store twice as much carbon as in the

atmosphere• Soil carbon losses under conventional farming equal all the

carbon emissions from agriculture (and are not even counted in estimates)

• Organic farming increases soil carbon by 100-400kg/ha/yr• 1 tonne N fertiliser takes 1 tonne oil, 108 tonnes water, gives off

7 tonnes of CO2 equivalent Greenhouse gas (as NO2)

Peak oil• We will reach the point of peak oil in 5-10 years time• Organic farming starts to achieve economic parity with

conventional when oil reaches $200/barrel• Currently it takes 10 calories of oil to produce 1 calorie of food

energy

Organic farming c/w conventional farming• Average 90% of conventional yields in developed countries• Over double conventional yields in developing countries

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C2 – Single market in organic products

Conclusions• Essential for consumers to trust organic

food– The regulation provides a good foundation

• Need to build on organic farming’s strengths– Diverse and locally adapted– Minimal external inputs and environment friendly– bringing producers and consumers together – Delivering what consumers want

• Need properly funded research– To maximise the benefits of organic farming– To prepare better for climate change and peak oil

• The single market is not the issue