Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament - European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming {SEC(2004)739}
Date: 2004-06-10
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: common agricultural policy, foodstuff, marketing, organic farming, organic product, rural development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 10.06.2004 
COM(2004)415 final 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION  
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming 

{SEC(2004)739} 

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1. 

SUMMARY 

With this Communication on Organic Food and Farming, the Commission intends to assess 
the situation and to lay down the basis for policy development in the coming years, thereby 
providing  an  overall  strategic  vision  for  organic  farming’s  contribution  to  the  common 
agricultural policy (CAP). 

In  designing  a  global  policy  concept  for  organic  farming,  the  dual  societal  role  of  organic 
farming should be recognised. 

1. 

2. 

Organic food marketing, responding to the concerns of some consumers, and should 
therefore be rewarded by the markets and hence be financed by the consumers. The 
development of organic farming will, in this respect, be governed by market rules. 

land  management 

Organic 
to  deliver  public  goods,  primarily 
environmental, but also rural development benefits and in certain respects may also 
result in improved animal welfare. Seen from this angle, the development of organic 
farming should be driven by society. 

is  known 

In order to ensure stable market development there needs to be a balance between supply and 
demand. 

The  Commission  analysis  has  shown  that  more  emphasis  should  be  put  on  facilitating  the 
development  of the market. The current market share is on average about 2 % in EU-15. In 
order to increase this figure or even to maintain the current figure in the long run, more focus 
on consumer expectations is needed. Consumers need better information on the principles and 
objectives of organic farming as well as the positive impact on, for example, the environment. 
At the same time it is important to safeguard the integrity of the inspection system. 

The internal trade of organic products is hampered by the many different national and private 
standards  and  their  implementation,  which  can  make  it  very  complicated  to  sell  organic 
products  in  other  Member  States.  The  developing  of  common  objectives,  development  of  a 
multilateral  concept  of  equivalence,  further  harmonisation  of  inspection  requirements  and 
more emphasis on the EU logo would help to minimise these problems. 

In  order  to  facilitate  the  expansion  of  organic  farming,  but  also  to  increase  production 
capacity,  new  information  and,  above  all,  new  technologies  are  required.  It  is  therefore 
essential  to  ensure  the  necessary  research  into  organic  farming  and  processing  methods.  At 
the same time, the gathering of statistical information about production and the market should 
be improved. 

One  of  the  objectives  in  the  2003  CAP  reform  was  to  promote  production  that  supports 
environmentally  friendly,  quality  products.  Organic  farming  is  an  important  device  towards 
the attainment of this objective.  

Organic  farmers  are  currently  entitled  to  receive  support  from  the  first  pillar  of  the  CAP 
through  direct  payments  and  price  support  measures.  More  importantly,  organic  farming  is 
fully  integrated  in  the  rural  development  policy  in  the  second  pillar  of  the  CAP  and  has  a 
prominent  place  in  the  agri-environment  measures.  The  2003  CAP  reform  has  provided  a 
useful  framework  for  the  future  development  of  organic  farming  and  has  made  a  range  of 
instruments available to Member States.  

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Based  on  this  analysis  and  building  upon  the  achievements  already  accomplished,  the  main 
proposals in the Action Plan concentrate on: 

•  an  information-led  development  of  the  organic  food  market,  by  increasing  consumer 
awareness,  providing  more  information  and  promotion  to  consumers  and  operators, 
stimulating  the  use  of  the  EU  logo,  including  on  imported  products,  providing  more 
transparency on different standards, and improving the availability of production, supply 
and demand statistics as policy and marketing tools; 

•  making public support for organic farming more effective by encouraging Member States 
to make a more coherent and greater use of the different rural development measures, for 
example, by means of the national action plans, and by strengthening research on organic 
farming; 

• 

improving  and  reinforcing  of  the  Community’s  organic  farming  standards,  import  and 
inspection requirements by defining the basic principles of organic agriculture and thus 
making its public service explicit; increasing transparency and consumer confidence; by 
establishing  an  independent  committee  for  scientific  and  technical  advice;  by  a  further 
harmonisation  and  reinforcement  of  the  standards  making  use  of  international 
organisations;  by  improving  standards,  for  example,  with  regard  to  animal  welfare;  by 
completing the standards for areas not yet covered such as aquaculture or environment-
related  standards  such  as  fossil  energy  use,  etc.;  by  explaining  the standards  laid  down 
for the prohibition of the use of GMOs; by increasing the efficiency and transparency of 
the inspection system and, finally, by making import provisions more efficient. 

Further details concerning background analysis and the different actions listed below can be 
found in the Commission staff working document "European Action Plan for Organic Food 
and  Farming"  from  June  2004.  This  document  is  available  on  the  EUROPA  webpage: 
http://europa.eu.int/comm/agriculture/qual/organic/plan/index_en.htm. 

2. 

ACTIONS 

2.1. 

The organic food market 

Action 1 

Introduce  amendments  in  Council  Regulation  (EC)  No  2826/2000  (internal  market 
promotion)  which  would  give  the  Commission  greater  possibilities  for  direct  action  in 
order to organise information and promotion campaigns on organic farming. 

Launch a multi-annual EU-wide information and promotion campaign over several years 
to  inform  consumers,  public  institutions  canteens,  schools  and  other  key  actors  in  the 
food chain about the merits of organic farming, especially its environmental benefits, and 
to  increase  consumer  awareness  and  recognition  of  organic  products,  including 
recognition of the EU logo. 

Launch  tailored  information  and  promotion  campaigns  to  well-defined  types  of 
consumers such as the occasional consumer and public canteens. 

Increase  Commission  cooperation  efforts  with  Member  States  and  professional 
organisations in order to develop a strategy for the campaigns. 

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Action 2 

Establish  and  maintain  an  Internet  database  listing  the  various  private  and  national 
standards  (including  international  standards  and  national  standards  in  main  export 
markets) compared to the Community standard. 

Action 3 

Improve  the  collection  of  statistical  data  on  both  production  and  market  of  organic 
products 

2.2. 

Public policy and organic farming 

Action 4 

Allowing  Member  States  to  top-up  with  aids  the  EU  support  devoted  to  producer 
organisations in the fruit and vegetable sector involved in organic production. 

Action 5 

The  Commission  will  develop  a  web-based  menu  listing  all  EU  measures  that  can  be 
used by the organic sector in relation to production, marketing and information. 

Action 6 

The  Commission  strongly  recommends  Member  States  to  make  full  use  within  their 
rural development programmes of the instruments available to support organic farming, 
for example by developing national or regional Action Plans focussing on: 

(cid:190)  stimulating the demand side by using the new quality schemes; 

(cid:190)  actions  in  order  to  preserve  the  benefits  for  the  environment  and  nature 

protection on the long term; 

(cid:190)  developing incentives to organic farmers to convert the whole instead of part of 

the farm; 

(cid:190)  organic  farmers  having  the  same  possibilities  for  receiving  investment  support 

as non-organic farmers; 

(cid:190)  developing  incentives  to  producers  to  facilitate  the  distribution  and  marketing 
by  integrating  the  production  chain  by  (contractual)  arrangements  between  the 
actors; 

(cid:190)  support to extension services; 

(cid:190)  training and education for all operators in organic farming, covering production, 

processing and marketing; 

(cid:190)  targeting  organic 

in 
environmentally  sensitive  areas  (without  restricting  organic  farming  to  these 
areas). 

the  preferred  management  option 

farming  as 

Action 7 

Strengthen research on organic agriculture and production methods. 

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2.3. 

Standards and inspection – safeguarding integrity 

Action 8 

Making  the  regulation  more  transparent  by  defining  the  basic  principles  of  organic 
agriculture. 

Action 9 

Ensuring  the  integrity  of  organic  agriculture  by  reinforcing  the  standards  and 
maintaining the foreseen end dates of the transitional periods. 

Action 10 

Complete and further harmonise the standards for organic agriculture by: 

(cid:190)  establishing  the  list  of  permitted  additives  and  processing  aids  for  processed 

animal products; 

(cid:190)  considering whether to establish specific standards for organic wines; 

(cid:190)  improving the standards relating to animal welfare; 

(cid:190)  considering the need for extending the scope to other areas such as aquaculture; 

(cid:190)  considering the need for improving standards relating to the environment (use of 

energy, biodiversity, landscape and others). 

Action 11 

Establishing an independent expert panel for technical advice. 

Action 12 

Including provisions in Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 clarifying 

(cid:190) 

(cid:190) 

that  products  that  are  labelled  as  containing  GMOs,  can  not  be  labelled  as 
organic; 

that  the  general  labelling  thresholds  equal  the  thresholds  for  the  adventitious 
presence of GMOs for products (other than seed) used in organic farming. 

The question of deciding whether specific thresholds for seed used in organic farming 
need to be set and at what level is still under consideration by the Commission.  

Action 13 

Improve the performance of the inspection bodies and authorities by introducing a risk-
based  approach  targeting  operators  presenting  the  highest  risk  in  terms  of  fraudulent 
practices, and by requiring cross-inspections under Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. 

Action 14 

Continue  the  ongoing  work  in  the  JRC  to  develop  sampling  and  analytical  methods 
which can be used in organic farming. 

Action 15 

Member  States  should  study  the  possibility  of  using  land  parcel  identification 

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established for the CAP management for the location and monitoring of the land under 
organic farming. 

Action 16 

Ensure better coordination among inspection bodies and between the inspection bodies 
and the enforcement authorities under Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91. 

Action 17 

Develop a specific accreditation system for inspection bodies under Regulation (EEC) 
No 2092/91. 

Action 18 

The  Commission  will  publish  the  annual  report  from  the  Member  States  on  the 
supervision  of  approved  inspection  bodies  including  statistics  on  type  and  number  of 
breaches. 

Action 19 

Step up efforts to include third countries in the equivalency list, including on-the-spot 
assessments. 

Amend  Council  Regulation  (EEC)  No  2092/91  on  organic  farming,  replacing  the 
current  national  derogation  for  imports  by  a  new  permanent  system  making  use  of 
technical  equivalency  evaluations  by  bodies  assigned  by  the  Community  for  that 
purpose.  This  could  include,  following  appropriate  consultations,  developing  a  single 
and permanent Community list of inspection bodies recognised as equivalent for their 
activities in third countries not already on the equivalence list. 

Continue  to  ensure  that  the  definition  of  equivalence  with  third  countries  takes  into 
account  the  different  climate  and  farming  conditions  and  the  stage  of  development  of 
organic farming in each country. 

Upon entry into force of this system, offer all imported products access to the EU logo. 

Action 20 

Establish  a  systematic  comparison  between  the  Community  standard  on  organic 
farming, Codex Alimentarius guidelines and the IFOAM standards (see also Action 2). 

Step up efforts towards global harmonisation and development of a multilateral concept 
of  equivalency  based  on  the  Codex  Alimentarius  guidelines  in  cooperation  with 
Member States, third countries and the private sector. 

Support capacity-building in developing countries under the development policy of the 
EU  by  facilitating  information  on  the  possibilities  offered  by  more  general  support 
instruments to be used in favour of organic agriculture. 

Further measures to facilitate trade in organic products from developing countries will 
be considered1. 

1 

According to article 12 in the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, Members shall provide 
differential and more favourable treatment to developing country Members to this Agreement. 

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Action 21 

Reinforce recognition of EU organic farming standards and inspection systems in third 
countries by obtaining a negotiation mandate from the Council. 

3. 

IMPACT ASSESSMENT 

Progress  on  Actions  19  and  21,  with  respect  to  respectively  increasing  the  number  of  third 
countries  under  import  equivalency  and  under  bilateral  mutual  recognition  agreements,  is 
dependent on the availability of human resources. 

Action 1 and action 7 will be implemented within the existing budget allocation. With regard 
to  Action  11  on  the  establishment  of  an  independent  expert  panel,  no  significant  impact  is 
expected. 

With regard to the other actions, there is no impact on the Community budget. 

Finally, the implementation of this plan depends on the availability of human resources in the 
Commission Services in view of dealing with the different kind of actions foreseen. 

4. 

NEXT STEPS 

This Action Plan presents a step forward in the process towards promoting organic farming in 
Europe together with the rest of the world. 

In developing the Action Plan the Commission has taken a pragmatic approach directed in the 
first instance towards an analysis of how to utilise or adjust existing policies. 

The Commission will start immediately to take the necessary steps in order to advance along 
the lines identified. 

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