Letter of Protest to the EU-Commissioner for Agriculture M. Fischer-Boel

Mrs. Mariann Fischer Boel
Member of the European Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development
200, Rue de la Loi
B-1049 Brussels
Belgium

Dear Mrs Fischer Boel,

The organic food economy, ranging from agricultural production to processing and trade, has developed into an important sector in Europe over the last 30 years. More than 31 million ha are cultivated worldwide in keeping with the principles of organic farming, and the turnover of the organic industry last year may well have passed the threshold of 30 thousand million US$.

On its own initiative, and arising from its own ethical convictions regarding the environmentally friendly and animal friendly production and processing of healthy and tasty food, the organic industry has developed its own standards. In so doing, it has always  emphasised the importance of high quality. The principles underlying these standards are embedded in the EU-Organic Regulation 2092/91. We are now afraid that precisely these standards are being  watered down and sacrificed to the harmonisation of organic standards at the lowest level. This will open the floodgates to deception with pseudo-organic products.

You already have access to detailed statements by the representatives of associations and interest groups. As someone who is directly affected,  I would like to draw your attention most emphatically to the fact that there is also opposition to the proposals of your Commission at grass roots level. People of conviction who are working for the ideals of the organic movement in the fields, on farms and in trade find it impossible to accept the draft of a regulation that is to be implemented obviously in a half-hearted manner and especially under great time pressure.

We reject the revision of the EU-Organic Regulation in the way proposed by the Commission and  call for a new draft that can be fully discussed. We beg you to give the representatives of the organic food industry the opportunity to express their misgivings and to put forward their proposals.

We are relying on your willingness  to listen to the organic industry that is developing so positively and to actively support in the Commission the invaluable contribution of all players in creating this industry.  In so doing, we ask you to consider the manifold positive consequences  that the quality-oriented production, processing and marketing of organic products have for the benefit of the consumer, the environment and the economy.

Yours sincerely,