EU-Organic-Regulation to be postponed

Last week, the EU Commission proposed to postpone the application of the new organic legislation by one year to January 1, 2022. It is considered likely that the EU Parliament and member states will agree.

Since mid-2018, work on important supplementary rules for the new organic legislation has been under great time pressure. All areas of the new organic regulation are affected: agriculture, processing, trade, labelling, control and imports. A total of at least 13 legal acts are in preparation, of which only two have actually been completed. Currently, work is being done in particular on legal acts on control and imports.

Jan Plagge, President of IFOAM Organics Europe and the German growers' association Bioland, expressed his relief. "The postponement will enable a smooth transition for the farms, companies, inspection bodies and authorities, allowing them to adapt to the changes appropriately and make the necessary preparations," he said.

Martin Häusling, who among other things also sits in the EU Parliament as agricultural policy spokesman for the Greens, also expressed his satisfaction that the Commission was giving in: "There are some reforms where the experts of the Member States and those of the Commission cannot do the textual adjustments off the cuff, and the Parliament must also take a critical look at the Commission's proposals to be sure that, so to speak, ‘the spirit’ of the basic regulation is maintained.”

The EU Parliament and member states had already made it clear in May that they would support the postponement. Many associations are now demanding that formal approval be given as quickly as possible in order to give organic farms planning security. "The organic sector has been heard, we recognize that. Now it is important that the proposal is accepted by the parliamentarians in an expedited procedure", said Plagge.