Key findings of the evaluation on the EU legislation on organic farming

Transcription

1 Key findings of the evaluation on the EU legislation on organic farming Dr. Jürn Thünen Institute of Farm Economics Stakeholder Conference on the Page 1 Organic Regulation Key findings Review of the evaluation on the EU legislation on organic farming Brussels, Scope of the evaluation Is the organic regulation relevant and effective with respect to achieving the objectives laid down in this legislation? Issues covered: 1) Scope of the Regulation 2) Production rules 3) Control rules 4) Import rules 5) Consumer perception 6) Simplified admin. and management 7) EU-added value 8) Sustainable sector development Page 2 1

2 Production rules Adequacy of the production rules Some shortcomings with regard to the implementation of the organic principles and objectives, because lack of rules e.g. for energy / water use ill-defined legal terms / inconsistencies e.g. high biodiversity and animal welfare national flexibility leads to different level of strictness e.g. definition of region and small holdings How to implement organic principles and objectives - pragmatism vs. fundamentalism Page 3 Control rules Adequacy of the overall control system Annual vs. risk-based controls Difference / Shortcomings in the control system Residue sampling: Statutorily regulated in DE, DK, IT, SI Sanctions: Common catalogue in DE, EE, CZ, NL Differences / Shortcomings in the supervisory system Witness audits: e.g. 4-5 per year in AT, 0 in SI Limited resources (labour capacity, experiences) Exchange of information Page 4 2

3 Import rules Adequacy of the import regime Does the equivalence approach works? Import authorisation: difference in the interpretation Recognised TC or CB: labour intensive Is the control system effective? Similar EU problems Lack of prevention measures Difficulties to follow-up irregularities Page 5 Consumer perception Recognition of the European organic logo Share of consumer having seen the EU logo before (in percentage, n = 500 per country) All DE EE FR IT PL UK Yes No Don't know Total Question: We will show you a logo: Have you seen this logo before? Source: Own data from consumer survey. Page 6 3

4 Consumer perception Recognition of other organic food logos DE Share (%) FR Share (%) IT Share (%) EU organic logo Old EU organic logo German Biosiegel Organic logo Organic logo Organic logo Fake organic logo Fairtrade logo Animal welfare / green logo Non-organic quality food logo Page 7 Consumer perception Trust in organic food In terms of organic products, I do have a good feeling I am sure that products sold as organic are really organic products Organic is only about marketing Organic products fulfil strict rules The EU logo for organic products guarantees at the products are really organic I have great trust in the control system behind an EU-wide organic logo Totally Neither/ Totally disagree nor agree All DE EE FR IT PL UK Question: Below you find a list of different statements regarding organic food. Please indicate to which extent you agree or disagree with the following statements. (+3 = total agreement, 0 = neither/nor, -3 = total disagreement). Page 8 4

5 Concluding remark Is the regulation relevant and effective with respect to achieving the objectives laid down in this legislation? EU legislation on organic farming provides generally an adequate basis to achieve the objectives. However, there is number of areas where action is needed and the regulatory framework could be improved. Page 9 Study available at: market-and-income-reports/2013/organicfarming/fulltext_en.pdf Page 10 5

6 Dr. Jürn Thünen Institute of Farm Economics Braunschweig Page 11 6