Part of interservice consultations between departments, a leaked draft of proposed updates to the European organic regulations indicates potential changes to the regulations could introduce stricter controls for third country imports and remove derogations to production rules, reports AGRAFACTS. Other proposed changes in the draft include adding group certification, eliminating mandatory annual inspections, shifting the control to the Directorate-General for Health and Consumers, changing labeling on processed organic foods so that they must contain at lest 95 percent organic agricultural ingredients, and a stricter tracability system. new organic regulation to replace the current legal organic framework (EC 834/07) are expected to be published together with a new organic action plan in March. Sources: AGRAFACTS, http://www.agrafacts.com/Home.html IFOAM EU Group: http://www.ifoam.org/en/regional-activities/ifoam-eu-group
Thursday, January 16, 2014
