EU’s new regulations likely to negatively impact organic food production, say critics

The European Union’s new decision to introduce strict regulations on organic food production has been criticised for the possible negative impact on the sector.

Critics said that the stricter rules proposed for production and importing of organic products will further increase the gap between the demand and supply in the EU market, EurActiv reported.

Last year, EU proposed new regulations on organic food production to enhance rules of organic farming.

The proposal said that it aims to improve the legislation on organic production with the objective of removing obstacles to the sustainable development of organic production in the EU, guaranteeing fair competition for farmers and operators and allowing the internal market to function more efficiently.

In addition, it also aimed to maintain or improve consumer confidence in organic products.

However, critics complained about the proposal saying that chances for development should not be hindered by excessive legal barriers. They argue that stricter rules for production and importing organic products will make it more difficult for conventional farmers to shift to organic agriculture practices, or even lead to many organic producers to switch back to conventional farming.

Regulations are expected to be effective in 2017.

As Europe’s largest organic food market, Germany is sceptical of the proposal.

As cited in EurActive, German Minister for Agriculture Christian Schmidt said: "I would not like to see crushing bureaucratic restrictions imposed on organic farmers."

Schmidt went on to ask decision makers to ‘use common sense’.

French agricultural cooperatives also agree on the same.

Coop de France claimed: "Despite a bit of progress, […] many provisions will jeopardise the development of organic agriculture."

Since 2008, the turnover of organic products has increased by 8% per year and 500,000ha of land has been devoted to organic farming in the EU every year.

At the same time, Europe has witnessed a growing demand for organic products over the past decade. However, the supply of organic products has failed to meet the demand, the report said.