Organic: not just a matter of good taste

Three MEPs discuss the world of organic food

Marie Hélène Aubert and Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf

Organic farmers and consumers have been pioneers of sustainable farming practices for more than 30 years. The market has developed from a niche to a steadily growing quality food market. European legislation on organic farming was established in 1991, based on sound grounds of engagement and trust between organic farmers and consumers.

Both the basic regulation on organic farming from 1991 and additional rules on animal production adopted in 1998 were the result of intensive negotiations between the stakeholders, the European Parliament and the European Commission. This bottom-up approach of defining rules and standards allowed the organic sector to play its efficient role in the pioneering work for sustainable European agriculture.

A fast-growing demand for organic products now comes from supermarkets and discounters. This indicates increasing interest from consumers in quality food, but also implies a growing demand for imports from third, mainly developing countries. The European Commission is reacting to this development by launching new legislative proposals which suggest simplifying existing rules for organic farming and improving the conditions for imports from third countries.

Parliament supports this approach. In its first report adopted in September it calls for stricter import controls, better inspections and certification in the exporting countries and better use of a common EU data bank of organic imports in order to avoid fraud. But it seems that the Commission and the Council of Ministers will not include any of the Parliament’s suggestions in their decision expected before the end of the year.

On the main legislative proposal for a new regulation on organic agriculture, which is still under consideration in the Parliament, the assembly is striving for its position to be heard. Applying the co-decision procedure could make sure that its proposals are not ignored again. The Parliament therefore calls for a double legal base which includes both aspects of the organic regulation: agriculture and the harmonisation of the internal market. There are good reasons for this approach: an increasing quantity of organic products is prepared and offered by canteens, catering services and restaurants which need to respect specific rules for organic produce. Separate traceability of products and preparation methods need to be defined, which clearly goes beyond agricultural policies. Even more important: in the past, Parliament received the full draft legislation including the annexes, which define methods and products authorised in organic farming. This important information was not included in the current proposals. The Commission considers that these are technical details which should be dealt with by a management committee. Behind closed doors, the administration decided in 1994 to allow the use of GMs in organic agriculture. The Parliament was forced to file a case against the Commission at the European Court of Justice. Thus it would be wiser to use the entire professional competence of the legislative institutions to avoid future conflicts, even on complex details.

The suggestion of a common European label for organic products is still highly controversial. The EU logo can be helpful for new products appearing on the market, but the well known private labels of the producer organisations should be maintained. Organic products are not just raw material for the food processing industry. They are linked to specific production methods and they reflect a specific food culture. The Council is also discussing the labelling of organic components for products that contain less than 95% organic components. But there is no need for this kind of blending, as the market for organic components is plentiful nowadays and exceptional use of conventional products is already possible up to 5%. We need a clear and strong EU regulation, and we need to establish it in a transparent and democratic way, involving the stakeholders and the Parliament.

• French Green MEP Marie Hélène Aubert and German Green MEP Friedrich Wilhelm Graefe zu Baringdorf are members of Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development.

Jeffrey Titford

As you might expect from an MEP with my background, I do not believe that the EU should be involved in organic food policy and will oppose any plans it may have to widen its role. It hardly makes sense for a remote organisation in Brussels to be laying down the law about what and how we should grow things in Britain.

Unfortunately, the EU’s well-known predilection for wishing to control everything will inevitably lead it down the path to further legislation in this area. Its track record in related areas does not inspire confidence and we will almost certainly end up with a one-size-fits-all legislative policy that will suit some countries but not others.

One of the EU’s biggest weaknesses is its vulnerability to lobbying from big business. In fact the European Parliament is a playground for lobbyists. It was once famously described as being "so full of sharp suits that one could easily cut oneself".

Small surprise then to find that it is a big proponent of GM food, which has some serious industrial interests behind it. Regrettably, the British government has given away the right to control the growth of GM crops to the EU. Britain is now subject to the whims of the EU about what can be grown in its own soil.

The EU gave the US biotech company Monsanto approval to sell a number of varieties of GM maize as far back as 1998. It is perfectly possible for a private individual from the UK to approach Monsanto for some GM maize seed and grow it on his farm or in his back yard. When this was put to the test, Monsanto offered to send a small quantity free of charge. All they asked was that any test results from cultivation be sent to them and that anyone taking the seed undertook to protect the company’s interest by not breaching the patent eg, not selling the seeds to a third party. There is not even a requirement for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) to be informed, as they openly admitted. It is possible for a farmer to grow the seed and feed the crop to his cattle and no one would know he had grown it. Neighbouring farms, which might well be growing organic crops, would be subject to contamination including cross-pollination by bees.

It is again no small surprise to find that Tony Blair is a big proponent of GM food and openly stated in 1999 that he believed that it would become a major part of the British economy in a few years’ time. He suggested that the future success of the British economy could rest on the "genetic revolution", and GM food would be the norm in 5-10 years’ time.

The fact that this has not yet happened, has not dimmed his enthusiasm. Could it be that he has realised that his hands are tied and that Brussels decides these things, not him?

In the US, where four GM crops are widely grown, the agricultural industry has lost major export markets for maize because of widespread GM contamination. The widely predicted "superweeds" (GM crop varieties that build up resistance to two or more weedkillers and seed themselves to become hard-to-kill weeds) have indeed emerged as significant problems. No increase in yields has been achieved, and some crops have failed. US taxpayers’ subsidies for the main GM crops have grown significantly.

The point of all this is that Britain has lost control of what is cultivated in its own soil and of what is being fed to its cattle. Now that the genie is out of the bottle, how are we to be sure that we are ever again eating truly organic food, until we can take back control from the EU? The great irony is that all this has happened at a time when there is increasing public demand for organic produce, but then, the EU never has been particularly interested in public opinion, when it doesn’t suit the main agenda.

• British UK Independence Party MEP Jeffrey Titford is a member of Parliament’s committee on agriculture and rural development.

Three MEPs discuss the world of organic food