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| | ECO-News - die grüne Presseagentur |
| Presse-Stelle: | CERES - Certification of Environmental Standards GmbH, D-91230 Happurg |
| Rubrik: | Essen & Trinken Datum: 11.02.2013 |
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| Invitation to press conference: "Who will stop the equivalence nonsense for organic imports?" |
| BioFach Nürnberg 2013: Wednesday, 13th February 2013, 15:00 to 16:00, Room Stockholm (NCC Ost, 2nd Level) |
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Not only bananas from Ecuador or coffee from Ethiopia are being sold on the organic retail market in Europe. Organic products from abroad range from A (Acerola) to Z (Zucchini), countries of origin range from Albania to Zimbabwe. The geographical origin of such products is often not very clear. Organic products from third countries may carry the EU organic logo, as well as different national organic seals in the EU member countries.
To which standards do these products conform? In the past, it was easy to answer this question: Any product sold with a reference to organic farming had to comply with the EU Regulation on organic production - regardless of its origin. In the course of the modification of the EU organic legislation since 2007, largely unnoticed by the public, important changes have been introduced: Organic products from third countries need no longer comply with the EU-Regulation, but with "equivalent standards". Who defines those standards, and who decides if they are actually equivalent or not? Dozens of such equivalent standards exist currently, and this diversity will increase in the future. Neither the standards as such, nor the procedure for their recognition as equivalent are transparent and consistent. This situation will increasingly undermine the credibility of organic products.
CERES GmbH is a certification agency for organic products accredited by the German DAkkS and approved by the EU Commission, operating in approx. 60 countries. CERES will provide first hand information about the credibility gap created by the new EU legislation. In addition to representatives of the press, all interested public is invited.
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