Action plan — state of play
88. The Commission is currently preparing a European action plan for organic food and
farming that will contain proposals for future initiatives aimed to enhance the further devel- opment of the organic farming sector.
89. In December 2002 a working document entitled ‘Analysis of the possibility of a Euro-
pean action plan for organic food and farming’ was prepared. The paper analyses the state of play of the development of organic farming in Europe and lists possible measures for inclusion in the final action plan.
90. The Ministers for Agriculture discussed this document in the Council in Decem-
ber 2002. They approved the presented roadmap, which includes an in-depth consulta- tion phase and a public hearing.
91. In February 2003, the working document and a questionnaire with 12 key points were
put on the Commission’s website. The public was invited to respond to the questions and submit additional comments on the working paper by 16 March 2003. A ‘Report on the results of the online consultation: action plan for organic food and farming’ has been published.
92. In June 2003, the European Parliament held a hearing on organic farming at which the
action plan was discussed.
93. The Commission is now due to hold a hearing in Brussels on 22 January 2004. More
than 200 organisations and agricultural ministers from Member States, acceding and candi- date countries and farmer journals will be invited to take part.
94. By early 2004, the Commission will prepare the final action plan in the form of a
communication to the Council and the European Parliament. The plan will propose actions to facilitate the development of organic farming.
Proposal for an amendment to Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 (6)
95. The proposal was sent to the Council in January 2003 (7). The proposal envisages:
(a) removing any possibility of misinterpretation as regards the scope of the protection for certain terms used to refer to the ‘organic’ production method;
¥6∂ OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1. ¥7∂ COM(2003)14.
List of PDO, PGI and TSG registrations in 2003
Member State Product Type of product Name
Germany Nürnberger Bratwürste or Nürnberger Rostbratwürste
fresh meat (and offal) PGI
Greece Finiki Lakonis oils and fats PDO
Fasolia Gigantes — Elefantes Kastorias fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Spain Cítricos Valencianos or Cítrics Valencians fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Manzana de Girona or Poma de Girona fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Torta del Casar cheese PDO
Clementinas de las Tierras del Ebro or Clémentines des Terres de l’Ebre
fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI Alcachofa de Benicarló or Carxofa de
Benicarló
fruit, vegetables and cereals PDO Finland Karjalanpiirakka bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits
and other bakers’ wares
TSG
Italy Soprèssa Vicentina meat-based products PDO
Asparago verdi di Altedo fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Pomodoro di Pachino fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Uva da tavola di Mazzarrone fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Molise oils and fats PDO
Alto Crotonese oils and fats PDO
Pane di Altamura bread, pastry, cakes, biscuits
and other bakers’ wares
PDO
Ficodindia dell’Etna fruit, vegetables and cereals PDO
Monte Etna oils and fats/olive oils PDO
Colline di Romagna oils and fats/olive oils PDO
Pretuziano delle Colline Teramane oils and fats/olive oils PDO
Fagiolo di Sorana fruit, vegetables PGI
Clementine del Golfo di Taranto fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Mela Val di Non fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI
Marrone di San Zeno fruit, vegetables and cereals PDO
Netherlands Westlandse druif fruit, vegetables and cereals PGI Portugal Pêra Rocha do Oeste fruit, vegetables and cereals PDO
Carne dos Açores fresh meat (and offal) PGI
Borrego do Nordeste Alentejano fresh meat (and offal) PGI
Carne de Porco Alentejano fresh meat (and offal) PDO
United Kingdom
(b) reinforcing the inspection system by making it applicable to all operators throughout the production, preparation and marketing process;
(c) allowing the exchange of information between inspection authorities and approved private inspection bodies;
(d) specifying that the EU logo may be used for ‘organic’ produce imported from third countries whose production rules and inspection systems have been assessed and found to be equivalent to the EU system.
96. The proposal was examined during the Greek Presidency. The Italian Presidency took
over the file, which is still under discussion in the Council at working group level. The Comagri adopted a report on the proposal on 4 November 2003 and the European Parlia- ment is expected to deliver its opinion on 3 December 2003.
New regulations
97. On 5 February 2003, the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 223/2003 on
labelling requirements related to the organic production method for feedingstuffs, compound feedingstuffs and feed materials and amending Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2092/91 (8).
98. On 27 March 2003, the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 545/2003
amending Regulation (EEC) No 94/92 laying down detailed rules for implementing the arrangements for imports from third countries provided for in Council Regulation (EEC)
No 2092/91 (9). The regulation includes Costa Rica on the list of third countries.
99. On1 April 2003,the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 599/2003 amending
Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and
indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (10).
100. On 14 August 2003, the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 1452/2003main-
taining the derogation provided for in Article 6(3)(a) of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 with regard to certain species of seed and vegetative propagating material and
laying down procedural rules and criteria relating to that derogation (11).
101. Seed suppliers can register on the database organically produced seed and seed pota-
toes which they wish to place on the market. If the database shows that seed of the species which an organic farmer wishes to grow is not available, or if there are no appropriate varieties available, the farmer may ask the inspection body for a derogation to use seed which has not been produced organically.
¥8∂ OJ L 31, 6.2.2003, p. 3. ¥9∂ OJ L 81, 28.3.2003, p. 10. ¥10∂ OJ L 85, 2.4.2003, p. 15. ¥11∂ OJ L 206, 15.8.2003, p. 17.
102. On 8 December 2003, the Commission adopted Regulation (EC) No 2144/2003
amending Regulation (EEC) No 94/92 (12) in order to amend the terms of inclusion of some
third countries.
Working documents
103. In accordance with the working programme launched in 2002, the following issues
have been addressed and are currently under examination:
— additions to Sections A and B of Annex VI as regards the non-agricultural ingredients and processing aids used in processed livestock products;
— evaluation of the need for feed materials of conventional origin and feed additives; — issues concerning availability of organically reared livestock.
104. Furthermore, a working document on the use of substrate as a growing medium in
organic farming has been examined.
Further issues
105. The assessment of equivalency under Article 11(1) of Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91
was ongoing for several third countries. Progress was made on the technical assessment of India, Japan and Colombia, the DG participated in a mission to New Zealand, and new requests were received from Turkey and Tunisia. Technical discussions on mutual recogni- tion were held with the USA and a mandate to negotiate a mutual recognition agreement was obtained from the Council. Important follow-up actions on included third countries were carried out for Switzerland, Israel and Argentina.
106. Harmonisation of the conditions for issuing import authorisations according to
Article 11(6) resulted in a guidance document on harmonised procedures. A guidance document for the evaluation of the equivalence of organic producer group certification schemes in developing countries was also finalised.
107. The Commission database OFIS on the import authorisations granted according to
Article 11(6) became operational.