Pröll: Policy debate highlighted important role of organic agriculture

The threshold for the contamination of organic products with genetically modified organisms (GMO) was one of the more controversial issues when the EU Agriculture Ministers discussed the new EU regulation on organic production for the first time on Monday. At least 10 Member States at the Council called for the GMO threshold of 0.9% for conventional products to be formulated much more strictly for organic agriculture. Critics of gene technology, including Greece, Italy and Austria, were particularly vehement.

Two further meetings of the working group have been scheduled to clarify matters

EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel countered that the burden on organic agriculture in the EU must not be increased unnecessarily. She argued that a GMO threshold of less than 0.9% would increase costs in organic agriculture. The situation should not be made more difficult for such a promising sector. The Ministers will be dealing with the controversy surrounding gene technology in organic agriculture for some time to come. “The two further meetings of the Council working group that have been scheduled now make it possible for the Finnish Presidency to reach conclusions before the end of the year”, Austria’s Agriculture Minister Josef Pröll, the current President of the EU Agriculture Council, said today.

The Member States agree that, with regard to organic agriculture, the Commission should not have greater influence than it has hitherto. All the Member States take the view that details of production technology should continue to be deliberated on the regulatory committee and not on the management committee, where the Commission has the final word.

Majority for inclusion of mass catering in regulation on organic production

The majority of national agriculture ministers would also like the mass catering sector to be included in the scope of the regulation. The Commission had not provided for this inclusion up until now. Checks in this area were just as feasible, even though there had to be much stricter regulations for large canteens than for small restaurants. Most Member States appear reasonably happy with the single EU organic label proposed by the Commission, provided national, regional and private labels can be used alongside it. “We shall be very careful to ensure a sensible solution to this problem is found”, Josef Pröll said. “Today’s policy debate on organic products has, without doubt, clearly shown that organic agriculture is considered very important for the future”, he stressed.

Coexistence conclusions adopted

Following the GMO Conference in Vienna at the beginning of April, the EU Agriculture Ministers today called for improved regulations on coexistence, i.e. the cultivation of GMO crops alongside conventional crops.

Pröll calls for low GMO threshold for conventional agricultural seeds

The Ministers unanimously approved conclusions setting two main tasks for the EU Commission. Firstly, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas is to submit a proposal for a GMO threshold for conventional seeds. Secondly, the Commission should examine whether additional rules from Brussels on coexistence are appropriate. On this point, the Commission has agreed to compile and evaluate studies on the various national liability regulations and guidelines on segregation of GMO and conventional crops in the Member States by the end of June.

However, the Commission made no pledge on the proposal for seeds, especially as the Commissioner responsible was not present. Pröll explained that the threshold for seeds should be kept as low as possible. He regards the conclusions as being about better protection for traditional farmers. Poland called for clear guidelines from the Commission on the coexistence issue, but could not prevail. The ministers concluded that the Commission’s existing recommendations on coexistence were inadequate and should be supplemented.