What follows is not strictly the business of this list but this is a
one off plea for help. Organic Farming in Ireland needs your letters,
emails and faxes to the Department of Agriculture and Rural
Development and to the individual ministers and TDs (MPs) listed on
the Irish Government web sites as well as to the press and to radio
and TV. The organic consumers of the world came to the support of
genuine organics in America and I hope they will do the same for us.
If our masters have their way food sold as organic in Ireland will
not be what you and I mean by organic and genuine organic farmers
will have no say in how the rules are made. The funding will go to
help people like intensive poultry producers call their product
organic.
Below is a press release from the three private certification bodies
who have set up and run organic farming in Ireland for the last 15
years with almost no government funding. The Department of
Agriculture will get 6 million over the next few years to do the same
thing. You will note that the minister's response says we only get a
voice if we accept their definitions.
Please don't reply to the list - but write, encourage your friends
to write - spread the word to other lists - make a noise wherever you
live
Thank you for listening
Kathryn
Dept of Agriculture on Organic Rampage
After 8 years of discussions with organic farming groups, the EU eventually
published its standards for organic livestock production - an amendment to
the earlier published standards for organic plant production and processing
- due to come into effect on August 24th 2000.
These new livestock standards were keenly awaited by organic meat exporters
who have had to undergo difficult and time consuming procedures to be
licensed by every individual country. The biggest surprise came when, after
8 years of discussions, the finally agreed EU organic livestock standards
had been watered down to such an extent that no country has yet adopted
these as their national standard.
In Ireland, the three organic certification bodies - Demeter, IOFGA and
Organic Trust - were asked by the Department of Agriculture earlier in the
year to agree one set of standards for organic livestock production. Over a
period of several months and in discussion with other European certification
bodies such as the Soil Association UK, the three approved organic bodies
agreed one uniform standard for organic livestock production in Ireland.
This is considerably higher than the EU standard as it sought to protect the
integrity of the Irish organic sector.
These uniform Irish organic livestock standards were forwarded to the
Department of Agriculture in July 2000. Without any discussion or
consultation with the certification bodies who represent the vast majority
of organic producers in Ireland, the Department of Agriculture informed them
that the EU minimum standard will be adopted as the Irish organic standard
from August 24th, 2000.
Examples of this:
EU Organic Standards: Max number per poultry house
4,800 broilers, 3,000 laying hens
Irish Organic Standards: Max number per poultry house
2,000 broilers, 1,000 laying hens
These EU regulations ignore the fact that high poultry density increases
pressure on the health of stock and could assist the spread of salmonella.
EU standards allow lambs to be sold as organic after only 2 months organic
management. Irish standards require organic lambs to be conceived and born
on an organic farm which has undergone a 2 year registered conversion
period.
These are only some examples. Generally the EU regulation effectively allows
conventional producers to become "organic" with minimal alteration to their
conventional production systems.
In the same letter the Department notified the bodies of a radical
alteration to the current system of administration of organic inspection and
certification - they advised the 3 bodies that one new single body will
carry out inspections and that subsequent certification will be carried out
by the Department of Agriculture itself. This is despite an acknowledgement
from the Department of Agriculture that there was no implication that the
current system is ineffective.
What are the implications of this policy?
� The door has been closed for Irish organic meat exports into EU countries
operating a higher standard than the EU minimum, e.g. the UK.
� As the organic market is driven by consumer awareness, these EU minimum
standards will not satisfy the market. The result will be further confusion
with the advent of further selective claims - we already see poultry on sale
in Ireland which is labelled "produced without growth promoters", "poultry
produced without antibiotics" etc. In contrast to this, organic standards
are holistic standards taking a whole farm approach and dealing with all
issues such as animal welfare, nutrition, environmental aspects, to mention
but a few.
� As the demand for high standard organic produce will no longer be
satisfied with Irish produced organic food, imports of high standard organic
produce will increase dramatically.
� As export markets are closed and consumers realise that low standard Irish
organic meat is competing with higher standard organic meat from outside
Ireland, the price to Irish organic farmers will collapse. Organic premia,
needed to maintain an organic farming system, will be reduced to a
non-viable level and producers will be forced to leave the organic sector.
� The fact that the Department of Agriculture has withdrawn the approval
from the 3 certification bodies now deprives these three bodies of their
main function - that of inspection and certification - they have been
declared redundant as their means of generating income has now been removed.
� This decision means that the Department of Agriculture has discarded the
only practical source of organic expertise in the country, built up over the
past 15-20 years by producers who spent an inordinate amount of time (mostly
unpaid) on the development of the organic sector because these producers
believed inherently in the value of their work.
The whole organic sector is disillusioned. The guardians of the organic
sector, the experts in organic farming, who energetically developed and
drove the sector, all have been declared redundant.
The three organic certification bodies reject the reasons put forward by the
Department of Agriculture for their decisions. They view these as
short-term; lacking vision and having the ultimate effect of the destruction
of the sector as opposed to its further construction. The three
certification bodies have been acting in a most constructive manner - had
put forward a unified set of standards and had indicated their support for
the introduction of a unified marketing logo- all fell on deaf ears - the
Department of Agriculture "had made their decisions".
The Department of Agriculture's unilateral decision to have one single
inspection body is anti-competitive. In a climate where privatisation and
healthy competition are the norm, monopolistic structures are on the way
out, as experience has shown that they are too expensive, have low standards
of service and are very inflexible.
The activities of the 3 bodies has created a very vibrant, competitive
market where differing needs were catered for; where individual concepts and
ideas were taken account of and prioritised accordingly.
The momentum and vibrant life of the Irish organic community has effectively
been mutilated.
The time has come for Irish consumers to say if they want high standards
with integrity or standards produced to the lowest possible EU common
denominator. If they want high standards they must raise their objections to
the Department's decision by writing to the Principal Officer Agricultural
Structures II Division - Mr. Michael O'Donovan, at the Organic Unit at the
Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Johnstown Castle
Estate, Wexford.
All 3 bodies have urged their producers not to enter any supply boycotts as
regular supplies of organic food can be vital for many people suffering from
a variety of health disorders and allergies.
In order to protect the integrity of the organic sector a broad discussion
with consumers must now be launched. This is the reason for inviting members
of the Irish press.
August 23rd, 2000
Useful phone numbers:
Demeter Standards Limited
Ms Anja Terpstra
056 54214
IOFGA Limited
Ms. Noreen Gibney
0506 32563
Organic Trust Limited
Ms. Helen Scully
01 8530271
Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural
Development
An Roinn Talmha�ochta, Bia agus Forbartha Tuaithe
Government of Ireland
NEW ARRANGEMENTS TO DEVELOP ORGANIC SECTOR
The Minister for Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, Mr Joe
Walsh TD, today
expressed disappointment at the reaction of the organic bodies to
arrangements which
his Department is putting in place to give effect to the new EU
Regulation governing
the organic sector which comes into effect on 24 August.
The Minister said that extension of the organic Regulation to the
livestock sector
allowed his Department to review the arrangements governing the whole
Irish organic
sector. While the organic market has great potential for growth, the
production sector
is still very small and the supply from Irish producers still falls
well below demand
from Irish consumers. Potential entrants to the sector can be
deterred by a perception
that it is complex and over-regulated. Consumers have a low level of
recognition of the
existing Irish organic labels. The Department is now putting
arrangements in place to
ensure that organic farming and production can become firmly
established as part of the
mainstream of Irish agriculture.
These arrangements include the appointment of a single inspection
body to act on the
Department's behalf in ensuring that Irish produce meets the
standards laid down in the
EU Regulations. It will be open to the three organic associations to
apply for this
appointment either separately or collectively. The appointment of the
single inspection
body, which will operate closely with the Department, is in line with the
recommendation in the Agri-Food 2010 Report that "A credible
regulatory system must be
put in place and the present confusion with competing inspection bodies ended".
In an effort to avoid unnecessary restrictions and over-regulation on organic
producers, the Department has opted initially not to impose standards
higher than those
in the new livestock Regulation. This Regulation, agreed by all the
EU member states,
sets high standards for the rearing and feeding of animals, for their
housing and
transport, and for disease prevention and the veterinary treatment
they can be given.
Irish organic produce that meets these standards is guaranteed free
movement in all EU
markets. A national organic food label will be introduced and promoted so that
consumers, both at home and abroad, can readily recognise quality Irish organic
produce.
Minister Walsh stated that, earlier this week when launching the
Agri-Food 2010 Plan of
Action, he had announced the establishment of an Organic Development
Committee as he
was concerned that Ireland had fallen behind other countries in the
development of
organic agriculture. The Committee would have the task of drawing up
an ambitious
development programme for the sector and he expected that all parties
who shared his
objective of securing major growth in organic production would participate. The
Committee, which will begin its work shortly, will provide a forum in
which issues like
livestock standards can be discussed in the light of experience and
taking advantage of
a wide range of views and knowledge.
Minister Walsh said that his commitment and that of his Department to
the development
of organic food production was without question. In the context of the National
Development Plan the Minister had secured very significant levels of
funding for the
sector. Some �1,600 million which was available for the REP scheme in
the period
2000-2006 would lead to major growth in organic farming which already
involved 1,000
registered producers. In addition the Minister had provided �6
million to support
improved handling and distribution of organic products and the
establishment of group
marketing structures.
Paying tribute to the expertise and commitment of the three organic
associations, the
Minister recognised the substantial input they have made to the
development of the
organic sector in Ireland. He said that he and his Department looked forward to
continuing co-operation with them in future in working towards the
common goal of
developing the Irish organic sector to the fullest extent. The
Minister concluded by
saying that he had every confidence in the ability of Irish farmers
to rise to the
challenge of meeting market demand with high quality organic produce.
Notes for Editors
Since 1991 the organic farming and food sector has been governed by
EU Regulation with
the exception of livestock and livestock products. Regulation
1804/99, which comes into
effect on 24 August, extends the existing rules to the livestock
sector. The Department
of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is the competent authority under the
Regulations and is responsible for the maintenance of standards in
the organic sector,
including the setting of standards and the arrangements for
inspection, certification
and labelling.
23 August, 2000
Document last modified on: Aug 23 09:42:07 2000
