New amendment to EU organic imports regime

On June 21, 2012 the new implementing regulation 508/2012 was published, amending regulation 1235/2008, regarding imports of organic products from third countries. The changes described in the new regulation are referring mainly to the control bodies responsible for carrying out the inspections of organic products in the third countries whilst another very important change is that the role of...

New rules for organic feedstuffs

The new amending Regulation 505/2012 was published on June 15, 2012, setting out new rules for organic feedstuffs. The new regulation is an amendment to the implementing Regulation 889/2008 for Organic Farming and it basically changes the following: regarding herbivores, pigs and poultry, higher percentages of feed that has to be produced by the farm unit itself have been set new substances are...

Organic days in Cyprus

The IFOAM EU Group announced the “Organic Days in Cyprus” during the Cyprus EU Council Presidency which encloses three individual events that will take place on the 24, 25 and 26 of September at the Sun Hall Hotel in Larnaca, Cyprus. The Organic days are the result of a cooperation between the IFOAM EU Group, the Cyprus EU Presidency, the European Commission, Pasybio and TP...

Organic Farming – “Plan B” for the Greek Crisis?

by Dimitris Sotiropoulos (the article was published in Greek at www.epixeiro.gr – a portal for innovation and entrepreneurship, on June 6, 2012) The Greek economy is in intensive care for more than 2.5 years and the prospect for recovery instead of approaching, is continuously getting away. Greece has been significantly “de-industrialized” during the last 20 years,...

Organic products & mass catering

The European Commission recently published a report to the European Parliament setting out the experience of the 3 year application of the new Regulation (EC) 834/2007 on Organic Farming and Organic Products. Among other issues, the document refers to the new EU logo for organic products, the Regulation for organic wines, genetically modified organisms and organic farming, certification for...