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1. Introduction
From 1st January 2009 on, two legal texts replace the old EU Council Regulation 2092/91. The EU Council Regulation (EC) 834/2007 provides the basic rules and standards, while the EU Commission Regulation (EC) 889/2008 goes into further details. This latter one is also called the "implementation rule". Usually, when referring to Reg. (EC) 834/07, we implicitely also mean Reg. (EC) 889/08. All the amendments to the old Regulation, which had been introduced between 1991 and 2008, also become obsolete.
As opposed to what had been expected initially, there are only minor modifications concerning the contents of the regulation. The major change consists probably in the fact, that the EU Commission, being responsible for updating and modifying Reg. 889/08, obtains a much more powerful position.
2. Structure
The new regulations have a much clearer and more logical structure. They start by defining objectives of organic farming (which the old regulation did not provide), thus establishing a clear framework of what can be considered "organic" and what must be considered as not compliant with the regulations. Important terms here are "biodiversity", "soil fertility", "preservation of natural resources", and "animal welfare". Title | Reg. 834/07 | Article | Title | Reg. 889/08 | Article | I | Aims, Scope and Definition | 1,2 | I | Introduction | 1,2 | II | Objectives and Principles | 3-7 | II | Production and Processing Rules | 3-56 | III | Production Rules | 8-22 | III | Labelling | 57-62 | IV | Labelling | 23-26 | IV | Control | 63-92 | V | Control (Inspection, Cert.) | 27-31 | V | Final and transitional provisions | 93-97 | VI | Trade with Third Countries | 32-33 | Annexes | I - XV | VII | Final and Transitional Rules | 34-42 | |
Where you will re-find some well known parts of the standard: | Old regulation 2092/91 | New regulation | 834/07 | 889/08 | Conversion rules | Annex I | Art. 17 | Art. 36 - 38 | Allowed fertilizers and soil ammendments | Annex II.A | | Annex I | Allowed plant protection products | Annex II.B | | Annex II | Allowed non-agricultural ingredients and processing aids | Annex VI | | Annex VIII | Allowed non-organic agricultual ingredients | Annex VI.C | | Annex IX | Seeds | Art. 6 | Art. 12(1)(i); | Art. 45 | Seed database | Reg. 1452/03 | | Art. 48 | Import | Art. 11; Annex III.C | Art. 32,33; Reg. 1235/08 | Art. 81-85 |
3. Some details, which have changed | Old regulation | New regulation | 3.1 Labelling | Labelling of products with less than 95% of organic ingredients | - Reference to organic only in the ingredient list
| - Just like in the old regulation, such products may refer to organic only in the ingredient list, not on the product label (see example below). | - Minimum 70% of agricultural ingredients organic | - There is no minimum percentage: any multi-ingredient product, which contains certified organic ingredients, can refer to these in the ingredient list – even if the percentage is very small.
| - Remaining 30% only from Annex VI.C | - There are no restrictions concerning the non-organic agricultural ingredients (except for the prohibition of GMOs and ionizing radiation). | - Non-agricultural additives and aids only according to Annex VI.A and B | - Restrictions concerning non-agricultural additives and processing aids remain the same (refer to Annex VIII). | | - Same ingredient may not be used from organic and non-organic sources. Example: |
| Please note: must neither say "organic breakfast cereals" nor "cereals with organic fruits"! No use of organic logos! | | Johnson's Breakfast Cereals | | | Ingredients:
- Oats 32%
- Wheat poppies 15%
- Corn flakes 18%
- Freeze dried apples 8% *
- Freeze dried strawberries 7% *
- Raisins 5%
- Glucose syrup 10%
- Honey 5% *
* Certified organic
Control body: BG-BIO-04 | Use of the official EU organic logo on organic labels | Voluntary | Will be compulsory from mid 2010 on for products produced inside the EU. Where the logo is used, it must be indicated, whether the product is of "EU" or "non-EU", or of combined origin. In "EU" products, at least 98% of the agricultural ingredients must be produced in EU member countries. | Certifier Code Number | Not uniform in different countries | Uniform: Country Code – "Bio" (or synomymous) – Code (e.g. CERES in Bulgaria: BG-BIO-04) | 3.2 Import | Import from third countries | · Either from countries with an "equivalent control system", · or through individual import licenses. | ·The list of "equivalent third countries" remains (Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, India, Israel, New Zealand, Switzerland).
· Organic certification bodies operating in "third countries" outside the EU will have to be approved by the EU Commission. The Commission will establish lists of certification bodies approved for "compliant" (Art. 32) and "equivalent" (Art. 33) production in third countries.
· Once these lists are published, the procedure of importers applying for individual import licenses will be abolished. · It is planned, that the list of certifiers approved for "equivalent" certification will be in place from Jan. 2010 on, for "compliant" certification only from 2012 on. | 3.3 Scope | Aquaculture, wild collection of seaweeds, microalgae, etc. | Not covered | · Can be certified "organic", although detailed production rules are still missing. | Fishery, hunting, collection of wild animals | Not covered | · Still not covered · Nevertheless, reference can be made to organic on multi-ingredient products containing fish or meat from wild animals, both on the product label and on the ingredient list, provided: o fish or wild meat is the main ingredient o the other agricultural ingredients are certified organic o the additives comply with Annex VIII. E.g.: | Please note: in this exceptional case, it is allowed to refer to organic on the product label itself – even though the product contains less than 95% of organic ingredients! | | Harry's Deer with Organic Vegetables | | | Ingredients: · Deer meat 60%
· Tomato purée 20%*
· Pepper 5%*
· Onions 10%*
· Olive oil 5%*
* From organic origin
Control body: BG-BIO-04 | Wine | Wine could only be certified as "made with organic grapes" | Detailed rules for certification of "organic wine" expected in the course of 2009. In the meanwhile, the old rule remains valid. | Yeast | Only required to be GMO free | Detailed rules for certification of "organic yeast" expected in the course of 2009. From 2014 on, yeast will be considered an "agricultural ingredient", which has to be certified organic. | Beeswax | In the opinion of some EU authorities, beeswax could not be certified as organic | Certification of beeswax is now considered by the regulation. | Petfood | Situation was not clear | Petfood can be certified following national or private rules, until the EU Commission develops specific rules | | | | | | | Old regulation | New regulation | 3.4 Allowed / non allowed substances | Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in non-organic agricultural ingredients | Only a general statement, that GMOs are not allowed | · A clear definition of GMO is provided. · It is sufficient to obtain a declaration from the supplier, stating that the product is free of GMO (in terms of quality assurance, this may of course not be the best procedure in some cases). · By referring to Reg. (EC) 1830/03, the threshold of 0.9% is officially accepted also for organic products. Products containing traces of GMO below this threshold can be considered as GMO free. | GMOs in non-agricultural additives and processing aids | Only a general statement, that GMOs are not allowed | A vendor statement must be obtained, using the template in Annex XIII of Reg. 889/08. The regulation mentions especifically enzymes and flavours in this context. | Hydroponic production | Was implicitely not allowed | Is now explicitely forbidden | Many fertilizers and plant protection products | Could only be used after being authorised by the certification body | Specific authorisations for use are no longer required. The farmer has to document, however, the need of additional fertilisation (basically through soil or leaf analysis). CERES however recommends, that before using new commercial fertilisers or plant protection products, farmers submit a complete technical datasheet for review. | Animal manure from non-organic farms | · From "extensive husbandry" without restrictions · From "intensive husbandry" only composted · From "factory farming" not allowed | Only from "factory farming" not allowed. The other restrictions have been dropped – so animal manure even from intensive (non factory farming) husbandry can be used fresh. A legal definition of "factory farming", however, is still missing. The maximum of 170 kg N/ha from animal manure remains valid. | Methaldehyde (for snail control) | Allowed in closed traps | No longer allowed | | | | | |
Transition period from Reg. (EC) 2092/91 to (EC) 834/07: Until using up existing labels or containers, products with current labelling may be sold until the end of 2011!
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