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European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming
The European Commission's "European
Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming" was published June
10, 2004.
Below is a milestone list with links to relevant
documents:
* * *
 July 2008: European Commission launches new promotional campaign for organic food and farming
 The European Commission launched the European Union's new Organic Farming Campaign on July 26, 2008 at the Foire de Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium. Under the campaign slogan: “Organic farming. Good for nature, good for you”, the promotional campaign aims to inform consumers about the meaning and benefits of organic farming and food production.
The campaign is one of the key action of the European Action Plan on Organic Food and Farming and will focus on increasing consumer awareness and recognition of organic products, and especially on young people and children to carry the organic idea into the future.
(Picture taken from the photorachive at the campaign homepage).
May
2005: European Research Project Evaluation of the European Action Plan
for Organic Food and Farming ORGAP launched
 The
European funded research project Evaluation of the European Action Plan
for Organic Food and Farming (ORGAP) gives scientific support for the
implementation of the European Action Plan, and it will assess its long-term
and short-term effects. The project started in May 2005 and will run
until December 2008. The project aims are
- Develop a toolbox to evaluate and monitor the implementation of
the European Action Plan in the following areas: information, training
and education, research, production, processing, market development,
certification, public expenditures.
- Test the toolbox on a selected existing national action plans.
- Identify conflict areas between targets of European and national
action plans.
- Analyse the implementation processes and procedures.
- Make policy recommendation to the European Commission, national
authorities as well as further actors.
Links
September 28, 2004: IFOAM EU Group critically welcomes the European
Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming
 (28.9.2004)
September 2004 the IFOAM European Union Group of the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) published its analysis of the
European Action Plan for Food and Farming and congratulates the European
Commission for the development of the plan presented in June 2004. The
plan stresses the important role organic farming has to play in making
European agriculture more sustainable, environmentally friendly and
responsive to consumer demands.
June 10, 2004: European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming published
The European Commission's "European Action Plan for Organic Food
and Farming" was published June 10, 2004. The Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming sets out 21 initiatives to achieve the objectives of developing the market for organic food and improving standards by increasing efficacy, transparency and consumer confidence.
The plan aims to achieve measures such as improving information about organic farming, streamlining public support via rural development, improving production standards or strengthening research.
January 22, 2004: European Hearing on Organic Food and Farming - Towards
a European Action Plan
On January 22, 2004 the European Commission held a 'European Hearing
on Organic Food and Farming – Towards a European Action Plan' in
Brussels. The main purpose of this hearing was to listen to the views
of the widest possible range of stakeholders, to experts in the agricultural,
environmental and consumer field and to hear from pilot initiatives.
Following this public hearing, the Commission is preparing an Action
Plan in the form of a Communication to the European Council and Parliament,
including a list of possible actions to boost organic farming. The Brussels
hearing provided the Commission with the most complete and appropriate
guidance from stakeholders with a view to drawing up this Action Plan.
Over a 100 stakeholder organisations, Agricultural Ministers from Member
States, Acceding and Candidate Countries and the press participated
in this conference.
February, 2003: Online consultation of the European Commission on the
Action Plan for organic food and farming
In February 2003, the working document and a questionnaire with 12
key points were put on the Commission's web site. The public was invited
to react to the questions and to give 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" was published.
December 12, 2002: Commission paper: Analysis of the possibility of
a European Action Plan for organic food and farming
In December 2002 the European Commission released a staff working paper
with an Analysis of the possibility of a European Action Plan for organic
food and farming.
June 19, 2001: Council of Agricultural Ministers invites the European
Commission to consider a European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming
Following two conferences on organic farming, held in Austria 1999
and in Denmark 2001, the Council agreed on conclusions on organic farming.
The Commission was invited to consider a European Action Plan for Organic
Food and Farming. In recognising that organic farming was one way of
achieving sustainable development, the conclusions also invite the Commission,
the Member States and stakeholders to share ideas on what further action
could be taken at European Union level and mentioned the possibility
of a European action plan. Here an extract from the press release on
the meeing.
"ORGANIC FOOD AND FARMING - COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS
The Council
Recognises organic farming as one way to achieve a sustainable
development.
-
NOTES the importance of Council Regulation 2092/91 of 24 June
1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications
referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs.
-
NOTES that the Member States, within the framework of their Rural
Development Programs, in accordance with the Council Regulation
1257/1999 of 17 May 1999, have the possibility to promote organic
farming.
-
RECOGNISES the importance of the ongoing work regarding inter alia
labelling of organic fodder, control of the organic production and
implementing the rules on organic livestock.
-
NOTES that the consumer interest in organic products increases
in Europe.
-
INVITES the Member States, the Commission and stakeholders to share
ideas on what further action at European Union level could facilitate
production, processing, trade and consumption of organic products
in Europe and in the light of these ideas
-
INVITES the Commission to analyse the possibility of a European
Union action plan to promote organic food and farming and present
appropriate proposals."
May 10/11, 2001: Conference Organic Food and Farming and the Copenhagen
Declaration
 At
the conference "Organic Food and Farming -towards partnership and
action", held May 2001 near Copenhagen, Agriculture ministers from
12 European countries called for a European action plan for the development
of organic farming and food. This conference was a major step towards
the European action plan. The Copenhagen Declaration was signed by agricultural
ministers and by IFOAM, by representatives of European farmers' association
Copa, by the European association of consumer cooperatives Euro Coop,
and the European Environmental Bureau. The conference had been organized
by the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and been initiated
by Ritt Bjerregaard, the Danish agricultural Minister at the time.
According to the Copenhagen Declaration in the next two years the European
Action Plan should:
1. Analyse the barriers to and potential for further growth within
production, processing, trade and consumption of organic products
in Europe.
2. Present a consensus-oriented and market-based strategy, which
involves all stakeholders within Europe as a whole, including the
European Commission, national governments, consumers, farmers, producers,
retailers, NGO's, researchers and other important stakeholders.
3. Cover all aspects concerning the development of organic food and
farming in Europe, including areas such as environmental protection,
animal welfare, consumer-behaviour, market-development, food-safety,
food-quality, regulation, certification and labelling, research and
international trade.
4. Analyse the relationship between, on the one hand the opportunities
for the further development of organic food and farming and, on the
other hand the Common Agricultural Policy and other international
agreements including WTO and Codex Alimentarius.
Many representatives of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements (IFOAM) contributed to the conference as speakers or as moderators.
Gunnar Rundgren, president of IFOAM, said in his speech: "We are
welcoming the initiative to create an EU wide Action Plan for organic
agriculture. We also welcome that there is, at this stage, a commitment
to the inclusion of all stakeholders in the process."
May 27/28, 1999: EU -Conference "Organic Farming in the European Union
- Perspectives for the 21st Century
The conference "Organic Farming in the European Union - Perspectives
for the 21st Century", organised by the Austrian Ministry of Agriculture
that took place near Vienna, 27/28 May 1999. It united government and
EU officials, researchers and representatives of the organic sector
to discuss the future prospects of European Organic Agriculture, thus
being an important milestone towards the European Action Plan for Organic
Food and Farming. Unfortunately the conference homepage is not online
any more.
© By Research Institute of Organic Agriculture
(FiBL), Forschungsinstitut für biologischen Landbau 2005. All rights
reserved
URL http://www.organic-europe.net
Last modified
19.09.2008
 Research
Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL
Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick
Tel: +4 -62 865 72 72 Fax +41 62 865 72 73
Internet http://www.fibl.org
Contact: Helga Willer
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