News from FreshPlaza on EU organic food labeling standards:
EU ministers ended 18 months of squabbling on Tuesday over new rules for organic farming and came up with a labeling system that will tell consumers exactly what they are buying. Farmers who sell produce containing at least 95 percent organic ingredients will use a special EU logo, along with a label to indicate the product’s origin. Below that, there will be labeling of the organic ingredients present.
“This is an excellent agreement which will help consumers to recognize organic products throughout the EU more easily and give them assurances of precisely what they are buying,” EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel said.
The labels can be accompanied by national and private logos, at the discretion of individual EU countries. Mass catering operations are excluded from the new rules although countries can choose to apply national rules if they wish.
Now, EU organic farmers have difficulty selling organic food in different EU countries as there is a patchwork of national and private logos that can be costly and complicated to obtain.
For more information, see: One label for organic produce in EU.
Nexreg Compliance