Also in 2012 IFOAM EU Group held the patronage of the "Organic Marketing Forum - International Meeting on Processing and Marketing of Organic Products and Raw Materials (OMF)“. The seventh OMF took place in Warsaw from May 7 to 9. About 350 participants from 26 countries, mainly organic producers, traders, importers and farmers, enjoyed the networking opportunities and the discussion forum the conference provided.

In addition the conference program was well received, and the atmosphere among the visitors was very good. With these positive results the Forum could extend its position as the largest international branch meeting for the organic market sector in Central and Eastern Europe.

IFOAM EU Group was also represented at the OMF 2012 with a workshop organised by the IFOAM EU Specialist Group Organic Processing (SGOP) on "Let´s work together: Politics for organic companies in Europe Cooperation in the IFOAM EU SGOP group and discussion about rules for organic processing and pesticide residues in EU organic regulations ". After a short presentation of the activities of IFOAM EU Group and of the IFOAM EU SGOP, the around 30 participants debated on the needs of the organic operators in Poland and middle-eastern European countries. The participants highlighted the need for building national and local organic markets (including local processing), increasing customer and consumer awareness and better cooperation of different actors and better organisation of the sector (e.g. sourcing of raw materials, offering stable markets for farmers). The problems identified were small national markets, export of low added value raw materials and large intermediatories. The challenge was identified as to look for niche markets for export, to take responsibility for the production and quality of products and to develop pride of being an organic producer.
The second part of the debate focused on the implementing of environmental performance for organic processing in EU organic regulations and harmonisation of different approaches towards pesticide residues in organic food.