IFOAM | The IFOAM EU Group Newsfeed

	The IFOAM EU Group Newsfeed



	Towards better animal welfare in EU farming
	October 8, 2009 - Swedish Agriculture Ministers Mr Eskil Erlandsson opens today the Final Stakeholder Conference of the EU research project “Welfare Quality”. On this occasion, Christopher Stopes, President of the IFOAM EU Group, welcomes the fact that the Swedish Presidency aims to improve animal welfare standards in EU food production but calls for a cautious approach towards upcoming EU Animal Welfare Labeling schemes in order to avoid consumer confusion.



	2nd European Organic Congress: registration started
	October 2, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group has now opened registration for the Second European Organic Congress, which is currently being prepared by the Group and will take place on December 1 in Brussels.



	Position on organic wine processing
	September 25, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group has agreed position on the organic wine processing.



	2nd European Organic Congress: bringing organic farming’s contribution onto the climate agenda
	September 18, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group has now published the program of the Second European Organic Congress, which is currently being prepared by the Group and will take place on Dehcember 1 in Brussels. The congress, which will be opened by the EU Agriculture Commissioner Fischer Boel, will focus on the contributions of organic farming to facing major challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss and the global food crisis.



	Meet the climate challenge - meet organic farming!
	September 14, 2009 – The EU Agriculture Ministers are today visiting an organic farm in Sweden as part of their informal meeting on climate change. On this occasion, Christopher Stopes, President of the IFOAM EU Group, welcomed the fact that Swedish Agriculture Minister Erlandsson is showing a best practice example of climate friendly farming to his colleagues. IFOAM EU Group reiterated its position that climate friendly and sustainable practices such as organic farming should be mainstreamed in EU policies.



	IFOAM EU Group asks for crucial improvement of organic food processing implementing rules
	September 14, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to Mr Jean-François Hulot, Head of the Organic Farming Unit, DG AGRI and to members of the Standing Committee on Organic Farming on crucial topics related to processed organic food.



	Implementing rules for organic aquaculture published in the Official Journal
	August 6, 2009 - The implementing rules for organic aquaculture were published in the EU Official Journal in August 2009, marking the first time for organic aquaculture to be regulated at EU level. Download the document: BG, ES, CS, DA, DE, ET, EL, EN, FR, IT, LV, LT, HU, MT, NL, PL, PT, RO, SK, SL, FI, SV



	Keep GMO out of our food: march for a GMO-free future arrived in Brussels
	July 30, 2009 - The Director of IFOAM EU Marco Schlüter welcomed the march for a GMO-free future which arrived in Brussels today. “Five years after the EU moratorium on GMOs ended, consumers are still determined not to eat GMOs. The organic sector calls on the European decision makers to take their citizen’s concerns seriously into consideration, to revise the current EU legislation and to make it more efficient in serving the needs of the society”, says Marco Schlüter.



	New traineeship position at IFOAM EU
	July 30, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group has a new opening for a trainee starting from September 2009. Applications are invited until the end of August.



	ORWINE delivered recommendations for organic wine production rules
	July 30, 2009 - The final report of the ORWINE project delivered proposals and recommendations for elaborating rules for organic wine in the new EU Organic Regulation (Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007. For details, please check the website of OWRINE.



	IFOAM EU Group expressed concern about the slow progress of the proposal for EU Soil Directive
	July 20, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to the EU Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the governments of the current and future EU Presidencies, Sweden and Spain, expressing concern about the slow progress of the Council negotiations on the Commission proposal for an EU Directive establishing a framework for the protection of soil.



	The IFOAM EU Group is looking for an Administration Trainee
	July 16, 2009 - IFOAM EU has an opening for an Administration Trainee starting from December 2009. The position offers: • An interesting and multifaceted trainee position in the heart of Europe • Working experience in a Brussels NGO • Direct co-working with the Finance/Communication Officer and with the Office and Events Coordinator • Assisting in the coordination of the organic movement in Europe • A truly European working environment within a young and committed European team. For details, follow the link:



	European Organic Congress on climate change, biodiversity and global food crisis
	July 16, 2009 – Chances and challenges for organic farming in times of climate change, biodiversity loss and global food crisis is the focus of the Second European Organic Congress, which will take place in Brussels on December 1, 2009. The congress is organised by IFOAM EU Group which also initiated and held, back in December 2007, the European Organic Congress on the future of organic food and farming within the reformed CAP.



	TP Organics: Organic Stakeholders Forum calls for more future-oriented agricultural research agenda
	July 15, 2009 – The research Technology Platform ‘TP Organics’ (of which IFOAM EU Group is a founding member) held its annual Stakeholder Forum in Brussels and presented the first draft of its second major publication – the TP Organics Strategic Research Agenda. This was an important further step in developing concrete research ideas that would work towards making better use of organic food production and reinforcing its contributions to the solutions for global challenges like climate change, loss of biodiversity, food security and migration from rural areas.



	Climate challenge stresses need for sustainable food strategy research – organic offers model
	July 13, 2009 –“Organic farming has a high potential to adapt to the consequences of and to mitigate the risk of climate change, as well as to produce food in a sustainable manner, which is also recognized in the Commission’s paper” (Commission staff working document accompanying the White Paper “Adapting to Climate Change: the challenge for European agriculture and rural areas”).



	Organic Aquaculture first time regulated at EU level
	June 30, 2009 – After more than 1,5 years discussion the Standing Committee on Organic Farming decided yesterday late afternoon on implementing rules on organic aquaculture (1). The IFOAM EU Group (2) welcomes that Member States found a compromise to define for the first time ever EU wide rules for organic aquaculture but points out that further development is needed.



	Green Week 2009: IFOAM EU highlights the role of organic farming in times of climate change
	June 29, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group was amongst the selected few exhibitors to once more participate in Green Week - an annual event organised by DG Environment of the European Commission. The Brussels' staff of the Group took this opportunity to present the organic principles and highlight the key role that organic agriculture can play in climate change mitigation.



	Council should step back on meat from cloned animals
	June 23, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group strongly criticised the recent agreement of the EU Agriculture Council to pave the way for possible authorisation of meat of cloned animal and its offspring in the EU. This step is not only cynical regarding consumers demand for clone-free-meat, but also ethically questionable; it threatens animal welfare and puts in consequence global food security at risk.



	Organic aquaculture rules should be close to organic farming principles
	June 25, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to Mr J.F. Hulot, Head of the Organic Farming Unit, DG AGRI and to members of thew Standing Committee on Organic Farming with comments on the last draft of the organic aquaculture implementing rules. See letter More about revision of organic regulation:



	Big steps towards a sustainable CAP needed before 2013
	June 2, 2009 - The EU Ministers for Agriculture agreed today, at their informal meeting in Brno, on a common declaration for the future of the Common Agriculture Policy. IFOAM EU Group’s response is that the challenges the agriculture policy is facing - to guarantee food availability while halting loss of biodiversity, climate change, water scarcity, energy supply, and volatility of prices - were well identified by the ministers, but serious steps to tackle these challenges must follow in order to make the 2013 reform of the CAP a real success.



	IFOAM EU Group elected new President and Executive Board
	May 26, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group has elected a new President and Deputy President, formed an Executive Board, and decided on a new governing structure and procedures. Please find the details here:



	Organic aquaculture rules should be kept far from conventional
	May 12, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to Mr J.F. Hulot, Head of the Organic Farming Unit, DG AGRI and to members of thew Standing Committee on Organic Farming with comments on the last draft of the organic aquaculture implementing rules. See letter More about revision of organic farming regulation at the Revision Webpage.



	IFOAM EU comments on the new organic regulation for labelling of origin
	May 8, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to the Commission pointing out problematic issues related to the requirements in the new organic regulation for the indication of origin of ingredients.



	Future CAP must support multifunctional agriculture in Europe
	Brussels-Bucharest, April 27, 2009 – The post-2013 reorganisation of the Common Agricultural Policy must focus on maintaining and developing multifunctional agriculture, underlined the participants in the last seminar, delivered by the IFOAM EU Group this time in Romania. This is especially of relevance for countries like Romania, having a huge number of small and diverse farms. Of all systems, organic farming best meets the requirements of multifunctional agriculture. In particular, it offers an economically and ecologically sound direction for many farmers, including Romanian farmers.



	Ecolabelling for food products - added value for European consumers?
	April 3, 2009 - The IFOAM EU Group expressed utter disappointment at the first-reading plenary vote of the European Parliament on April 3 - concerning EU Ecolabelling, and called the EU institutions to “stop interfering in functioning markets through inconsistent labelling attempts”.



	Join European cyber action against cultivation of GM maize in Europe!
	March 16, 2009 - An European cyber action has been launched, calling on EU minsters to vote against the cultivation of new GM maize in Europe, and in favour of French and Greek national bans. IFOAM EU Group joins the call of Friends of the Earth Europe and other organisations to support the action. Please follow the link to find out about the action:



	IFOAM EU calls for better use of EU´s most successful agricultural quality scheme: organic production
	Prague, 12/03/2009 - Organic is the most successful EU food quality scheme – it combines high quality products with delivering an array of public goods. This was one of the messages from the speech of the President of IFOAM EU Group Francis Blake at the high level conference on Quality Policy of Agricultural Products in Prague. For the IFOAM EU Group's position on agricultural products quality policy, reference to the current plans of the EU Commission in this policy area and the presentation of Mr Blake, please visit the following page:



	IFOAM EU Group launched a Dossier on the new Organic Regulation
	February 19, 2009 – IFOAM EU Group launched today its Dossier on the new Organic Regulation during the annual organic trade fair in Nuremberg. For more information and free download of the document, please go to the Dossier page.



	IFOAM EU asked for German support in maintaining national bans on GM maize
	February 19, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group and organic farmers from Austria, Greece, France and Hungary urged German Minister of Agriculture llse Aigner to respect their right to maintain their national bans on genetically modified maize. On the occasion of the opening of the biggest organic trade fair - BioFach in Nuremberg, the farmers’ coalition asked for German support when the EU Council of Ministers decides the issue at the beginning of March.



	Letter on GM maize varieties
	February 5, 2009 - IFOAM EU Group and seven other organisations sent a letter to the ministers of the EU countries and relevant national experts regarding the upcoming votes in February and March on two GM maize varieties and three (French, Greek, Hungarian) national bans. You can find the text of the letter here.



	Industry and civil society urge EU to boost organic research
	December 2, 2008 - EU and global agriculture face major challenges like climate change, loss of biodiversity, food security and depopulation of rural areas. The research Technology Platform ‘Organics’, which was launched today with a public presentation at the permanent representation of the Czech Republic in Brussels, aims at boosting organic research and through this increasing the contribution of organic food production to the solutions for these problems. Find out more in the press release and the invitation to the event. For a lot more information and regular updates, please go to www.tporganics.eu



	Invitation to all wine producers to join in ORWINE survey!
	November 2008 - In the upcoming months the EU-Commission will start discussions on the regulation of Organic Wine production. Before the preparation of the final Recommendation to the EU Commission, the ORWINE project wants to listen to the opinions of the stakeholders in detail. One of the actions planned is this survey, which is widely proposed to all European producers of organic wines through their associations. Please follow the link to access the Questionnaire



	IFOAM EU is calling on the Commission not to introduce 'traffic light' nutrition labelling
	November 2008 - The IFOAM EU Group urged the Commission in a letter not to introduce the so-called traffic light system for nutrition labelling, but instead to base labelling on clear information to consumers. Read the letter here:



	Ecolabelling should not apply to foods!
	October 2008 - The IFOAM EU Group sent a letter to the head of the Ecolabelling unit in DG Environment, requesting that foods should be left out of the scope of the European Ecolabel scheme.



	Most Europeans do not approve animal cloning
	October 2008 - A large majority of EU citizens (84%) said, in a recent Eurobarometer survey, that the long-term effects of animal cloning on nature were unknown. Most people also believe that animal cloning might lead to human cloning (77%), that animal cloning is morally wrong (61%) and that it might decrease the genetic diversity within livestock populations (64%). You can find the full text of the study here:



	Experts called for organic farming to be the future model for European agriculture
	September 19, 2008, Brussels/Hortobagy - Thirty European experts, meeting at the IFOAM EU-organised seminar in Hortobagy/Hungary, welcomed the French Presidency’s initiative to review the CAP post-2013 and called on the EU Council to adopt organic farming as the future model for European agriculture. The seminar participants concluded that the CAP has arrived at a pivotal turning point - budget cuts, rising food prices, production of agro-fuels, climate change, environmental problems, a situation which calls into question the current system of agricultural production and funding. They pointed at the same time that organic farming delivers a unique combination of positive effects to all of the above problem areas and should therefore become overall model for farming in Europe. Full text of the press release:



	The Implementing rules (NIROF) have been published
	September 18, 2008 - The implementing rules were published today in the EU Official Journal: Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production, labelling and control. Official Journal You can choose language version from the country codes list on the top-right of the linked page.



	Implementing rules for imports
	August 29, 2008 - IFOAM EU and IFOAM sent a joint letter to the Head of the organic unit in the European Commission, commenting on the draft implementing rules for imports of July 22, 2008. Read the letter on the revision info page.



	Launch of promotion campaign for organic farming
	July 25, 2008 - The European Commission launched its EU- wide promotion campaign at Foire de Libramont agricultural fair in Belgium. See more and read the Commisison's press release



	Presentation of the working document on the implementing rules on the organic aquaculture on the SCOF
	On June 30th, 2008, the Working Group of the Standing Committee on Organic Farming, Organic Aquaculture, discussed the working document on the implementing rules for organic aquaculture.



	Launch of CAP Health Check plan
	On May 20 the Commission launched its plan for the CAP Health Check at parallel presentation meetings in the European capitals while Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel presented the plan to the Euroepean Parliament in Strassbourg. See the Commissioner's speech here. The IFOAM EU Group released a press statement questioning the fact that the plan by and large disregards organic farming as the most sustainable solution. The Commission's press release can be downloaded here.



	IFOAM EU comments on the implementing rules
	May 19, 2008 - The IFOAM EU Group today sent a letter to the Deputy DG of DG AGRI and the Head of the Organic Farming unit, commenting on the proposed implementing rules of 22.04.2008. See more and read the letter on our revision info page:



	New version of the implementing rules for organic farming
	May 7, 2008 - A new draft of the implementing rules for organic farming has been issued by the European Commission. Read more on our organic revision info page:



	ISOFAR and IFOAM EU Group launch second public consultation on draft Vision for an Organic Food and Farming Research Agenda 2025
	April 29, 2008 - The IFOAM EU Group and ISOFAR have joined forces in initiating the process of drawing up a Research Vision 2025 for Organic Food and Farming. This document aims to outline the future challenges in the area of food and agriculture and the potential of organic food and farming which emphasises sustainability, high quality, ethical concepts and social cohesion. Therefore you are warmly invited to comment to the draft vision. This is the second public online consultation: stakeholders of the whole organic production and processing chain, the economic sector, the industry, national and regional authorities, researchers, European NGOs and the civil society are welcome to contribute to the document. Comments to the new draft of the vision can be still given until Monday, May 12th.



	IFOAM EU signs a letter against cloning of animals for food
	March 4, 2008 - IFOAM EU Group joined Eurogroup for Animals, Friends of the Earth Europe, the European Public Health Alliance, Euro Coop and other organisations, in signing an open letter against cloning of animals for food. The letter calls on the EU Commission President Barroso, the Commission and the EU Member States to introduce a ban on the cloning of animals for food production, and on the import and sale of imported food products from cloned animals and their offspring. You can read the letter below (Press 'More'):



	IFOAM EU Group activities at Biofach 2008
	February 2008 - The IFOAM EU group participated successfully at Biofach in Nuremberg in Germany this year. With more than 9.00 participants at the workshops and 45.000 visitors in total at the trade fair there were plenty of chances to discuss and inform about the work of the IFOAM EU Group at the IFOAM world stand as well as in the workshops arranged by the Group.




	See news archive - news up to December 2007: