Switzerland

COP: the last meeting Summary Record

The last Committee on Organic Production (COP) meeting was held in Brussels on 28 and 29 October (we published the agenda HERE). 

We publish here the meeting report:

Summary Record COP 28 and 29 October 2020

Source: EU

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Switzerland: farm and pasture slaughtering for improved animal welfare

The Federal Council has given the green light for farm and pasture slaughter. Farmer associations and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture, FiBL, welcome this decision in favour of animal welfare. This decision will enable the respectful and humane slaughtering of livestock. Pilot trials in Switzerland and abroad have shown that animals slaughtered on the farm are subjected to significantly less stress.

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BioSuisse: the 2019 report

According to the new Bio Suisse report, in 2019 the organic UAA reached 16.2% of the total Swiss agricultural UAA, while organic food products reached a market share of 10.3 percent for the first time and 57% of consumers bought organic products daily or several times a week.

A total of 7,300 farms in 2019 were producing according to Bio Suisse specifications in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

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An example from Switzerland: the "Hedge Day"

On 26 October, the first "Swiss Hedge Day" took place in at least nine Swiss regions, from Appenzel to Neuchâtel, and it saw the activity of many volunteers, farmers, citizens planting new hedges in the countryside and carrying out maintenance and improvement work on the existing ones.

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Switzerland: organic still growing in 2018

The Swiss Federal Statistical Office recently published the data on the Swiss organic sector. The total number of Swiss farms (including conventional farms) continued to decrease in 2018, falling to 50,852 units (–1.5%). A decline continued at a similar rate as the previous year (–1.2%). In 2018, the average farm surface in Switzerland was 20.5 hectares, which is twice the average observed in 1980 (10.3 ha).

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Switzerland, a steady growth for organic farming also in 2017

BioSuisse, the reference association of all organic producers in Switzerland, published the 2017 annual report, with the data on organic farming in the Confederation. In 2017, Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein registered 6,423 holdings working according to the Bio Suisse directives - 279 companies "Gems" more than the previous year. The area under organic management increased by about 11,000 hectares, approaching 150,000 ha, or 14.4% of the total UAA.

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BioSuisse: an interesting collection of slides on organic farming

Useful for teaching and vulgarization, dedicated to professionals working for organic farming in Switzerland but certainly useful also for the same category who has to prepare presentations on the topic in other European countries, they are the latest “creation” of  BioSuisse and FIBL: 500 slides divided into 10 chapters including the “who’s who” of organic farming in Switzerland.

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BioSuisse: the 2016 Annual Report

Following the BioSuisse annual report, Swiss and Liechtenstein organic farming continues to grow, with the record of 6,538 active operators. As a result, 6,144 producers now act according to the “Gemma” guidelines of Bio Suisse (“Gemma” is the BioSuisse private standard). These farms cultivate some 140,000 hectares of land, that is 13.4% of the total agricultural area.

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Abbonamento a Switzerland