EU Outlines Labelling Plans for Organic Farming

<div style="text-align: justify;">Organic
farmers across the European Union will soon have to move away from
national labels for their produce and clearly inform consumers that it
comes from the EU, a draft law on organic farming said on Wednesday.
While the European Commission, author of the draft, would like to
encourage greater use of an EU organic logo that it launched in 2004,
it would still allow farmers the freedom to use other labels provided
they include the words ''EU-organic''. The draft, to be discussed by
agriculture ministers next year, requires that at least 95 percent of
the final product must be organically produced to be labelled as such.
Products containing genetically modified (GMO) material may not be
labelled as organic, except for those with up to 0.9 GMO percent
through accidental or unavoidable contamination. The International
Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) welcomed the
Commission's draft law but voiced concern that it failed to address the
thorny issue of liability in cases where GMO material is detected in
organic crops. <br></div><i>Fonte di informazione:</i> «Planet Ark», 22 dicembre