Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91

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Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91

I (Acts adopted under the EC Treaty/Euratom Treaty whose publication is obligatory) REGULATIONS Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 37 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (1 ),

Whereas:

(1) Organic production is an overall system of farm management and food production that combines best environmental practices, a high level of biodiversity, the preservation of natural resources, the application of high animal welfare standards and a production method in line with the preference of certain consumers for products produced using natural substances and processes. The organic production method thus plays a dual societal role, where it on the one hand provides for a specific market responding to a consumer demand for organic products, and on the other hand delivers public goods contributing to the protection of the environment and animal welfare, as well as to rural development.

(2) The share of the organic agricultural sector is on the increase in most Member States. Growth in consumer demand in recent years is particularly remarkable. Recent reforms of the common agricultural policy, with its emphasis on market-orientation and the supply of quality products to meet consumer demands, are likely to further stimulate the market in organic produce. Against this background the legislation on organic production plays an increasingly important role in the agricultural policy framework and is closely related to developments in the agricultural markets.

(3) The Community legal framework governing the sector of organic production should pursue the objective of ensuring fair competition and a proper functioning of the internal market in organic products, and of maintaining and justifying consumer confidence in products labelled as organic. It should further aim at providing conditions under which this sector can progress in line with production and market developments.

(4) The Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament on a European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming proposes to improve and reinforce the Community's organic farming standards and import and inspection requirements. In its conclusions of 18 October 2004, the Council called on the Commission to review the Community legal framework in this field with a view to ensure simplification and overall coherence and in particular to establish principles encouraging harmonisation of standards and, where possible, to reduce the level of detail.

(5) It is therefore appropriate to define more explicitly the objectives, principles and rules applicable to organic production, in order to contribute to transparency and consumer confidence as well as to a harmonised perception of the concept of organic production.

(6) To that end, Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (2) should be repealed and replaced by a new regulation.

(7) A general Community framework of organic production rules should be established with regard to plant, livestock, and aquaculture production, including rules for the collection of wild plants and seaweeds, rules on conversion, as well as rules on the production of processed food, 20.7.2007 EN Official Journal of the European Union L 189/1 (1 ) Opinion delivered on 22 May 2007 (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(2 ) OJ L 198, 22.7.1991, p. 1. Regulation as last amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 394/2007 (OJ L 98, 13.4.2007, p. 3).

including wine, and feed and organic yeast. The Commission should authorise the use of products and substances and decide on methods to be used in organic farming and in the processing of organic food.

(8) The development of organic production should be facilitated further, in particular by fostering the use of new techniques and substances better suited to organic production.

(9) Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced from or by GMOs are incompatible with the concept of organic production and consumers' perception of organic products. They should therefore not be used in organic farming or in the processing of organic products.

(10) The aim is to have the lowest possible presence of GMOs in organic products. The existing labelling thresholds represent ceilings which are exclusively linked to the adventitious and technically unavoidable presence of GMOs.

(11) Organic farming should primarily rely on renewable resources within locally organised agricultural systems. In order to minimise the use of non-renewab...

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