Organic regulation
changes could trip up firms
FreshInfo
17 November 2008
Looming changes to European organic regulations could catch
out many businesses in the New Year, particularly wholesalers and warehousing
operations, a leading certifier has warned.
From January 1, 2009, a new set of regulations will apply to
the farming, processing and storage of organic food, which will see significant
alterations to the existing rules in a number of areas.
Organic Farmers & Growers (OF&G), which was the
first body accredited by the government to inspect and license organic food and
farming in the UK, is concerned that this change is still not widely known
throughout the sector and that farms and businesses may be unprepared.
OF&G chief executive Richard Jacobs said: “The drafting
of these regulations has been somewhat tortuous and even now not all aspects of
them are clarified. However, they will come into force at the beginning of the
New Year.
“It alarms us somewhat that discussion of this has been
almost non-existent in the industry. We have been briefing our own licensees
for a number of months now, as the new regulations have developed, but there
seems to have been no pro-active attempts by
Jacobs explained that many of the changes would be dealt
with by information flowing down to licensees from their certifier, but there
were still some areas where businesses were likely to be caught out.
“Wholesaling, storage and warehousing will be brought fully
into the new regulations for the first time which, at the moment, is likely to
be a huge surprise to many. Depending upon how they are categorised,
these facilities are going to require varying levels of inspection and
certification and if they are to be compliant they must begin the application
process with a certification body before the New Year."
OF&G has been monitoring the new regulations on an
ongoing basis and maintaining a dedicated section of its website with frequent
updates on the changes at http://www.organicfarmers.org.uk/regulation.
Jacobs added: “Our certification officers are briefed on the
changes as they stand and we’re geared up to provide a swift and efficient
service to the storage, warehousing and wholesale sector if they opt to use our
services. Hopefully any disruption can be minimised
but people need to start taking notice of this now.”
freshinfo.com