UK: gov to boost organics

Retailers and food manufacturers in the UK will be encouraged to work more closely and extensively with organic producers under a new 21-point action plan drawn up by the UK government.

The new organic action plan, announced this week by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' (DEFRA​), could presage a fruitful era for organic food production. With sustainable development the latest hot topic in the global economic and political arena, the organic action plan is particularly aimed at identifying ways to achieve sustainable growth in organic farming and food processing.

Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association​, a leading certification body in the UK, said that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs' organic action plan "could lead to the biggest breakthrough in the organic movement's 50-year history"​. Friends of the Earth and the Organic Targets Campaign also welcomed Defra's proposals.

Launching the Action Plan, Organic Farming Minister Elliot Morley said: "This is an excellent example of the whole food supply chain working together to develop a long term sustainable action plan for the organic sector.​

"Organic production has an important contribution to make, alongside other sustainable farming methods, to the future prosperity of our countryside and the choices available to consumers."​

Key elements of the action plan include: an agreement to help UK producers compete effectively on the British market; all certifying bodies should offer certification to base line standards which would incorporate requirements additional to the EU Regulation; clear objectives, including an objective for British organic producers to achieve similar market share levels to conventional producers; and a new Advisory Committee on Organic Food and Farming established in April 2003 to advise Ministers on EC organic standards.

The UK government has also pledged £5 million over 5 years from 2003/04 to support the organic sector's research priorities through the LINK programme.

Organic farmers who have switched from conventional farming to organic methods will be benefit from interim ongoing payments under an amendment to the Organic Farming Scheme. The scheme is also seeking to increase the conversion aid for top fruit production, with an undertaking to develop new specific support measures for organic farming within the new agri-environment scheme structure.

The organic action was developed following Sir Don Curry's report 'Farming and Food: A Sustainable Future'​ that recommended the development of a strategy for organic food production that would address all parts of the food chain.