Federbio calls for a single certification system and simpler rules. Market in recovery

A single independent national commission to regulate the organic market independently from the conventional one and to establish the right price per product category. This is the request made by the14 associations that are members of Federbio, which - more than a year after the presentation of the 'Manifesto of producers', the agenda that dictates the priorities of the sector - met in Rome at the second assembly of organic and biodynamic producers.

The sector, meanwhile, is improving its performance: the Nomisma survey presented at the shareholders' meeting photographed - last September - volumes and values growing (the figures are trend data) by 4.9% and 4.5% respectively. In July 23 turnover reached 9 billion euro (of which 5.4 billion from the domestic market, 3.6 billion from exports). Nomisma also tells us that, compared to 2012, the number of families buying organic at least once a year has grown exponentially: from 53% to 90%, a trend driven above all by vegetarians, graduates, millenials and families with children, who represent the frequent users of the organic market.

The meeting held at the headquarters of the Cia-Agricoltori was an opportunity to recall how the Farm to Fork target of 25% of European agricultural land cultivated organically by 2030 represents an epoch-making change for organic farming, which has gone from being a niche production segment to becoming an instrument of European agricultural policy. And this is all the more true for Italy, which will have to reach the target three years earlier (by 2027) and which is therefore claiming an alleviation on the bureaucratic front, calling for a series of measures: a single certification system, standard control plans, uniform tariffs and a single platform for the exchange of information.

Meanwhile, the EU Court of Auditors has also shone a spotlight, pointing out that the ambitious European targets set by the Green Deal 'will be very difficult to achieve by 2030'. In an audit a few weeks ago, it was Nikolaos Milionis, responsible for the audit, who pointed out that 'the approach of the CAP has improved from an ecological point of view: however, compared to the past, we did not find substantial differences in the agricultural plans of the Member States'.

The moment is crucial.
"We will continue to work together with the sector to arrive at shared solutions in the shortest possible time," commented the undersecretary for Agriculture, Food Sovereignty and Forestry, Luigi D'Eramo. "Simplification and the reduction of bureaucracy for businesses are a common goal," he continued. We also aim to communicate the quality and safety of our products through an 'Italian organic' brand, which will help to give new impetus to the specificity and value of our production'.