Organic food rules tightened
Thursday, 25 Oct 2007 09:43
Organic food should only be flown in if it is produced in an ethical way, Soil Association says
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Organic food flown into the UK should only keep its status if it is produced in an ethical way, the Soil Association claims.
The group, which is the country's leading certification organisation for organic food and farming, has set out tougher rules for air-freighted food in an attempt to benefit the environment.
Its proposals say that in future all air-freighted organic food will have to meet the Soil Association's ethical standards or the Fairtrade Foundation's standards.
All licensees will also have to develop plans for reducing dependence on air freight under the new Soil Association rules.
By reducing air freight the Soil Association hopes to help the environment as flying products around the world generates 177 times more greenhouse gases than shipping.
Anna Bradley, chair of the Soil Association's standards board said: "It is neither sustainable nor responsible to encourage poorer farmers to be reliant on air freight, but we recognise that building alternative markets that offer the same social and economic benefits as organic exports will take time.
"Therefore, the Soil Association will be doing all it can to encourage farmers in developing countries to create and build organic markets that do not depend on air freight."
Details of the proposals will be consulted on in 2008 and will begin to take effect from January 2009.