"Germany: "We need a fresh start for the EU organic farming regulation"
Schmidt stated that the era of conflict between conventional and organic farming was over, and that both forms of farming were needed. He added that the organic sector was a sunrise industry. He said that the sector was recording above-average growth rates and had recently achieved an annual turnover of approx. EUR 7.5 billion in Germany. These parameters testify to the industry's success.
He criticised the complete overhaul of the Organic Farming Basic Regulation that is planned by the EU Commission. He said that the proposed massive changes would present significant obstacles to the organic farming sector. He went on to say that they would rashly do away with necessary flexibility arrangements and introduce separate threshold levels for residues in organic foodstuffs. He stated that this was all fraught with problems. Schmidt said: "This Commission draft will weaken rather than strengthen organic farming and we cannot let that happen!"
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