Publications - Switzerland Current Evaluation Procedures for Plant Protection Products Used in Organic Agriculture

Contacts
Website: www.fibl.org
Further Information



To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
Publications : Agriculture



Current Evaluation Procedures for Plant Protection Products Used in Organic Agriculture are the proceedings of a workshop held September in Frick, Switzerland, edited by Bernhard Speiser and Otto Schmid. ISBN 3-906081-55-9, published April 2004.

The meeting was supported by the European Commission under QLK5 as part of the project QLK5-CT-2002-02565, ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION') and co-funding by the Swiss Federal Office for Education and Science (BBW 02.0113). Paper copies may be ordered from the FiBL at a cost of 22 Swiss Francs or 15 Euro plus mailing costs (see FiRL shop at http://www.fibl.org/shop). FiBL order number 1341. A PDF version can be downloaded free of charge from the project internet site at www.organicinputs.org or from http://orgprints.org

Foreword

This volume contains a number of articles on evaluation procedures for plant protection products used in organic agriculture. They describe the current situation in different European countries and the USA, and summarize the evaluation procedures in the guidelines for organic food in Codex Alimentarius and in the Basic Standards of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. These articles are based on presentations made at the workshop "Inventory of existing procedures for evaluation of plant protection products used in organic agriculture".

The aim of the workshop was to give an overview of different evaluation systems, and of their interaction with general (i.e. non-organic) legislation on pesticides. The workshop was part of the European Union (EU) Concerted Action project 'ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION', described at the end of this volume.

The range of available plant protection products, fertilizers and soil conditioners (referred to in this volume as inputs) strongly affects quantitative yield, yield security, quality of produce and profitability of crops. It may also affect the environment and the public perception of organic and non-organic farming systems. Thus, the use or non-use of inputs is an important element of agricultural production systems From the point of view of farmers, consumers and policymakers. Organic farming is characterized by a strict regulation of plant protection products, fertilizers and soil conditioners, which precludes the use of the vast majority of all available compounds.

Ac European level, Council Regulation 2092/91 lists all inputs allowed in organic farming. However, the particular inputs allowed on a national level can vary quite considerably from country to country. There are two reasons for this heterogeneity: (i) in addition to EC 2092/91, inputs also have to comply with national legislation. In the case of plant protection products (PPP) . the most important bottleneck is pesticide registration on a national level; (ii) certain aspects of EC 2092/91 are interpreted in different ways in the EU Member States.

The collection of country reports in this volume allows a comparison of the situation in a number of countries, mostly in Europe. This shows the degree of equivalence between countries, and indicates the causes of the heterogeneity found. The aim of this collection was not to give a complete picture of all similarities arid dissimilarities for the whole of Europe, but to highlight the general patterns, and to identify the reasons for the major differences between countries, Finally, it should be kept in mind that input evaluation takes place in a constantly changing environment of regulations and private standards. Ihe articles therefore describe the situation at the time when the workshop was held.

The present collection of reports, all written to a common structure, is unique, and we would like to thank all authors for their contributions, and the Commission of the European Communities for financial support. We hope that this volume will further efforts to create a more level playing field regarding the selection of inputs that European organic farmers are permitted to use.

Frick, Switzerland, April 2004 Bernhard Speiser and Otto Schmid

Contacts

Contact

• Information / Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) SWITZERLAND