Currently, there is limited communication, coordination and data exchange between state and federal authorities involved in supervising certification bodies or analyzing food along the food chain. This not only inhibits the prompt tracing of irregularities, but it also impairs the forwarding of relevant information to concerned authorities and agencies. An example is that according to EN 45011 a list of certified products must be published, but because of data privacy concerns, these lists are not made public in their entirety in a timely fashion.
Good Agricultural Practices?
“Broadly defined, a GAP approach aims at applying available knowledge to addressing environmental, economic and social sustainability dimensions for on-farm production and post-production processes, resulting in safe and quality food and non-food agricultural products. Based on generic sustainability principles, it aims at supporting locally developed optimal practices for a given production system based on the desired outcome, taking into account market demands and farmers constraints and incentives to apply practices. However, the term “GAP” has different meanings and is used in a variety of contexts. For example, it is a recognized terminology used in international regulatory frameworks as well as in reference to private, voluntary and non-regulatory applications that are being developed and applied by governments, civil society organizations and the private sector.”
Several farmers’ associations, although appreciating the need for inspection and thorough documentation as part of the special status of organic farming, have criticized the lack of harmonization in the documentation requirements and the farm inspection methods. Indeed, the criteria used and the sanctions imposed by the Ministry of Agriculture differ in several points from those of the Ministry of Social Security. The differences are mainly due to the fact that the Ministry of Agriculture focuses on environmental protection, whereas the Ministry of Social Security focuses on consumer protection.
Local roots also ensure certifiers a better level of information through their involvement in both formal and informal communication networks. Thus operator peer-control can play a role in identifying potential problems, and not limit control of an organic farm or processor to the yearly visit(s). As long as supervision ensures the impartiality of the certifiers, these are valuable features of a certification system that aims at doing justice to the needs of organic farming.