IFOAM Organics Europe Meets Business online – a successful event! 8-9 December 2020, online

On 8-9 December 2020, 80 participants, from all walks of the organic supply chain and beyond, joined the 3^rd edition of IFOAM Organics meets business. This event focuses on exchanging knowledge and experiences on political and sectorial developments, their impacts on the organic value chain, as well as the changes that the sector will be confronted with after the entry into force of the new EU Organic Regulation.

Interesting and inspiring sessions as well as a smooth progression from the technical point of view resulted in a successful event!

The full agenda can be consulted on our website. Below a summary of the event.

Attendees of IFOAM Organics Europe meets business can watch recordings of the event on Hubilo until 9 January 2021. To do so, they can click the login link, go to the agenda item they would like to watch and click ‘Watch now’. We will make the recordings available to IFOAM Organics Europe members on the member extranet in the coming weeks.

8 December – Political Day: Farm to Fork strategy, the organic market and Brexit

The event kicked off with welcoming words by Eduardo Cuoco, IFOAM Organics Europe Director. This introductory session was followed by a session on the role that organic can play in transitioning towards more sustainable food systems, especially in the light of the Farm to Fork (F2F) and the EU biodiversity strategies. The exchange between Alexander Beck (AöL), Charles Pernin (Synabio) and Silvia Schmidt (IFOAM Organics Europe) highlighted that the F2F ambitions are currently not integrated enough into EU agri-food policies. The speakers proposed solutions like more sustainable and organic green public procurement, revealing the true cost of food and modernizing eating habits to reach the 25% target of organic land by 2030.

After a virtual networking coffee break using thematic tables, participants gained insights into organic market developments. Linked to this, representatives of different parts of the supply chain provided their ideas on how to reach 25% organic land. The speakers were representatives of IFOAM Organics Europe’s Interest Groups: Kurt Sannen (Bolhuis) represented farmers, Sarah Compson (Soil Association) processors & traders, and Lukas Nossol (Dennree) retailers. They highlighted the importance of being a value-driven movement, the need for financial incentives and a strong coordination across the sector to further develop the market.

As Brexit talks were high on the agenda, the event featured a session on Brexit. Thomas Parry-Jones, Head of Agriculture, UK mission to the EU and Lee Holdstock (Soil Association) gave a state of play of the effects of Brexit on trade on organic products, and replied to questions about the possibility of an equivalency agreement still being in reach between the EU and the UK.

9 December – Technical Day: The EU Organic Regulation, trade & control and integrity of the supply chain

The second day started with a session on the new EU Organic Regulation by Emanuele Busacca (IFOAM Organics Europe), Johanna Stumpner (AöL) and Michel Reynaud (Ecocert, board member of IFOAM Organics Europe). The speakers addressed the legislative process, flavourings, cleaning and disinfection.

The session on the new organic regulation was followed by two discussion tables to interactively explore policies related to organic in an. One of the discussion tables focused on ‘International trade & control and certification’ where participants exchanged with speakers Michel Reynaud (Ecocert) and Emanuele Busacca (IFOAM Organics Europe) on how to improve supply chain and import integrity.

The second discussion table covered food & labelling rules. Participants engaged with Roberto Pinton (Assobio) and Alexander Beck (AöL) about animal welfare labelling, the NutriScore and more.

The day ended with an update on ‘Developing Organic: Pesticide use and contamination’ the project led by IFOAM Organics Europe by Marian Blom (Bionext and IFOAM Organics Europe Vice-President) and a wrap-up by our Director, Eduardo Cuoco.

Attendees of IFOAM Organics Europe meets business can watch recordings of the event on Hubilo until 9 January 2021. To do so, they can click the login link, go to the agenda item they would like to watch and click ‘Watch now’.

If you have any feedback regarding the event, we are eager to hear it! Please contact [email protected] for content-related issues, or [email protected] for technical-related issues.

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