Welcome Note March 2023

Dear Readers,

Welcome to the March edition of our newsletter! We are excited to share with you the latest news and updates from the organic sector and movement.

As you may recall, we sent a special, multilingual edition with an outlook on 2023 in February. Did you miss it? You can still catch it up here in EN, CZ, DE, ES, FR, HU, IT, LT, NL, PL, PT, RO.

This is why in the current edition we cover news and events from the end of 2022 and the first three months of 2023, an especially busy period for Brussels and hence for our organization.

The IFOAM Organics Europe team is closely monitoring the many legislative initiatives being launched as part of the Farm to Fork strategy. We are committed to providing political and technical input on behalf of the organic sector and movement. The feedback, the experience and knowledge of our members are key in those activities.

In this newsletter issue you will find updates on several initiatives, including the ones related to: sustainable use of pesticides, nutrient cycles, substantiating green claims, GMOs and New Genomic Techniques (NGTs), Common Agriculture Policy, deforestation, carbon farming and promotion policies.

We are also, as always, actively involved in the implementation of several EU funded projects. You can find updates on projects on intercropping (IntercropValuES) on strengthening the networks of organic fruit growers (BIOFRUITNET) as well as on promotion (BEING ORGANIC in EU).

In addition, we are excited to announce two upcoming events. The Organic Food Conference will take place in Sansepolcro, Tuscany, Italy on May 22-23, 2023, in collaboration with Aboca and the EU project “BEING ORGANIC in EU”. We are also co-organising the European Organic Congress 2023 in Cordoba, Spain, with Ecovalia.

Finally, we are thrilled to announce that, as of March 2023, we have officially moved to our new office! We are looking forward to this new chapter and the opportunities it brings. The new office in rue Marie-Thérèse 11 1000 – Brussels will not only be the workplace of our staff, but they will also host the new Organic House, the home of the organic movement in Brussels.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for updates on making Europe more organic!

Best regards,

Eduardo Cuoco

IFOAM Organics Europe Director