COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE, contributing to Sustainable Development: The role of Fair Trade and nongovernmental trade-related sustainability assurance schemes" from EU Commission of 5 May, the commission "Reiterates the importance of maintaining the non-governmental nature of Fair Trade and other similar sustainability schemes throughout the EU. Public regulation could interfere with the workings of dynamic private schemes." I could not agree more. The EU has had a similar approach to environmental labelling, where it does run an own scheme, but it has not regulated or banned other environmental labelling schemes.BUT it is very hard to see the logic why the EU thinks that organic labelling needs regulation. Fair trade labelling, eco labelling and organic are all sustainability labelling schemes and the arguments for staying out of regulation are the same for all of them. When the commission says:
"Regulating criteria and standards would limit a dynamic element of private initiatives in this field and could stand in the way of the further development of Fair Trade and other private schemes and their standards." this is equally true for the organic sector.
There will be scandals and fraud without a regulation - but they are there also with a regulation...
You have a very good point.
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taken from the link you provided, the Commissions writes:
ReplyDelete"At this stage, the Commission;
• Reiterates the importance of maintaining the non-governmental nature of Fair Trade and
other similar sustainability schemes throughout the EU. Public regulation could interfere with the workings of dynamic private schemes."
Exactly, could not be said more succinctly.
Looking back, did the organic movement make a mistake back in the 1980, early 1990s when they approached the commission asking for legislation regulating standards, controls etc? I think so, making organics a part of CAP, subject to supranational and national bureaucracies, has brought nothing but grief. I guess the original reason was that the organic movement needed help with combatting fraud but was it worth relinquishing power over standards, controls, labelling.......
Simple answer, no.
Åke