THIS FOLLOWS FROM THE CONSULTATION CARRIED OUT BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION.

The European Commission has published the results of a survey, commissioning during the first half of 2013, around organic food production. The consultation, in online format it obtained about 45.000 answers.

The report highlights that consumers trust organic products (71%), who buy them mainly out of concern for the environment (83%) and because they are free of genetically modified organisms and pesticide residues (81%).

Environmental protection (83%) and confidence in 'bio' production’ (71%) are the other reasons that, along with the rejection of genetically modified organisms and pesticides, lead Europeans to consume this type of diet.

In addition, the 86% of those who participated in the survey are committed to harmonizing ecological standards at European level and a 74% They call for rules to be strengthened in the EU.

Consumer confidence in organic products coupled with a demand for stricter standards in the EU, are some of the main results of the public consultation on the future of organic farming.

The vast majority ( 78%) of respondents were willing to pay more for organic products. More than half of those interviewed also saw it necessary to improve the European control system for organic products..

Regarding animal welfare, more than the 60 % of respondents insisted on strengthening animal welfare standards for all types of production systems. One third of those surveyed (34%) stressed that organic farmers should be obliged to comply with specific animal protection standards, and the 23% considers that animal welfare standards in organic livestock farming should be systematically higher than in conventional livestock farming.

On the other hand, the 49% of those surveyed stated that organic livestock should be fed with food 100% of the same farm or the region while a 27% chose to establish a minimum percentage of food coming from the farm or region.

Only a 16 % considered that if the feed used was organic, could come from anywhere. The majority of respondents (66%) indicated that the solution to address the shortage of organic protein-rich feed in Europe is to introduce initiatives into EU legislation that promote this production of organic protein crops within the EU.. In addition, the 61% considered that a specific strategy should be developed for the production of proteins from organic crops.

This consultation is part of the review that Brussels is carrying out on the legal and political framework for organic farming in Europe., with the aim of designing a new strategy between now and the beginning of 2014, probably for the month of February.