It aims to revise and strengthen the European Union’s (EU) rules on organic production and the labelling of organic products in relation to:

• the control system;
• the trade regime;
• production rules.

In this way, it aims to:

• create a level playing field for operators;
• harmonise and simplify rules;
• improve consumer confidence in organic products and in the EU’s organic logo.

It repeals and replaces the previous legislation (Regulation (EC) No 834/2007) from 1 January 2022.

KEY POINTS

• The regulation builds upon and broadens the scope of the EU’s legislation on the production and labelling of organic products to also cover products closely linked to agriculture, such as cork, salt, essential oils, cotton and wool.
• It harmonises the rules applicable to organic operators in the EU Member States and non-EU countries through the introduction of a compliance system.
• It simplifies access to the scheme for small operators.
• It reviews the livestock organic production rules and introduces rules for new species, such as rabbits.

Principles

Organic production should:

• respect natural systems and cycles;
• maintain and improve the state of the soil, water and air, and plant and animal health, and the balance between them;
• preserve the elements of natural landscapes;
• use energy and natural resources responsibly;
• produce a wide variety of high-quality products to meet consumer demand;
• ensure the integrity of organic production at all stages of the production, processing and distribution processes of food and animal feed;
• exclude the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and products produced from or by GMOs*, other than veterinary drugs;
• restrict the use of external inputs;
• design and manage biological processes using methods based on risk assessment and the use of precautionary and preventive measures;
• exclude animal cloning;
• ensure a high level of animal welfare.