Organic logo

By PRSD, on Wednesday, September 3, 2008

posted by Cptn

Organic news from Brussels (which we actually got from Tory MEP Neil Parish – see below) is that: “A compulsory EU logo for identifying organic products is to be postponed, after MEPs supported a report authored by Neil Parish MEP, Conservative chairman of the European Parliament’s agriculture committee.

“Originally, the logo was due to come into force on January 1, 2009, however it was too easily confused with similar designs such as Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) labels, and in the UK, the appearance of the word ‘bio’ on labelling was not easily associated with organic produce.

“MEPs have now decided the new logo shall come into force on the July 1, 2010 so that a new logo can be designed.

“Mr Parish told the PRSD: ‘If we went ahead with the current logo implementation date, it would add unacceptable re-labelling costs onto business, and confuse consumers. That is why the European Commission has been asked to think again about the label’s design.

‘Personally, I do not feel organic labelling should be mandatory, however we have lost that battle, so I will continue to press for a clear logo that can easily be incorporated into existing labelling.’”