VANDANA SHIVA: "ORGANIC FARMING CAN FEED THE WORLD"
"The $1.2 billion the World Bank says will solve the food crisis in Africa is a $1.2 billion subsidy to the chemical industry. Countries are made dependent on chemical fertilizers when their prices have tripled in the last year due to rising oil prices. I say to governments: Spend a quarter of that on organic farming and you've solved your problems."
Vandana Shiva, Indian physics professor and Organic Consumers Association Advisory Board Member, speaking in Italy in response to the UN food summit in Rome last month, where the World Bank pledged $1.2 billion in grants to help with the food crisis, most of which is earmarked for chemical fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified (GM) crops. [+] 

 BIOFACH CELEBRATES INDIAN PREMIERE IN 2009 
The international BioFach family is growing again: The first BioFach India takes place in the Bombay Exhibition Centre in the Indian metropolis of Mumbai from 29.4 to 1.5.2009. The youngest daughter of the proud mother BioFach Nürnberg, the World Organic Trade Fair, is organized by NürnbergMesse. Nürnberg Global Fairs, its international subsidiary, is responsible for the organization of the event. The exhibition will be supported locally by the Indo-German Chamber of Commerce. BioFach already brings together a total of 3,700 exhibitors and more than 100,000 trade visitors from all over the world. The organizers assume more strong growth through BioFach India. After Japan, the USA, Brazil and China, it is the fifth offspring of the world’s biggest platform for the organic industry. [+]

 25 % OF ORGANIC FARMING LAND IN SPAIN USED FOR GROWING OLIVES
TOlive oil is one of Spain’s most important organic products, reports the latest issue of Europa Agraria. According to the Ministry of Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries, olive groves account for 25 % of organic farming land in Spain. Andalusia with more than 42,000 ha is the region with the largest area of organic olives in Spain, followed by Extremadura with almost 35,000 ha. In the processing sector there are 265 organic olive oil mills, of which 100 are in Andalusia, 39 in Extremadura, 33 in Valencia, 28 in Catalonia, 22 in Castile and 13 in Aragon.
The organic olive producers have a forum called Ecoliva, whose next meeting is in Jaen in October 2008. The forum deals with issues like marketing and consumption of organic products, the quality of local organic olive oil, organic production and biodiversity.[+]

 BASF TO REVEAL ECO-TEXTILE INITIATIVES
BASF, the German multinational chemical company, will be unveiling its range of ecological solutions for the textile industry at the end of July, reports Ecotextile news.
"Ecology is certainly not new to BASF, but a special focus on consumer safety, resource saving and especially climate protection is crucial as this will be a major challenge to the textile industry in the near future," explains a spokesman.
"Formaldehyde has been under scrutiny for many years. The regulatory standards, as well as requirements of retailers and brands are becoming increasingly strict," said the company.
BASF also says that resource saving is becoming a more important aspect of the whole textiles and sustainability debate, claiming that its 'Ecosoft' printing system significantly reduces the consumption of water and energy compared to reactive printing – due to its shorter processing time. [+]

 YEMEN INTERESTED IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE 
Dr Mansoor Al-Houshali, the Minister of Agriculture and Irrigation, said that organic farming is an alternative to chemically-dependent agriculture. "These are global trends due to the increase of diseases and environmental changes worldwide," he said. The Yemeni government wants to encourage organic farming, especially after agricultural technicians found an insect that combated aphids, which helped protect fruit trees in the area. As a result of this discovery, Yemen won a prize from the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).
Lebanon's former Minister of Agriculture Dr Adel Qirtass suggested that there should be an institution in Yemen and then a regional one for the whole Arab World that is concerned with agricultural standards to help Yemeni organic farm products reach the global markets. [+]

 IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS PASSED
The implementing regulations for the new EU Organic Regulation were passed on 2 July 2008. They are to take effect in January 2009 and be published in the Official Journal of the EU in August. One positive aspect is that it is now clear which of the additives and processing aids listed in Annex VIII will have to be included in the calculation of recipes with effect from the beginning of 2009.
The IFOAM EU Group welcomes that the new regulation includes important definitions and clarifications, and appreciates that the Commission has taken on board a number of the issues pointed out by the IFOAM EU Group. But the IFOAM EU Group is far from satisfied. "We regret that we will have to start with a set of rules that already contains serious flaws from the beginning. The very short time frame left for implementing the rules in the member states before January 2009 is of major concern for the sector," said Francis Blake, IFOAM EU Group President. There is still work to be done on the more problematic areas such as poultry production, reviewing the permissible inputs and the processing rules.
"We find it a step backwards that the limits for manure input and stocking densities are less fixed now, with unclear consequences for the implementation at Member State level says Sabine Eigenschink, the IFOAM EU Group's Regulation Expert.

 AUSTRALIA'S FIRST NO-OXYGEN MILL
Organic processors are well ahead in the trial of innovative, all-natural food technologies.
Certified organic miller and Biological Farmers of Australia Roadshow sponsor, Z Mills, is launching Australia's first no-oxygen, zero light and low-heat mill. The Alligrator mill will use up to thirty percent less energy than its conventional equivalents while retaining grain roughage, essential oils, minerals and fibre that substantially increase the nutritional value of processed grain product staples such as flour. For the first time, the mill will also be able to process hard grains such as brown rice and hemp without rancid effects, opening up the opportunity for entirely new product lines. And the shelf life of no-oxygen milled products could be as long as two years.
"A large blade, similar to a lawnmower blade, spins the grain through the air at around 400 metres per second. Processing occurs as grain impacts with grain – effectively the grain mills itself," Thomas Cunliffe, Z Mills CEO, says. The mill operates at around 4 degrees Celsius in an oxygen-free environment. [+]

 EU PLANS TOLERANCE LIMIT FOR PROHIBITED GMOs
The EU Commission intends to abandon the previous zero tolerance policy for non-approved genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food and feedstuff. This would mean that agricultural products like soya, corn or rice contaminated with non-approved GMOs could be imported into the EU in future. Bioland thinks the EU Commission is acting very cunningly. It is not only planning to introduce a tolerance limit of 0.1 %, but wants to give member states additional room to manoeuvre. The countries would then only be obliged to refuse the import of such products if they exceed the EU tolerance limits by a factor of two or three. The EU Commission is thus reacting to the pressure of feedstuff importers and livestock farms.
"The majority of consumers don't want any genetic engineering on their plate. The future of German farming lies in production without genetic engineering," according to Thomas Dosch, President of Bioland. [+]

 SWEDEN SETS NEW STANDARDS 
Sales of organic food in Sweden rose by 26 % to 478 million EUR in 2007, reports ZMP. Every Swede spent an average of 52 EUR on organic products. The organic share of all food sales amounted to some 4.3 %. All trading chains achieved appreciably better results in 2007. 60 % of all Swedish organic food was sold by the Coop with 1300 different organic products on its shelves.
The biggest player in the Swedish food market, ICA, turned over 125 million EUR with organically grown products, a market share of 26 %. Since the beginning of April, ICA has sold products under its own organic label "I love eco", which is also to be used in the other Scandinavian countries. Organic consumption in Sweden's public sector rose by 40 % in 2005-2006.

 INTERNET PLATFORM LAUNCHED FOR BIODEGRADABLE FILMS

The launch of the new online platform organic-plastics.com on 11 June 2008 means that all important questions on organic films are now answered on one website. An extensive organic plastics lexicon, the latest news and articles make the independent knowledge and news portal the first port of call for all industries concerned with organic films.[+]

 GUIDELINE FOR ACTION PLANS

The European Commission and the EU member states welcome the new guideline and toolbox for the development, implementation and evaluation of action plans for organic farming. The guideline and evaluation toolbox are the main outputs of the ORGAP project, which is funded by the European Commission and was set up to help it evaluate the European Action Plan for Organic Farming. The manual is intended to inspire and support the people, organizations and institutions involved in the initiation, implementation, revision and renewal of regional, national and European Organic Farming Action Plans. [+]

  News Ticker                                                            

> Genetically modified sugar will be used in the USA starting this year. The Organic Consumers Association is therefore calling for a boycott of Kellogs products, as the company has refused to manage without GM sugar.

> The IFOAM EU Group deplores the confusion caused by the postponement of the new logo. "The simplest and most popular approach would be for the Council to remove the mandatory obligation," said Francis Blake.