Organic farming

Organic farming is helping to maintain biodiversity and protect natural resources by high quality food production through farming that does not use agro-chemicals and controlled production methods.

Legal regulations on organic farming

The basic acts of Community law regulating the principles of managing production using organic methods are:

1. Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91.
2. Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 in organic production and labelling of organic products with regard to organic production, labelling and control.

Competent authorities for organic farming in Poland

According to the cited Act on organic farming, the following institutions and bodies have competence for inspecting, certifying and supervising organic farming.

1. The minister with competence for agriculture , who authorises certifying bodies that have accreditations with regard to organic farming, in accordance with the Norm EN 45011 General requirements of units operating product certification systems, to inspect and issue and withdraw certificates confirming that the non-processed agricultural produce and the products therefrom, as well as products of animal origin have been produced or processed in accordance with Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.
2. The Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection supervises the authorised certifying bodies in organic farming.
3. Authorised certifying bodies which inspect, as well as issuing and withdrawing certificates of conformity.

11 authorised certifying bodies
in organic farming operate in Poland*

* Status quo on 21nd April 2009
** can be used till the 1st July 2010 when the new EU- standarised code number will become mandatory

Tasks of Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection (AFQI)

In accordance with the Act on organic farming, Agricultural and Food Quality Inspection has the following responsibilities:

• it supervises the authorised certifying bodies,
• it authorises producers to import organic farming products from third countries not contained in the European Commission's list,
• it inspects organic farming products from third countries, including border control,
• it collects and stores information on producers and makes this available to interested subjects.

Within the framework of the supervision over the certifying bodies, the Chief Inspector of AFQI:

• inspects of authorised certifying bodies,
• checks the correctness of inspections conducted by the authorised certifying bodies at producer sites,
• analyses the data supplied by the authorised certifying bodies.

The effective functioning of the control and certification system in organic farming is the fundamental guarantee to the consumer that the organic products on the market were produced in accordance with the applicable regulations on organic farming, are free of remains of plant protection agents and hormones and that artificial fertilisers and genetically modified organisms were not used in their production.

Notification of activities in organic farming

Producers intending to start up activities in organic farming are obliged to submit a Notification of activities in organic farming form to the selected authorised certifying body.
The Notification form can be found on AFQI Inspectorate website ( www.ijhars.gov.pl ).

Authorisation of importers to import organic farming products from third countries
not contained in the European Commission's list

A producer, who is going to import organic farming products into the EU from third countries not mentioned on the European Commission's list, submits the intention to conduct such activities to the selected authorised certification authority and the Chief Inspector of AFQI.

The authorisation for import is issued to the producer on the basis of “Application to issue authorisation to the import of organic agricultural products from third countries into the EU” submitted to the Main Inspectorate AFQI. That form is available on AFQI website ( www.ijhars.gov.pl ). The Chief Inspector of AFQI provides authorisation on the principles specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 to producers for importing organic farming products from third countries not mentioned on the European Commission's list. The authorisation is issued to the producer by way of an administrative decision. The producer applying for this authorisation presents evidence that the production methods and control measures in the country from which the imports are to be effected are equivalent to the production principles and control systems specified in Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.

Labelling of organic farming products

Term organic or its usual derivatives (such as bio, eco etc.) include on the label or other description of foodstuff or feedingstuff are recognise as suggesting to the purchaser that the product, its ingredients of feed materials have been obtained in accordance with the rules of organic production. This term is not valid for non foodstuff products.

The principles of marking organic products and the inclusion of this logo are defined in:

• Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007
• Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008
• Council Regulation (EC) No 967/2008

The label or advertising materials can not include any statements suggesting to the purchaser that the information about the inclusion of the products in the EC control system is a guarantee of the highest quality in organoleptic, nutritional or health terms.