PRESS RELEASE
Brussels – At the Forum ‘Are we on track to meet 25% of organic food & farming by 2030?’ held on 4th July and kindly hosted by the Representation of the Free State of Bavaria to the European Union, OPTA Europe, the European Association representing organic processors and traders requested a focus on measures that stimulates consumer demand as well as a coherent regulatory framework at EU level that foster organics.
Allard Bakker, CEO of De Groene Weg said: ‘‘It would already make a huge difference if everyone ate organic once a week. Many measures have been identified in the EU Organic Action Plan to promote organics and to communicate their beneficial attributes for consumers and for the planet. In our views, this is the key to increase the share of organic agricultural land”.
Joan Picazos, President of the Spanish Association Asobio said: ‘Reaching new consumers in third country markets represents a tremendous opportunity for growth. We look forward to the upcoming organic international trade agreements for untapped export opportunities.’
President of OPTA Europe Stefan Hipp said: ‘One of the main breaks to the growth of organics is that the different EU policies are not aligned to favour food products with better environmental credentials in terms of soil and water pollution, GHG emissions or biodiversity. We need a positive policy environment, beyond the organic regulation, that gives the extra push we need to achieve organic on every fourth plate in 2030.
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For any enquiry, please contact Aurora Abad, Secretary General OPTA Europe
aurora@opta-eu.org Tel:+32 (0)495 28 18 72
Note to Editors:
OPTA Europe www.opta-eu.org is the membership organization representing the interest of EU organic processing and trade companies, as officially recognized by EU institutions. Its membership encompasses 12 EU Member States plus North America and Switzerland. Taken together, the companies represented by OPTA Europe account for a large share of total EU import & export and processing of organic products.
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