Oliver Moore: Derogations from rules at high level

The Department of Agriculture granted 910 derogations in 2015 — exemptions from the organic rules, due to a verifiable lack of availability of organic inputs.

This is a slight rise on 2014, when, says the Department of Agriculture: “22 derogations were granted for intake of female mammals, and 48 for poultry, one derogation in respect of conversion period and 708 in respect of the use of conventional seed or propagating material.”

The department adds: “In 2015, the number of derogations under the same headings were 21, 45, 7 and 837.”