Oliver Moore: Department replies to OFRB concerns
OFRB chairman, Pádraig Finnegan, questioned the need for the organic certification bodies (OCBs), claiming that Bord Bia should do the task instead of the OCBs — because farmers “must pay outrageous fees to private certification bodies ... the joint committee recommended that the Department should attempt to reduce the duplication of inspections by making Bord Bia the certification body”.
When this column put the above to the department, it replied: “Ireland has opted to delegate authority in this area to a number of organic control bodies, and does so by way of service agreements.
"This is in common with the approach of many other MS (member states), including Austria which has been identified as an example of best practice by the OFRB.
“The approach that is taken in Ireland is a totally open one — any organisation who meets the requirements can apply to be an OCB.
"The registration fee applying is entirely a matter between that organisation and its members — many of these organisations act as representative bodies for organic farmers as well, in fact, they are by far the biggest representatives of producers in the sector.
“The department would not favour giving one body a monopoly in this area.”
Perhaps ironically, the OFRB had cited Austria as having two standards, with one less strict. This could be seen as unfair on Ireland, with especially its high standards.
The department asserted that it “routinely reviews best practice in all member states, most recently as part of a detailed systems audit of its procedures in tandem with an EU DG Santé audit.
"Definitions of ‘organic’ are laid down by EU regulation, however, and cannot vary from MS to MS. We do have additional controls in place here in relation to origin of organic stock, which we believe strengthen our hand in what is already a very competitive export market by ensuring that we not simply meet the standard laid down by the EU, but in some cases exceed it.
"This is a key element of delivering the highest quality product to market. We have no plans to change that.”
Of course, to be fair to the Department, there is some evidence of Irish organic meat products displacing Austrian organic products in German markets.
The minister of state in the Department of Agriculture, Andrew Doyle, appeared before the joint committee on February 22. He was in fact chair of the joint committee previously.
What Doyle pointed positively to an increase in numbers joining the organic farming scheme. Senator Paul Daly, however, saw this as only part of the numbers game: “There is a large dropout rate and people revert to the conventional farming after five years.”
Senator Victor Boyhan seemed confident that Origin Green could “reinforce this Irish brand of good, sustainable organic food, and all the issues relating to the source of integrity”.
Regarding delayed payments, which Doyle is experiencing as a farmer himself, he stated that there “are individual issues with organic applications, there are 300-odd left”, a team in his department is “trying to iron out and pay different partial identifications”.
Senator Michelle Mulherin raised an interesting but ultimately unanswered concern: “The insecticide flupyradifurone, which is being developed by Bayer. The company was seeking permission to license, distribute and sell the product in this country.
"A number of concerns have been expressed in regard to its impact on food production and biodiversity. It has been stated it poses a particular threat to the honeybee.
"What is the State’s view on this? I acknowledge there are many differing views but there is a body of scientific data expressing concern over the use of flupyradifurone. What is the State’s intention regarding its use?”
It was a breath of fresh air. It breezed past and was never mentioned again.
