The Availability of Organically Reared Livestock in the European Union

The first regulation on organic farming (Council Regulation EEC No 2092/91) was drawn up in 1991, laying down the rules for farmers wishing to claim official recognition of their organic status. Since 1991, this Regulation has been amended on numerous occasions, in particular in August 1999 by Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999, which extended its scope to cover organic livestock production. According to this Regulation organic livestock production should take place in organic conditions; namely that livestock must come from production units in the organic production system and throughout their life, this system of production must be applied. However, at the time of implementing these harmonised rules for organic livestock production, the current development of the sector was such that there was not a sufficient range of organically reared livestock species (including both livestock species for production and livestock species for breeding) and breeds available on the market. Section 3 of Part B of Technical Annex I therefore provides a number of derogations to the general principle of organic production, including a derogation that livestock must come from production units in the organic production system (hereafter referred to as "the derogation"). These derogations have been extended and slightly amended on a number of occasions in recent years. However, it is acknowledged that these derogations cannot be extended indefinitely without justification. Moreover, the European Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming clearly states that end dates of the transitional periods for the derogations should be respected to ensure the integrity of organic agriculture. The aim of this Study was to carry out an economic analysis to assess the availability of organically reared livestock in the EU-25 and to evaluate the impact of the removal of the derogation that livestock must come from production units in the organic production system on the economic sustainability of the organic livestock sector in selected EU Member States. A case study methodology was used to carry out this economic analysis, focusing on pig, egg and broiler production systems in selected EU Member States. The Study found that most countries make full use of the derogation on sourcing non-organic livestock. However, the extent to which this derogation is used was found to vary considerably by livestock species and Member State. The notable exceptions to this general rule were: Organic broiler production. In Austria (virtually) all organic broiler production takes place without using the derogation and the UK a significant proportion of organic broiler production takes place without using the derogation. Organic egg production. In the UK a significant proportion of organic egg production takes place without using the derogation. Organic pig production. In Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, a significant proportion of organic pig production takes place without using the derogation. In Portugal, organic pig production was also found to take place without using the derogation, but significantly the organic replacements used were found to originate from units within the organic production system itself and throughout its life this system of production is applied.