24/03/2011

The eight foremost organic organisations in Europe, including the Soil Association, have formed the ‘Leading Organic Alliance’ to help promote organic farming in Europe, develop and protect organic standards and to exchange best practice in farming, certification and advocacy. The Memorandum of Understanding was formally signed on 16 February at Biofach 2011 in Nuremberg.

The other seven organisations involved in the collaboration are Bio Austria (Austria), Bioforum (Belgium), CAAE (Spain), Debio (Norway), ICEA (Italy), KRAV (Sweden), and Naturland (Germany).

Francis Blake of the Soil Association said: “All our organisations are deeply embedded in the organic movement with similar values and aspirations – we share a common vision of a truly organic world, as encapsulated in the IFOAM principles. However, we all face similar challenges and we recognise that we can achieve our shared aims more effectively by working together rather than separately.” 

Lars Nellmer of KRAV said, “These challenges include the fact that the word ‘organic’ is defined by legislation. Whilst this is a good starting point, there is a considerable gap between this and what is genuinely organic in its deepest sense. We feel it is our responsibility to stay ahead of the legislation to encourage progress in the right direction and to help deepen the public understanding of organic.”

The Leading Organic Alliance has said it welcomes other organisations, both from Europe and further afield, who are able to sign up to the memorandum of understanding.