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Imprint
Improvement of the EU organic control and certification system through the integration of digital certification, product transaction, and geographic data, and the development of an implementable technological concept using the example of the grain chain - subproject Thünen Institut
Project
Project code: 2818OE137
Contract period: 01.02.2021
- 31.01.2023
Budget: 30,057 Euro
Purpose of research: Applied research
Keywords: data collection, production, remote sensing, information-communication technology, food safety, market information / market transparency, process quality, traceability, value chains, organic farming
Production processes as well as control and certification have been regulated by the EU Organic Regulation since 1991. In Germany, the Organic Farming Act implements EU legislation, in particular regulating the approval of inspection bodies. The EU organic regulation has been revised several times. For example, risk-based procedures were introduced to uncover violations and wilful fraud. The ongoing revision provides for further improvements. Several large cases of fraud as well as the reports of the European Court of Auditors have underlined that the further development of the EU Organic Regulation will not sufficiently close the known loopholes for fraud. Concrete measures were proposed by various parties involved, but these were not taken up or only insufficiently. The opportunities that arise from digitization and the availability of data from external sources, e.g. geographic information systems, were not considered, although these are already used successfully in the control of programs of the CAP. The Covid19 pandemic has impressively demonstrated that, if on-site inspections are no longer possible, exceptions to the control procedures must be allowed and remote audit techniques be implemented short-term. In essence, the weaknesses are particularly evident in the lack of the requirement to collect relevant data mandatorily, to link it from individual fields across the entire product chain (traceability of certification and product transaction data). The availability of data plays a decisive role here, and the EU could regulate the digital collection of these data. With the proposed project to improve the organic control and certification system, in particular through the integration of certification and product transaction data, geographic information systems, and suitable methods of the Internet of Things (IoT), the project partners will develop recommendations for its further development.
Section overview
Subjects
- Agroeconomics
- Organic Farming
Framework programme
Federal Organic Farming Scheme and other forms of sustainable agriculture (BÖLN)
