The Fair Trade Movement works towards a holistic concept of sustainability in agriculture integrating the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainability. Supported by funding from the EU, Fairtrade International has developed a comprehensive approach to sustainable agriculture embracing the concept of agroecology. It includes certified organic agriculture as an important sustainable agricultural practice. For the implementation of agroecology, Fair Trade depends on a thriving organic sector in Third Countries.

As the Fair Trade Movement and in the name of over 830 Fairtrade organic producer groups with about 800,000 member families and more than 50,000 worker families, we welcome and support the objectives of the EU Organic Regulation 2018/848 to strengthen the credibility of organic agriculture and to provide a level playing field.

However, we have evidence that 100% compliance with the rules established by the regulation will lead to severe negative unintended consequences for producers in Third Countries, mostly those from low- and middle-income countries in Latin America, Africa and Southern Asia. Many smallholder farmers and many workers still live in poverty or extreme poverty and rely on access to the EU organic market to sustain their livelihoods. However, there is a real danger that the set rules and timelines to implement the regulation will deprive them of their livelihoods.

Read our full position paper here.