It’s called the “Contaminations” Decree and many actors in the Italian organic supply chain (but not all) do not like it. It is the provision that Minister Lollobrigida would like to adopt to implement measures aimed at “avoid the inadvertent presence of substances not permitted in organic production”.
But what is it? And why could it be a fatal blow for our organic agriculture?
In essence, with this decree the Ministry aims on the one hand at zero tolerance for pesticides in organic foods, on the other hand it grants tolerance to those that are contaminations accidental more marked (greater than 0.01 mg/kg). But let’s look specifically.
What does the “contamination” Decree provide?
In the draft ministerial decree “containing provisions for the adoption of appropriate measures to avoid the involuntary presence of substances not permitted in organic production pursuant to article 8, paragraph 8 of legislative decree no. 148 of 6 October 2023”, which should come into force on 1 January 2025, the main issue is the one contained in the articles 3 And 5which concern the presence of non-permitted phytosanitary substances in products of biological origin.
What doesn’t add up
A decree which, according to many operators, could complicate life for a rapidly expanding sector, such as Italian organic farming, which with 19.8% of certified agricultural area has brought our country closer to the objective of 25% by 2030, set by the European Farm to Fork and Biodiversity Strategies. And then?
According to a careful analysis by WWF with the Salvagente – net of what are defined as positions “favorable or ambiguous” of the major Italian organic associations – at the concentrations indicated in the draft the product is placed in “quarantine”. This is why the certifier is required to investigate the causes further if only one molecule is found.
While irregularities arise in the presence of more than one active ingredientalways below 0.01 mg/kg. Therefore the short circuit occurs when the same concentration he comes tolerated in products from agriculture integratedfinanced by European funds, and in the so-called “zero residue” products, where treatments are permitted as long as the traces are below 0.01 at the time of collection.
A real one discrimination which penalizes a sector, the organic one, which, despite the economic crisis, is continuously growing.
In practice in the presence of more than one residue (each < 0.01 ppm) of prohibited substances, the integrity of the organic product is always to be considered compromised. But if the presence (< 0.01 ppm) refers to a single active substance, the certification body activates an official investigation and if the source and cause have been identified and are considered accidental and technically unavoidable, the product can be considered biological.
According to the draft of this Decree, therefore, organic farmers should guarantee the absence of traces of residues which, according to European, national and regional legislation, are technically unavoidable for almost all non-organic farmers, with a clear lack of equity. Organic agriculture has all the potential to become the main sustainable production model in our country, going well beyond the objective of 25% of the used agricultural area certified by 2027, aiming with conviction at 50% by 2034 with adequate future Common Agricultural Policy of the European Union post 2027.
The hope is that the organic associations will ask for the elimination of the two articles of the Decree. The Ministry must immediately convene all the players in the Italian organic supply chain to open a broad reflection on the many difficulties of the sector, which is continuously growing despite an unfavorable economic, social and environmental context, concludes WWF Italy.
