Development and Cooperation: News
OrganicXseeds is now the official database in Bulgaria
(June 9, 2008) According to the EU Regulation on organic farming, European Union Member States must ensure that a database is established in which organic seed and seed potatoes can be registered. Recently, the Bulgarian Government decided to adopt the user-friendly internet database called “organicXseeds”, set up by FiBL. OrganicXseeds is already recognized as the official database in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. This database, now complemented with a Cyrillic version, handles about 10,000 seed products and has more than 1,000 visitors a week. More
GMO residues in organic produce: Course in Frick, Switzerland, November 2008
(January 16, 2008) Organic farming abstains from the use of genetically modified organisms. However, GMOs can inadvertently contaminate organic foods through pollen dispersal, bought-in feeds, or cooperatively used machinery for transport, storage or processing. GMO residues in organic production are a sensitive topic. Therefore, inspection bodies and operators need tools and concepts to handle cases of adventitious presence of GMOs in organic products. FiBL is offering a course from November 4 to 6, 2008, for personnel of inspection bodies and operators (food processing industry or farmers). Info/Registration
Regional Co-operation among authorities in South Eastern Europe
(20.12.2007) Authorities from South Eastern Europe met on December 12 and 13, 2007 in Skopje, Macedonia, to discuss the legal framework of organic agriculture and assess opportunities to facilitate trade with organic products in the region. The Round Table, organized by FiBL and Pro Bio, was hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Macedonia and supported by the Swiss State Secretariate for Economic Affairs seco. More
Security in the Organic Certification; Workshop Documents now available
(15.11.2007) The summary of the discussion among 60 experts at the first European workshop on the prevention of fraud, held on 2 and 3 October 2007, are now available at the FiBL homepage. More
Complementary training manuals for organic agriculture in the tropics
(June 18, .2007) In 2004 the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements IFOAM and the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) published a first training manual for organic agriculture in the Tropics (the Basic Manual). It immediately found wide acceptance.
Now, FiBL and partners of the organic movement in the tropics completed two complementary training manuals, one for the arid and semiarid tropics and one for the humid tropics. More
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