country focus Organic in Highest rate of certified organic in the EU Organic farming has a long history in Austria, not least due to the fact that Rudolf Steiner, the founder of the bio-dynamic farming movement, was an Austrian. Currently approximately 10% of Aus- trian farms are certified organic, the highest percentage in the EU.

he organic movement in Aus- fresh milk (9%) and milk products: tria started in 1927 with two 6% for butter and 5 % for yoghurt. Tpioneer farmers. In 1962 the first organic farmers’ cooperative was Development of organic production established, and training and exten- With the availability of the first gov- sion took on a more formal structure. ernment support schemes for farms in In 1979 the country’s largest organic conversion in the early 1990s, the farmers’ association, Ernte, was estab- number of certified organic farms in- lished. The first common crop pro- creased rapidly, rising from 1,970 duction standards were defined in farms in 1991 to 6,000 farms in 1992. 1980 by the farmer associations and Starting in 1994 direct payments were the standards were codified in 1989 made available for all organic farms into the Austrian Codex Alimentarius. through the introduction of the Agri- In 1994 supermarkets started selling Environment Programme in prepara- organic produce, and two years later tion of the EU accession of Austria in the marketing agency Ökoland was 1995. The growth in the number of established to combine the produce organic farms reached its peak in from the individual farms, thereby 1998 with 20,316 farms. Since then strengthening the farmers’ bargaining the number has declined slightly, fall- position when dealing with large ing to 18,591 farms in 2003. chains. The changes in the number of or- According to AMA Marketing, ganic farms is partially linked to the which publishes Austria’s official sta- country’s regional dynamics. Indeed, tistics on agricultural markets and while some farms in the Alpine areas, , organic products have reached which focus mainly on dairying and a sizable market share. This is partly beef, have reverted back to conven- due to the fact that supermarkets ac- tional farming, there has been a slow count for 70% of organic sales. In but steady increase in arable farms 2002, the largest market share (ex- converting to organic farming, mostly pressed in value) was reached by or- in the eastern part of Austria. In 1995 ganic potatoes (12%), followed by 19% of the country’s total organic

Currently approximately 10% of Austrian farms are certified organic, the highest percentage in the EU.

THE ORGANIC STANDARD © Grolink AB Issue 34/February 2004 2 country focus acreage (198,000 ha) was cropland, Organic legislation in Austria • The Federal Ministry for Economic but by 2002 the proportion of cropland Austria has had a legally-defined na- Affairs and Labour ensures that in- had increased to 32% of the 298,000 tional definition of organic farming spection and certification activities ha under organic management. that covers both crops and comply with EN 45011 (ISO 65). Despite this slow shift, the major- within chapter A.8 of the Austrian Co- • The Federal Ministry for Agricul- ity of organic farms in Austria are still dex Alimentarius since 1983. In ture, , Environment and Wa- in the Alpine areas, which is reflected preparation for the accession to the ter Management focuses on envi- in the percentage of organic farms per EU in 1995, the EU Regulation 2092/ ronmental conservation. It adminis- . In some alpine districts, par- 91 was implemented on 1 July, 1994. ters the Agri-Environment Pro- ticularly in the Salzburg province, up The control and certification proc- gramme of the EU (Reg. no. 2078/ to 50% of the farms are organic, ess for farms, products and proces- 92), offering direct payments to cer- whereas the districts dominated by sors, and the accreditation process for tified organic farmers participating cropland seldom have more than 5% certification bodies is characterised by in the programme. of organic farms. a four-pronged approach (see figure •Private standard setting committees, On these arable farms, most of the below), involving three different min- e.g. of farmers’ associations, enter- land is devoted to small grains (43%), istries as well as private standards: prises or other groups also issue dominated by , which is grown • The Federal Ministry of Social Se- their own standards. on approximately 13,600 ha, followed curity. As the central Competent by with 7,400 ha and with Authority, this Ministry implements Federal Ministry of Social Security. 6,000 ha. Another important crop, not the EU Regulation 2092/91 and fo- This Ministry has a coordinating role least for export, are the potatoes, cuses on its main goal of protecting with regard to the EU Regulation which make up 2.2% of the organic consumers from fraud and produc- 2092/91. Actual implementation is de- crop area (2,100 ha) in the lowlands. ers from unfair competition. volved by the Austrian Food Act to

Overview of bodies involved in control, certification and standards for organic farms and products in Austria

Direct payments for Organic Regulation Accreditation Private Labels organic farms

EU 2078/92 EU 2092/91 EN 45011 Private Standards

Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Federal Ministry of Federal Ministry of Farmer Associations Forestry, Environment and Social Security and Economic Affairs and and/or Water Management Generations Labour Trade/Brand Label Owner

Agri-Environment Programme State Governors Accreditation Service Private Standards Setting Committees State Food Agrarmarkt Austria (AMA) ControlAuthorities

Technical Inspection Service Private Certification Bodies

Farmers Handlers Importers Processors

Adapted from Darnhofer and Vogl (2003)

THE ORGANIC STANDARD © Grolink AB Issue 34/February 2004 3 country focus the nine State Governors, acting Austrian Law for Accreditation on (AMA), the government body that ad- through their respective State Food compliance with ISO 65. There are ministers all market regulations and Authorities. A State Food Authority seven accredited certification bodies subsidies within the Common Agri- issues a provisional approval pending operating in Austria, which are either cultural Policy. The Technical Inspec- accreditation of the certification body. non-profit or for-profit private organi- tion Service of AMA controls the When accreditation is achieved, the sations (see box below). Shares are proper application of the schemes, for certification body receives final ap- held by private citizens, by enterprises which farmers receive direct pay- proval from the state where its head that work in the inspection business at ments. office is located and further approvals large, and by organic farmers’ asso- Within these controls, 5% of - from the other states where it intends ciations. ers participating in the scheme ‘or- to operate and has submitted an appli- ganic farming’ will be inspected each cation. Supervision of the private cer- Federal Ministry of Agriculture. This year, with farms selected according to tification bodies is carried out by each Ministry is in charge of implementing a risk assessment system. state, with the supervision of adminis- the Agri-Environment Programme tration and documentation taking (based on Reg. no. 2078/92), which in Private Standards. Besides the legal place in the state where the certifica- Austria encompasses 31 schemes, in- regulations, private standards, i.e. tion body has its head office. cluding organic farming. Farmers can those of an organic farmers’ associa- The Subcommittee for Organic take part in the programme through a tion or a private label, are also used Farming of the Austrian Codex voluntary five-year contract. The pro- for certification. The private standards Alimentarius Committee, which is lo- gramme is administered on behalf of reflect specific concerns and interests cated within the Federal Ministry of the Ministry by Agrarmarkt Austria of the respective groups. For example, Social Security, has the important role of discussing rules and criteria on as- pects not yet covered by the EU Websites of relevant Austrian organisations Regulation. Its bi-monthly meetings are attended by officials from all in- Organic certifiers in Austria: GmbH (AT-O-02-BIO). volved authorities as well as repre- ABG (Austria Bio Garanti), www.lacon-institut.com (Lacon Gesellschaft zur Kontrolle der Austria. www. oekoland.at/ sentatives of all stakeholders, e.g., Echtheit biologischer Produkte kontrolle/index.html) consumers, producers, and retail inter- GmbH (AT-N-01-BIO). est groups. The wide membership en- www.abg.at BIKO, Verband Biokontrolle Tirol sures that the decision process is (AT-T-01-BIO). transparent and decisions have broad SGS, Austria Controll & Co www.kontrollservice-tirol.at support. The Subcommittee also ad- GesmbH, (AT-W-02-BIO). vises the representatives of the Fed- www.sgsaustria.at/bio/index.htm Useful websites: eral Ministry of Social Security in Umbrella organisations of organic their negotiations on the EU Regula- BIOS, Biokontrollservice Österreich farmer associations: tion in Brussels. (AT-O-01-BIO). www.oekoland.at www.bios-kontrolle.at/ www.bioinformation.at Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Labour. The amendment of the SLK, Salzburger Landwirt- Organic farmers associations: EU Regulation (Reg. no. 1935/95), schaftliche Kontrolle GesmbH www.umweltbundesamt.at/ which took effect in 1998, was inter- (AT-S-01-BIO). www.slk.at bioverbaende.html preted in Austria as requiring certifi- cation bodies to be accredited. There- LVA, Lebensmittelversuchsanstalt, Consolidated German version of EU Reg. 2092/91 (including all amend- fore, the Austrian Accreditation Serv- (AT-W-01-BIO). www.lva.co.at ments): ice, which is part of the Ministry of LACON Privatinstitut für Qualität- www.boku.ac.at/oekoland/ Economic Affairs, grants accredita- ssicherung und Zertifizierung MitarbeiterInnen/Vogl/ tion following a formal assessment of ökologisch erzeugter Lebensmittel vogl_verordnung2092.htm the certification body based on the

THE ORGANIC STANDARD © Grolink AB Issue 34/February 2004 4 country focus farmers particularly con- certification of organic production in unification of the current two um- cerned with animal wel- Austria have evolved into a highly brella organisations of the organic fare can join an organic professional and transparent system, farmers associations. This consolida- farmers’ association not least because of the central and tion of the structures would produce known as Freiland, formal accreditation requirement and one all-encompassing organisation, which has regulations on livestock its accompanying supervision. How- ‘Bio Austria’, that would represent all housing, breeding, feeding and veteri- ever, although the first steps for har- Austrian organic farmers and coop- nary medicine that are stricter than the monisation of the work of the certifi- eratives. EU Regulation. These farmers and cation bodies were successfully im- their association advertise their ap- plemented, several areas of the certi- proach to organic farming to gain a fying system still have potential for Christian R. Vogl Institute for Organic Farming comparative advantage. improvement, e.g. to achieve a joint University for Natural Resources and Bio Ernte Austria is the most influ- Austrian catalogue for sanctions. Applied Life Sciences, ential organic farmers’ association, [email protected] with about 50% of all Austrian or- Perspectives for organics in Austria Ika Darnhofer ganic farmers as mem- The number of organic farms in Aus- Institute of Agricultural Economics bers. Its standards are tria can be taken as an indicator of the University for Natural Resources and stricter than those of the fact that, after the rapid expansion in Applied Life Sciences, Vienna Austrian Codex. As early the late 1990s, organic farming is cur- References as the 1960s, the associa- rently facing a plateau phase in Aus- Darnhofer, I. & C. R. Vogl. 2003. tion started to establish an tria. The domestic market seems to be Certification and accreditation of the inspection system and to advertise saturated in most product groups and organics in Austria: implementation, strengths and weaknesses. In: Lockeretz, their organic brand. additional production is mainly ex- W. (ed.). Ecolabels and the Greening of ‘Ja! Natürlich’ is the ported. Thus, new approaches and the Food Market. P. 11-20. Friedman best known trade label in concepts must be found if organic School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Austria and belongs to the farming is to grow further. One ap- Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. supermarket chain Rewe proach might be the creation of ‘eco- European Commission. 2001. Final report (Billa, Merkur). Most organic regions’ where most farmers are or- on a mission carried out in Austria from products of Austrian origin sold under ganic and synergies, e.g. with hotels 5 to 9 March 2001 in order to evaluate the application of Council Regulation this label are produced by farmers be- and restaurants, could be created to (EEC) No 2092/91 to organic farming in longing to Bio Ernte Austria. All or- increase the appeal of the region for Austria. DG Health & Consumer ganic farmers delivering to this and to . Protection, Directorate F – Food and Veterinary Office. other labels, e.g. ‘Natur pur’ of Spar, As far as the organic institutions Vogl, C. 2000. Certification and have to fulfill addi- are concerned, there is currently a re- accreditation in organic farming in tional requirements structuring going on. Indeed, the or- Austria. In T. Alföldi, W. Lockeretz and that go beyond the EU ganic farmers associations, which U. Niggli (eds). IFOAM 2000 –The World Grows Organic. Proceedings of Regulation, Austrian Codex standards used to represent an ‘alternative’ and the 13th International IFOAM Scientific and farmer associations’ standards. were at the centre of a dynamic devel- Conf., 28-31 August 2000, Basel. Vdf Conversely, the retailers also are opment, are now evolving into an es- Hochschulverlag, Zurich. p. 587. Vogl, C. and J. Hess. 1999. Organic bound by a contract with farmer asso- tablished partner for both market and farming in Austria. American Journal of ciations to purchase organic products makers. The vari- Alternative Agriculture 14:137-143. from Austrian farmers first, and for- ous institutions involved with the or- Publications on the structure and eign products only if domestic ones ganic movement, such as the Ministry economics organic farms in Austria can be found under: www.boku.ac.at/iao/ are not available. of Agriculture and the farmer coop- lbwl/publikationen/biolandbau/ eratives, are currently striving for the biolandbau.html Appraisal of the Austrian Imple- mentation As far as the organic institutions are concerned, there is Over the four years since accredita- currently a restructuring going on. tion was implemented, inspection and

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