Last week, an association was formed between organic producers belonging to FNAB (the French organisation for organic agriculture), specialised distributors and consumers.
The aim of the association, which will be called Alternative Bio 2009, is to launch, before the end of the year, a private organic label that will be more demanding than the European regulations introduced in January.
Concerning the threshold of GMO contamination, which the new EU rules failed to address to the satisfaction of French organic producers, Julie Lerou of FNAB stated that what was desired was a zero tolerance policy. She added that farms should not be mixed, but be exclusively for organic production.
The next step, according to the association, will be to finalise a complete list of requirements, which are expected to be similar to those of the AB label prior to the new regulations, with the obvious exception of GMO contamination.
