Climate Change and Organic Standards
There is a strong pressure on the agri-food
sector to demonstrate corporate responses to mitigating climate change.
A new trend within this context is the increasing focus on reducing
carbon “embedded” in products. Some environmentalists, farm groups and food retailers argue
that the further distance food travels between farm and consumer the
greater the environmental damage of that product. The Soil Association,
the leading UK private organic certification body, recently published a
proposal to withdraw certification for airfreighted organic products
unless they have “ethical” or “fair trade” certification as well. ITC is
concerned that this proposal is driving up the costs of business for
exporters in developing countries, potentially excluding smallholders,
whilst achieving no measurable reductions in carbon emissions.
In 2007, ITC published
research
by the Danish Institute for International Studies
showing that withdrawing
certification for airfreighted products would have profound local
economic impacts, affecting over 20,000 people connected to the
organic sector in Africa. Land-locked countries depending on
airfreight are particularly vulnerable. A
further study carried out by the
University of Lincoln, reviews the environmental costs and benefits
of importing food and finds that “food miles” is a simplistic and at
times misleading indicator for environmental sustainability.
ITC has made the following submission to the Soil Association’s new
consultation on requiring fair trade certification. ITC recommends
that the proposal is dropped for the following reasons:
- It
is unfair on poor farmers to require “ethical” or “fair trade”
certification as organic agriculture is already delivering strong
poverty reduction effects and
environment benefits. Smallholder farmers will find it particularly
difficult to comply with the new ruling.
- The
Soil Association’s focus on airfreight is discriminatory in that it
ignores other energy intensive areas of the supply chain, for
example, high greenhouse gas emissions associated with beef
production and heated glasshouse production. Organic farmers in the
UK also benefit from energy subsidies.
- The
Soil Association consultation is not wholly transparent.
ITC's submission to the Soil Association consultation is available
here.
The research findings are
available here:
The Economic Impact of a Ban on Imports of Airfreighted Organic
Products to the UK
http:www.intracen.org/organics/documents//Economic_Impact_of_a_Ban_on_Aifreighted_Products.pdf
Airfreight Transport of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables: A Review of the
Environmental Impact and Policy Option
http://www.intracen.org/organics/documents/Airfreight_Transport_of_Fresh_Fruit_and_Vegetables.pdf
ITC, together with UNCTAD and UNEP,
have issued a Joint Statement on the airfreight ban issue:
http://www.intracen.org/organics/documents/Joint_Statement_on_Airfreight_ITC_UNCTAD_UNEP.pdf
Further readings about food miles and
the airfreight ban:
The Soil Association Airfreight Green Paper
http://www.soilassociation.org/airfreight
Joint DFID Defra Position on Food
Miles
http://www.dfid.gov.uk/pubs/files/DFID-Defra-Food-Miles-Position.pdf
Defra: The Validity of Food
Miles as an Indicator of Sustainable Development
http://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/foodmiles/default.asp
DFID/IIED: Fair Miles? Weighing
environmental and social impacts of fresh produce exports from
Sub-Saharan Africa to the UK
http://www.research4development.info/projectsAndProgrammes.asp?OutputID=173492
Food Miles – Comparative Energy/Emissions
Performance of New Zealand’s Agriculture Industry (Research Report
285)
http://www.lincoln.ac.nz/story9430.html
Comparative Study of Cut Roses for the
British Market Produced in Kenya and the
Netherlands
http://www.world-flowers.co.uk/12news/news4.html
