The EU Regulations sets out a number of objectives for organic production including meeting consumer expectations, excellent environmental performance and high animal welfare. The detailed production rules are regularly reviewed to ensure that on farm practice comes as close as possible to fulfilling these goals. For organic pig and poultry production this means that the emphasis remains on the move to 100% organic feed and working towards the use of organic pullets. Previous attempts at making progress in these areas have not succeeded. In this presentation I will give an update on these issues first from the perspective of the European organic movement as represented by the IFOAM EU Group, and second from the point of view of the organic certification bodies who are responsible for implementing the transitional rules.
