As the European organic farming sector is quickly developing, an increasing number of inputs for organic agriculture are offered on the European market. Unlike organic food or feed, inputs for organic production are not subject to compulsory inspection and certification, which makes it difficult, if not impossible for an organic farmer to determine whether an input contains only authorized materials.
To address this issue, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL has developed the European Input List (www.inputs.eu), which has been launched at BIOFACH 2018.
Nuremberg, 14.02.2018 . – At BIOFACH 2018, the world´s leading trade fair for organic food, the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL has officially presented the European Input List. This internet-based tool represents a robust, trustable, user-friendly and easily accessible online directory of commercial products compliant with the EU legislation on organic production.
The European Input List allows organic farmers and processors to obtain up-to-date information about products which comply with the relevant EU legislation and principles of organic production. However, not only farmers and processors benefit from the new tool: Manufacturers and traders of inputs for organic production have an interest in demonstrating that their products comply with the organic production rules. The European Input List provides them with a single entry point for product submission. Control bodies, national authorities and policy makers also benefit from the unique online directory, which provides a well-founded baseline for the input quality control system.
The main features of the European Input List are reliability and transparency, which has been requested by the sector for many years.
The European Input List can be accessed at www.inputs.eu
Joining efforts at the international level
The European Input List is a joint effort of several institutions. FiBL Europe is the project coordinator and publisher of the European Input List. FiBL Germany, FiBL Switzerland and InfoXgen, the publisher of the Austrian Input List, are the core partners who provide their technical expertise in product evaluation. These core partners have several decades of experience in producing the national input lists for Germany, Switzerland, Austria and The Netherlands.
Almost 7000 products listed
The European Input List database currently contains almost 7000 products; approximately 3100 fertilizers and soil conditioners, 700 plant protection products and beneficials, 60 plant strengtheners, 600 products for cleaning, disinfection and hygiene, 140 products for parasite control, 1900 feed products and 200 products for food processing. These products were found to comply with the EU organic legislation according to the evaluations conducted by the core partners.
For further information visit www.fibl.org
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