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EU Attacks Eco Certs

In a more than surprising move, the European Union is attacking its very own certification system for eco food. By doing so, the EU seeks to pave the way for increased supply, albeit at significantly lower quality, to meet ever-growing demand for ecologic produce and food.

If current EU certification standards should be softened, this would be a significant blow to "mere" official certification which is already seen as inferior to independent international and local certification labels such as "Demeter", "Biodyn", "Bioland", or "Naturland". Buying products certified by these indipendent labels would, then, be the natural choice for the informed individual even more than now.

"Demeter", "Biodyn", "Bioland", "Naturland", and similarly certified products are already a preferred choice by many eco food buyers as they uphold, among others, more stringent controls against residues of GM (genetically modified) and other ingredients. Evading these and similar substances may be the very motivator for many among the eco-food buying population.

Trying to fight the better reputation of these labels, the EU even considers interfering with the free market for another time, prohibiting to advertise the fact that its own EU labelling would, then, be grossly inferior to independent-label eco products. It remains to be seen if consumers will actually fall for that or if well-informed buyers will continue to be unimpressed by this latest sample of super-bureaucrat policy from Brussels.