“Fair Price” and Bureaucratic Streamlining: Requests from the Organic Producers’ Assembly to Strengthen the Sector
On October 30, 2024, the second National Assembly of FederBio’s producer members, “Organic Gathering,” was held in Rome. The event aimed to give a voice to the 14 associations representing over 50,000 organic and biodynamic farmers and livestock breeders, a vital part of the agri-food supply chain.
More than a year after the launch of the “Organic Producers’ Manifesto”, the assembly served as an opportunity to assess policies supporting the sector and to promote chemical-free agriculture. One of the main topics discussed was the “fair price” for organic products, increasingly relevant for ensuring environmental and socio-economic sustainability and promoting organic consumption. The core message from the debate was: “We need a fair price for organic products that supports the production of clean, healthy food, ensures farmers’ income, respects workers’ rights, and makes quality food accessible. A price that is set independently from the conventional market and that supports the growth of Italian organic agriculture.”
Another crucial issue was reducing bureaucratic complexity, beginning with the establishment of a unified national certification system, featuring standardized fees and control plans approved by a competent national authority. A streamlined certification system is also essential for setting a fair price. The organic sector is thriving, with almost 94,500 operators — about 85,000 of whom are producers — and with 19.8% of agricultural land dedicated to organic farming (source: Bio in Figures 2024). The organic market has seen a +4.9% increase in volume and a +4.5% increase in value over the past 12 months, surpassing €9 billion in sales, with exports that have doubled in value from 2012 to 2023 (source: Nomisma for the Sana Observatory on Nielsen data). This upward trend confirms Italy’s European leadership in organic agriculture. Organic farming, supported by the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, aims to surpass intensive farming models and promote agroecological transitions across Europe.
However, to maintain its European leadership and support the growth of Italian organic production, the sector urgently needs a reduction in bureaucracy and lowered costs for farmers.
Last year, during the first assembly, the “Producers’ Manifesto” was presented, a document listing the requests of the organic sector to the government, institutions, and political forces to make it a strategic asset of “Made in Italy.” More than a year after its release, the need to accelerate organic growth is more evident than ever. The climate crisis and conflicts near Europe’s borders have shown the urgent need for sustainable agri-food systems. Price instability in energy and food commodities, along with a dramatic increase in extreme weather events, all point to the need for policies supporting agriculture that can preserve soil fertility, capture carbon, and make efficient use of water resources, which are becoming increasingly scarce.
The “Producers’ Manifesto” highlights that “proper organic farming practices require the adoption of specific organizational and management models, such as crop rotation and land-based livestock farming, as well as techniques and technologies that result in production costs which cannot easily be adjusted based on market trends.” It further states, “Achieving 25% of European agricultural land dedicated to organic farming marks a monumental shift, making organic farming a tool for European agricultural policy, essential for providing innovative solutions for the ecological transition of agriculture and contributing to climate change mitigation and biodiversity protection.”
The sector is therefore requesting a “fair price” to be set by a National Single Commission (CUN) that would regulate the organic market independently of conventional products.
Download the MANIFESTO from the following links:
The organic producers’ assembly was supported by “Being Organic in the EU.”
