WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1356/98 by Allan MACARTNEY to the Commission. Proposed USDA standards for organic foods
C 31/36 Official Journal of the European Communities EN 5. 2. 1999 Thus, only government indebtedness towards the rest of the economy is taken into consideration, while those government liabilities which correspond to financial assets held within the government sector are excluded. To establish figures for government debt in accordance with this definition, government debt held within the government sector itself is netted out. In recent years, Member States have limited their government debt through recourse to increased consolidation, by inducing those government agencies which hold significant portfolios of financial assets to invest a growing proportion of their assets into government paper. For example, social security funds in Denmark and Finland have been restructuring their portfolio towards increased holdings of government debt over recent years. In Finland, such consolidation operations amounted to 4. 5 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) in 1995. (1999/C 31/044) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1356/98 by Allan Macartney (ARE) to the Commission (7 May 1998) Subject: Proposed USDA standards for organic foods What action does the Commission intend to take with regard to proposals by the United States Department of Agriculture setting out new standards for all organic agriculture in the USA? Is the Commission concerned about the extension of foods which can be classified as organic, in particular the inclusion of foods which have been genetically modified? Has the Commission considered the impact these rules could have in the European market and any implications under GATT which could mean that European consumers are no longer able to chose traditional organic foods? Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission (18 June 1998) Under the arrangement provided under the World trade organisation (WTO) agreement on technical barriers to trade (TBT), the Commission submitted comments to the United States on their proposed regulation for organic farming taking into account the experience on the application of Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (1) and scientific and technological progress. The Community has well developed rules for the production and labelling of organic products. Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 provides in Article 11 for a regime of equivalency for products imported from third countries. This regime is managed either by the Commission (Article 11. 1) or, as is currently the case for products from the United States, by the Member States (Article 11. 6). The Community requirements provide that before products from third countries are placed on the market in the Community as organic products, it must be demonstrated that the products were produced in accordance with production standards and inspection arrangements equivalent to those applied to Community production. Similarly, the draft United States regulations on organic farming include provision for equivalency for imports of organic products from other countries, including the Community, into the United States. As for genetically modified organisms (GMOs), their acceptance in organic products was in the initial draft American national organic programme and the Community expressed its concern in its comments on the American notification under the TBT. As a result of the comments received, on 8 May 1998 the American agriculture secretary announced that the American department of agriculture would make fundamental changes in their proposed rules for national organic food standards. The inclusion of the products of biotechnology, the use of irradiation in food processing and the application of biosolid will not be included in the revised rules and will not bear the organic label. Such a change will be in line with the Codex guidelines on organic farming which are currently under discussion which provide for a prohibition of the use of GMOs in organic farming. (1) OJ L 198, 22. 7. 1991