News
31/10/2024
Fairness & transparency
EU Agri-food Chain Observatory meets: Lack of agrifood data
On 15 October, the EU Agri-food Chain Observatory met for the second time in Brussels and online. Launched this summer,…
LiveSeeding partners discuss project activities on organic seeds & breeding
From 17-20 September, the LiveSeeding project discussed organic heterogenous materials and variety development and business models. During its third general…
Fruitful discussion during LiveSeeding online webinar on organic seed and planting material databases
On 4 July 2024, the LiveSeeding project organised a learning exchange on organic seed databases, using examples from Spain and…
New genomic techniques, what comes up?
Despite significant political pressure to reach an agreement among the EU institutions before the European elections in June 2024, the…
08/05/2024
Fairness & transparency
Commission's proposed measures on unfair trading practices
In April 2024, the European Commission unveiled its non-paper Position of farmers in the food supply chain: next steps. In…
02/05/2024
Seeds
Plant Reproductive Material Regulation legislation could advance organic plant breeding
On 24 April, the European Parliament voted on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation. Members of the European Parliament…
24/04/2024
Seeds
EU Parliament advances organic plant breeding with new PRM legislation vote
BRUSSELS, 24 APRIL 2024 – Today’s vote on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation could contribute to a balanced regulation…
Proposal integrated Plant Reproductive Material Regulation improves after Parliament’s inputs
The EU is revising legislation on plant reproductive material, such as seeds, cuttings, trees, roots, tubers, and clones. Currently, rules…
19/03/2024
Seeds
IFOAM Organics Europe welcomes AGRI Committee vote on Plant Reproductive Material
BRUSSELS, 19 MARCH 2024 – The European organic movement considers today’s vote on the Plant Reproductive Material Regulation (PRM) legislation an…
Entrepreneurship in the organic seeds and breeding sector
Are you an organic farmers or SME managers who is involved in: Join the webinar “Entrepreneurship in the organic seeds…
New digital tool for breeders, seed producers & traders
LiveSeeding is an EU-funded project promoting growth of organic seed and plant breeding to transition to more sustainable food systems.…
05/12/2023
Seeds
Parliamentary committees have started work on proposed Plant Reproductive Material regulation
The AGRI and ENVI parliamentary committees have started their work on the proposed Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) regulation, a file…
Six-fold increase in organic seeds needed in the next ten years in Europe – 2nd European Organic Seed Policy Conference shows pathways to make organic seeds a reality
The Spanish Presidency of the European Union put a spotlight on rural areas and agricultural resilience during a High-level Rural…
Registrations open for the Organic Seed Policy Conference to be held in Poland
In the context of the LiveSeeding project, where IFOAM Organics Europe is a partner, a public Organic Seed Policy Conference…
29/07/2022
Seeds
European Parliamentarians, NGOs and organic sector discuss seed marketing rules
Before the European Parliament’s summer break, the political process reviewing seed marketing rules kickstarted with an event on 22 June.…
24/03/2022
Seeds
New rules vegetative plant reproductive material for organic production
While the new EU Organic Regulation officially entered into force on 1 January of this year, not all details were…
Mainstreaming organic plant breeding – celebrating 20 years of organic plant breeders
‘How to make organic plant breeding mainstream’ – was the guiding question of the 20th anniversary event of the organic…
LIVESEED – Organic seed breeding at the Organic World Congress
The LIVESEED project, which IFOAM Organics Europe co-cordinates, is contributing to the Organic World Congress (OWC) with a colourful program.…
Boosting organic seed & breeding - Policy and stakeholder recommendations
As the LIVESEED project is coming to its end, it has released a synthesis of all its results and recommendations.…
24/06/2021
Seeds
Commission opens public consultation on the review of the seed legislation
The Commission’s Directorate General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) is reviewing the Union’s options to update the existing…
Sustainable food systems innovators, read FAO’s handbook!
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the…
03/05/2021
Seeds
EU Commission presents options to review the common seed legislation
Following a request from Member States in 2019, the Commission has published a study on the options to update the…
LIVESEED webinar for Members of the European Parliament & their staff - 30 March, online
On 30 March, LIVESEED invited Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and their staff to present them the outcomes of…
[Exclusive for members] Let's discuss organic hot topics
As a follow-up of the thematic sessions hosted during BIOFACH, we are bringing our members live sessions during which they…
23/03/2021
Seeds
Secondary legislation on ‘Organic Heterogenous Material’ finalized
The secondary legislation on Organic Heterogenous Material (OHM) is in the process of being finalized and soon to be published…
New router database connects Member States’ organic seed databases
A long-awaited solution for seed suppliers, European organic farmers, and national authorities arrived. The new router database will increase the…
EUCARPIA-LIVESEED Conference - Breeding and seed sector innovations for organic food systems - 8-10 March 2021, online
A conference organised by Latvian LIVESEED partner AREI to present recent scientific results in organic plant breeding took place on…
01/03/2021
Fairness & transparency
Two months left to transpose the EU Unfair Trading Practices Directive
Only two months are left before the deadline for EU Member States to transpose the 2019 EU rules on Unfair…
Coming soon: EU router database for organic seed
The launch of the EU router database’s for organic seed is approaching! This database will : Simplify access to international…
Welcome note November 2020 newsletter
Dear readers, I would like to use this opportunity to look back on a turbulent year, marked with great successes…
First online edition of Organic Innovation Days was a success! 24-25 November, online
On 24-25 November 2020, TP Organics, the European Technology Platform for Organic Food and Farming, held its annual Organic Innovation…
25/11/2020
Seeds
Organic breeders, share your pictures - Use #BreedingABrightFuture on Twitter
#BreedingABrightFuture is LIVESEED’s social media campaign, aiming at raising awareness about the beauty and benefits of organic plant breeding to…
New organic regulations published
Application of the new EU Organic Regulation Originally, the new EU Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848 was set to apply from 1…
12/11/2020
Seeds
Last week to register for the Organic Innovation Days 2020 – Brought to you by TP Organics and LIVESEED - 24-25 November 2020, online
Interested in organic research & innovation to transform food & farming? Interested in organic seed & plant breeding? This is…
Welcome note October 2020 newsletter
Dear readers, As Board Vice President of IFOAM Organics Europe and prospective member of the TP Organics Steering Committee, it…
28/10/2020
Seeds
LIVESEED: Tools and incentives for the value chain involved in organic seed
According to Article 48 of Regulation EC No 834/2007, the establishment of a national database to list all offered organic seed and…
Organic breeders, share your pictures – Use #BreedingABrightFuture on Twitter
#BreedingABrightFuture is LIVESEED’s social media campaign, aiming at raising awareness about the beauty and benefits of organic plant breeding to…
Organic Innovation Days – register now! 24-25 November, online
You can now register for the Organic Innovation Days 2020, the only EU event on research & innovation for organic,…
15/10/2020
COVID19
European Parliament pushes for fast recovery aid
On 13 October, the Agriculture Committee of the European Parliament voted for a fast, targeted and sustainable recovery package for…
Save the date: Organic Innovation Days 2020: A cooperation of TP Organics & LIVESEED, 24-25 November 2020, online
For this year’s Organic Innovation Days, TP Organics is partnering with the LIVESEED project, coordinated by IFOAM Organics Europe. Bringing…
15/09/2020
Seeds
LIVESEED workshop on vegetative propagating material – Why organic vegetative material has a long way to go compared to organic seeds
Vegetative propagation material such as seed potatoes, rootstocks and cuttings were in the spotlight of a LIVESEED workshop on 10…
LIVESEED international workshop identifies top priorities to work towards 100% organic seed
LIVESEED’s international workshop on 25-26 June put the spotlight on North-West Europe and the EU organic regulation’s implementation on organic…
European Patent Office: No patents on conventionally bred varieties
On 14 May 2020, the enlarged board of appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) has released an opinion that…
Welcome note April 2020
Dear readers, For all of us, these days are really challenging. We are facing a crisis where no one can…
Political hotspot April 2020
The current COVID-19 pandemic has far reaching effects on Europe, life as we know it, agriculture and the organic sector.…
21/04/2020
COVID19
COVID-19 – A double-edged sword for the European organic sector
The coronavirus is causing the biggest and most acute crisis Europe faced in the last decades, and it is also…
Open Letter: CSOs open letter on the importance and urgency of publishing the Farm to Fork strategy: no further delays, keep April 2020 as publication date
Brussels, 14 April 2020 To:Executive Vice-President Frans TimmermansCommissioner Stella KyriakidesCommissioner Janusz WojciechowskiCommissioner Virginijus Sinkevičius CC:Anne Bucher, Director-General of DG SANTE…
01/04/2020
COVID19
JOINT LETTER: Measures to support farmers in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic
To: Commissioner WojciechowskiCc: Commissioner Sinkevičius and Commission Executive Vice-President TimmermansEuropean CommissionBerlaymont, Rue de la Loi 2001000 – Brussels 1st April…
European Organic Congress - Registration opening postponed to April 2020
The 2020 edition of the European Organic Congress is scheduled to take place on 1 and 2 July 2020 in Berlin, Germany.…
BIOFACH session on organic seed and organic heterogenous material in the New EU Organic Regulation
On 14 February, IFOAM EU organized a session on Organic Seed and organic heterogenous material in the new EU Organic Regulation at…