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Revised principles for organic agriculture

In September 2005 the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) approved revised principles of organic agriculture. The new principles consist of four principles upon which organic agriculture is based:

• The Principle of Health
  
• The Principle of Ecology
  
• The Principle of Fairness
  
• The Principle of Care
  

Among others the preparation of the new principles was inspired by the EU supported Organic Revision project, which identifies the basic ethical values and value differences in organic farming. See the Organic Revision website for more information

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Proposal for new EU regulation on organic farming

The European Commission has adopted a proposal for a new regulation on organic production. According to the commission, the new rules will be simpler, and allow a certain amount of flexibility to take account of regional differences in climate and conditions. The proposal can be found via the Organic Revision website.

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European conference on research communication

Further information can be found at the CER 2005 website Correspond to Claus Bo Andreasen, DARCOF

On 14-15 November, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research hosted the second “Communicating European Research” conference. The event focused on the manifold aspects of science communication and provided a forum and meeting place for scientists, communication professionals and journalists. About 2100 participants including project coordinators, journalists and communication professionals from research organisations took part in the congress. In parallel with the conference, a major exhibition showcased selected research initiatives as well as communication strategies of research organisations, media associations etc. One of the exhibits was organised by in cooperation between EU founded projects dealing with organic food and farming - including CORE Organic. The objective was to present the potentials represented by research in organic food and farming represent in regard to the development of agriculture and food production, rural development and environmental protection in the enlarged Europe.

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News from ISOFAR

The main theme for the latest newsletter the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR) is obviously the international, scientific conference held in Adelaide, Australia in September 2005. The newsletter and publications from the conference can be found via www.isofar.org.

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Information Systems for Organic Markets

The proceedings of the second seminar of the project European Information System for Organic Markets (EISFOM) have now been published. At the seminar, which took place in November 2005 in Brussels, a draft framework for a European Information System for Organic Markets was discussed and defined. The proceedings provide the papers presented, covering farm production, farm financial data, prices, consumers/consumption and supply balances/international trade. The proceedings can be downloaded from the EISfOM Homepage.

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Proposals for regulation of organic inputs

The objective of the EU supported project "ORGANIC INPUTS EVALUATION" has been to develop recommendations for harmonized and standardized procedures for the evaluation of plant protection products, as well as for fertilizers and soil conditioners authorized for use in organic agriculture according to Council Regulation 2092/91.

The final proposals of the project are now posted on the project website