Pesticide residue management in organic products

Our food supply includes conventional agricultural systems using synthetic pesticides and other agrochemical products. As our agricultural systems are open systems, synthetic pesticides and their likes (are well-known to) often travel by air and ground water and persist in the soil and water for a very long time, negatively affecting what lives and grows in and on these.

It is good that it is increasingly easy to detect pesticides and other pollutants in our food from a technical point of view. Thanks to progress in analytical processes and methods, residues and contaminants in our food are detected even more frequently than in the past.

While organic production does not allow synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers or any herbicides, their widespread use by most farmers and the movement of these products creates contamination risks across the supply chain. EU legislation (the EU Organic Regulation) forbids organic operators from using synthetic pesticides, artificial fertilisers and herbicides, ensures regular on-farm checks and defines what organic operators should do to protect consumers in case their products contain pesticides residues. EFSA’ reports on pesticide residues in food show there are no residues on 80% of organic food products.

Dealing with residues requires a harmonised approach & further work
In our May 2023 position paper on the management of pesticide residues in organic products we approach this crucial question and propose a harmonised approach to residue management both by organic operators and control bodies/authorities under the relevant rules in the EU Organic Regulation.

Since publishing the EU organic movement’s position on this hot topic, we have continued discussions with various EU institutions and have learnt that the implementation of the regulation needs further refinement.

Follow-up: A brief with a practical exercise on pesticide residue management in organic products
In our follow-up work since May 2023 we focused on operators’ perspective – among various other aspects to be discussed. At BIOFACH 2024, we had a fruitful session with the European Commission and organic operators where they exchanged on the regulation’s relevant provisions and their practical implications.

Our June 2024 paper Management of pesticide residues in organic products – a follow-up brief summarises the session – introducing our approach and putting forward an exercise that assesses which conditions are relevant for operators to eliminate the suspicion of a non-compliance.

Our work on the EU Organic Regulation
Since March 2022, we are offering guidelines to help practitioners interpret the EU Organic Regulation. These guidelines help readers to navigate the regulation, its implementing and delegated acts and links to definitions, recitals, other EU legislation and more. We will update the guidelines in the last quarters of 2024.

For more information on the EU organic regulation and IFOAM Organics Europe’s work on this issue, please visit our website or contact [email protected]. Do note that we prioritise our members’ requests.

IFOAM Organics Europe members have early access to information on the EU Organic Regulation through our Interest and Expert Groups and our member member extranet. They also have one free access to the EU Organic Regulation guidelines.

For access to our member extranet and information about what you can gain from being a member, read our membership page and contact [email protected].