A new report commissioned by the European Parliament Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development (AGRI Committee) has called for greater use of farm and agri-food certification schemes in member states’ Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) strategic plans.
The Farm certification schemes for sustainable agriculture report analysed the main certification schemes in EU member states as well as in third countries.
The report looked into how these schemes can help the EU reach its sustainability objectives in the agriculture sector.
It makes three recommendations. The first of these is to encourage the use of relevant certification schemes within member states’ strategic plans.
Potential was identified in several schemes to contribute to different EU sustainability objectives.
The report identified “good practice” already being followed by some member states by promoting them in their respective strategic plans, including Ireland’s plan, which referenced the Bord Bia Quality Mark.
A further recommendation is to use certification schemes to implement the CAP and achieve CAP objectives.
According to the report, the use of certification schemes would be particularly helpful on statutory management requirements (SMRs); Good Agricultural and Environmental Conditions (GAECs); eco-schemes; and Agri-Environment Climate Measures (AECMs).
The report recommends achieving this through an equivalence programme of the certification schemes with these CAP instruments.
Such a programme, the report suggests, should link the certification schemes to at least one environmental or climate objective of CAP; establish clear environmental added value (which would be at least partially mandatory in nature); and include the implementation of a monitoring system.
For this recommendation, the Bord Bia Quality Mark again got a shout out, as it will be partially used for the implementation of the Agri Climate Rural Environment Scheme (ACRES).
The third overall recommendation in the report suggests using some certification schemes in the risk analysis for CAP controls, by using farm data collected from the schemes.
However, it is highlighted that the monitoring systems of most certification schemes analysed in the report have not been elaborated to provide centralised data and, for some of them the type of data recorded is unclear.
“Targeted and relevant certification schemes could prove useful within the CAP national strategic plans to achieve the CAP sustainability objectives, provided that a specific assessment of the requirements and method of implementation of each of these schemes is conducted,” the report states.