Organics are within scope of the EU-SPS Agreement, and subject to ongoing negotiations. The Government is considering the impact of all changes, including seeking independent advice and working closely with organic stakeholders. Certificates of inspection are a regulatory requirement to ensure full traceability and integrity of imported organic products and the ingredients in them. There is no scope to remove requirements for any group of businesses as this would result in loss of organic integrity.

I met with representatives of the English Organic Forum at the Oxford Farming Conference in January this year. The English Organic Forum is a collection of organic-focused organisations that have come together to represent the organic sector across England, which includes the Midlands, and we discussed challenges and opportunities for the organic sector. Defra officials routinely meet with representatives of the organic sector which includes the English Organic Forum and other sector representatives, organic Control Bodies and organic businesses.

We have published a new national procurement policy statement, which sets out expectations for government contracts to favour products certified to high environmental standards. We are currently considering the policy options available to deliver further on our ambitions for public sector catering, including the role of organic produce.

A company who prepares, produces, stores, imports, exports or sells organic food in the UK must be certified by an approved UK organic control body.

A product for consumption may only be labelled and marketed as “organic” if it meets the organic production rules, at least 95% of the agricultural ingredients are organically certified, all other ingredients, additives and processing aids are listed as permitted in the organic regulations and the product, labels and suppliers are certified.

The 5% non-organic limit is only for permitted non-organic ingredients listed in the organic regulations or where an ingredient is not available in sufficient quality or quantity.

Derogations for non-organic ingredients which are not listed in the organic regulations are considered based on documentary evidence of non-availability of an ingredient in organic form in sufficient quality or quantity.

Our organic food legislation requires organic and non-organic ingredients to be identified in the ingredients panel on the label of an organic product. The Government is not overly prescriptive about how the organic and non-organic agricultural ingredients of a given product are shown so long as it is obvious to the consumer. An asterisk against all organic or non-organic ingredients is a common method used by UK producers.

We recognise the benefits that organic farming can offer to the wider environment. Currently, organic producers can join the Countryside Stewardship scheme in addition to a Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) agreement. In SFI they are well placed to adopt the higher levels of ambition in the soils standards and receive a higher level of payment.

We have confirmed that an organic standard is currently being developed as part of the roll out of the SFI. Our current plan is that all levels of the SFI organic standard will be introduced in 2025. Furthermore, organic farmers will benefit from other standards in development such as Integrated Pest Management due to the specific farming practices they undertake.

We are phasing out Basic Payments over the agricultural transition, which will allow us to progressively roll out new standards and options.

Healthy soils are the foundation of sustainable farming and underpin a range of environmental benefits, as well as food production. Two of the first batch of standards to be rolled out under the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme in 2022 focus on soils. The soil standards will be widely applicable and will therefore provide opportunity for a large number of farmers to be rewarded for sustainable soil management. They will improve soil health, structure, organic matter and biology.

This year we’re also rolling out the introductory level of the moorland standard and, a bit later in the year, vet farm visits to help improve animal health and welfare. Further standards on nutrient management, integrated pest management, hedgerows, and the advanced levels for the soils standards will follow in 2023, with more standards being introduced in 2024 and 2025. All types of farmers, including organic farmers, will be able to benefit from applying these standards. The organic standard is scheduled to be in place from 2025.

The Government is committed to a co-design process throughout the development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive for all proposed standards. Individual standards are being created and refined through development and practitioner groups which bring in knowledge from industry experts, farmers and other wider technical expertise in line with our wider delivery plans and timescales.

The Government recognise the benefits that organic farming can offer to the wider environment and in December 2021 confirmed that an organic standard is currently being considered as part of the development of the Sustainable Farming Incentive, with an indicative roll out date of 2025. As the Farming Minister, I met with representatives of the organic sector in November 2021 to discuss the Government’s intention to include this organic standard. In addition, the Secretary of State recently attended Groundswell, the regenerative agriculture show, where he gave a speech on the launch of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme as well as taking part in two question and answer panel sessions.

Defra will engage with organic stakeholder representatives as part of the development of the organic standard. Open dialogue and cross-sector collation of information will continue to help to shape its future direction. We will only release standards into the live service when we are confident in their design and our ability to successfully deliver the service.