Product certification

A protest of organic farmers in front of the Ministry of Agriculture is being held at this time. They are dissatisfied with a new regulation on organic production, which introduces very high requirements both to producers and to the companies that certify them.

The protest has been going on for over an hour, despite the heavy rain over the capital.

The Bioproducts Association sent an open letter to the Prime Minister urging him to intervene in the conflict between the companies and the Ministry of Agriculture.

Organic farmers are preparing a protest for the Ministry of Agriculture because most of them have not received the European funds they are allocated to under the Rural Development Program, the BNR announced. The National Bio-Association has said that they believe that officials are blamed for lack of funds and that the Ministry of Agriculture is complicit in draining European money.

Bulgaria and Croatia are the EU member states with highest growing organic farming sectors in the 28-nation bloc, the latest data from the European Statistics Agency, Eurostat, show.

While the total area of organic production in the EU-28 from 2012 to 2016 grew by 18.7 per cent, in Bulgaria, the growth rate was over 310 per cent, and in Croatia it was 193.4 per cent.

Turkey’s organic food exports rose 17 percent year-on-year in 2017, according to Aegean Dried Fruit and Products Exporters’ Association (EKMİD) head Birol Celep.

Emre Büyükkalfa has been appointed as the new CEO of TÜV SÜD Turkey, the company said in a statement on Sept. 22. 

TÜV SÜD Turkey completed its reconstruction process, which has been undertaken since October 2016, read the statement. 

BELGRADE - Interest in organic food production - field crops and fruits in particular - is growing in Serbia, with most of the products exported, says the Ministry of Agriculture.

With last year's statistics still being crunched, the 2015 figures clearly show a 62 pct increase in agricultural land under organic crops compared to the previous year.

Specialised farmers' markets selling organic products will be opened in five Bulgarian cities - Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas and Veliko Tarnovo.

Only certified producers will be able sell their produce at these markets, private bTV station informs.

In order to be eligible to sell at the markets, producers will have to possess certificates for each of the exhibited products.

Bulgaria's Deputy Agriculture Minister Vasil Grudev has reported a great interest in the 2014-2020 edition of the EU operational program Rural Development.

In a Sunday interview for the Bulgarian National Radio Grudev informed that a total of 2400 projects worth BGN 1.1 B had been submitted under the program since April 14.

The penetration rate of organic products in the Greek market remains relatively low, according to an industry survey conducted by Infobank Hellastat (IBHS), which underscores the sector?s turn toward exports for survival.