Case study: Austria

Austria has a long tradition in organic agriculture. In 1924, the Austrian Rudolf Steiner gave the first lectures on biodynamic agriculture. As early as in the 1950s the first organic farms were established. Consequently, in 1983 the government enacted the first regulations prescribing minimum regulations for organic products. In 1989, these regulations became part (Chapter 8) of the Austrian food statute, the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus. With the Austrian accession to the European Communities in 1994, the Codex was substituted by EU regulations, but by that time a prosperous organic agriculture market has been established. Now, it was the task of the Austrian government to enact national measures to implement the EU legislation. To this end, the Austrian Government released the Austrian Agri-Environmental Programme (ÖPUL) and, more specifically for the organic sector, the Action Plan Biodynamic Agriculture (Aktionsprogramm Biologische Landwirtschaft) . By now, four Agri-Environmental Programmes and three Biodynamic Action Plans have been adopted by the Austrian Department of Agriculture. The current 4th programme is valid for the period from 2007-2013. Since 1989, Chapter 8 of the Codex Alimentarius Austriacus regulates the organic agricultural sector in Austria. It sets minimum requirements for organic products. Its objective was to establish unified organic standards at a very early stage, in order to create high quality and consumer trust. After the Austrian accession to the European Economic Community in 1994, the Codex was substituted by the EEC Regulation 2092/91 on organic agriculture. Today, the codex serves as a guideline.  According to Section 1 of the agri-environmental programmes, its objectives are the promotion of an environmentally friendly agriculture that protects natural habitats. Further, valuable and endangered landscapes shall be maintained. The programme shall ensure that environmental services are adequately compensated. To this end, the programme shall promote the protection of the natural habitat, including watercourses, groundwater and soil, as well as the economic prosperity of farmers and producers. Farmers shall be motivated to introduce organic production methods, which improve and protect the environment, the rural habitat, natural resources and biodiversity. The Action Plan Biodynamic Agriculture 2008-10 further defines the objectives in the organic sector: to maintain the pole position in the EU, to cover the domestic demand for organic products with domestic production, to improve efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the sector, better communication of and education about organic agriculture and its benefits and a 20 per cent target increase regarding the organic share of agriculture areas.In 1991 the first regulations for organic animal husbandry were added. These regulations were accompanied by subsidies for organic farming and structural financial assistance for the association of organic farmers.ÖPUL and the Action Plan represent a comprehensive package of promotion measures. It pursues an integral, horizontal approach which aims at making agriculture more environmentally compatible in the entire federal territory. Measures are structured in the form of interdependent modules: to ensure an ecological orientation in the whole country which is supplemented by specific measures, tailor-made to individual topics or regions. Various aspects of organic agricultural activities are financially supported to maintain and extend an environmentally and economically sustainable organic agriculture sector. The policy is aimed at the domestic consumption of organic products, thus a strong focus is on the demand side, i.e. raising consumer awareness for the benefits of organic products.  The supported measures include vocational training, settlement of young farmers, modernisation of agricultural enterprises, innovative production methods, sales promotion, education, information and research and development.A side effect of the strong support of organic agriculture is the serious limitation of genetic engineering in Austrian policy, since it interferes with organic agriculture. Although EU and WTO trade agreements hinder Austria to prohibit GMO products and crop growing, Austrian regulations provide strict rules concerning limit values, licensing procedures and labeling. Whilst foods which require GMO labels are basically not sold in Austria, many products are made from animals which have been fed with genetically modified crops. To this end, a specific label exists for food, which is produced without any GMO involved (‘ARGE gentechnik-frei erzeugt’).       The fact that Austria regulated organic agricultural products at a very early stage led – among other factors – to a boom in this sector in the early 1990s. Between 1990 and 1995 the area for organic farming and the number of organic producers grew almost tenfold. Today the share of organic agricultural areas in Austria is 19.5 per cent, which is – apart from Lichtenstein – the highest figure worldwide. It is remarkable, that Austria was able to comply with its self-set target. Further, the consumers in Austria are well informed and a large demand for organic products exists. Supermarkets have taken organic products in their assortment and provide a lucrative local market for organic farmers. An evaluation of the previous ÖPUL programme 2000-2006 stated that “the analysis of the area development showed an increase especially with respect to the higher-level measures (e.g. organic farming, nature conservation measures, erosion control measures, maintenance of scattered fruit trees, and groundwater protection). Regarding the standards of “organic farming” it has to be mentioned that, compared to other EU Member States, Austria already started the Agri-Environmental Programme at a very high level. This high level has been maintained; and in the East, where arable farming is dominant, the arable land managed according to organic farming criteria has doubled since the year 2000. With regard to the protection of assets, positive effects could be proved in connection with the subjects examined within the framework of the evaluation (soil, water, biodiversity, diversity of habitats, genetic diversity, landscape, socio-economy). Thus a positive correlation could be proven for example between bird population densities, the existence of nature conservation measures and the development of set-aside areas in arable farming. The requirement of soil cover contributes evidently to the reduction of the nitrate output. As far as the measures “organic farming” and “renunciation of the use of yield-increasing inputs in arable farming” are concerned there has been evidence for clearly positive effects on biodiversity.”Source: www.landnet.at/article/articleview/72112/1/25107, p.4 A positive aspect of the Austrian focus on the domestic market is that two thirds of the Austrian organic production remain in the country. Half of the export is destined for Austria’s neighbours Germany and Italy. Consequently, not only the production, but also the distribution of the organic goods is climate friendly. The first and important lesson from Austria is to act early and provide a regulatory framework.  To this end, the early involvement of industry, associations, the science community and the consumers have proven to be successful and a good example for the majority of countries which seek to establish a stronger organic agriculture sector.   The current Austrian concept is embedded in the EU regulatory framework. In this regard, the concept is transferable, in the first place to other EU member states. However, the basic concept to support the  supply and demand side, including research and development, information campaigns, vocational training, and the organic farmers association is a good example for countries worldwide. It shows the importance of a well-balanced approach of state regulation, support measures and entrepreneurial freedom.