11. Takes the view that care should be taken to ensure that the assisted introduction of organic farming, particularly in sensitive zones, does not cause an imbalance in the supply of organic products; conversions to organic farming should therefore be supported on the basis of identified outlets;

H. whereas there is great variation in the support given by Member States to the development of organic farming, and whereas the disparities between them must be reduced in the framework of a European action programme to promote organic farming,

D. whereas before 1992 – the year when the European Union gave its support to organic farming in the framework of its agri-environmental policy – organic farming was developed solely at the private initiative of certain farmers, with the support of interested members of the public,

1. Welcomes the fact that the Commission recognises that organic farming plays an important part in the objectives of the new CAP, as defined in the June 2003 Council of Ministers Luxembourg Agreement; notes that it does not consider it necessary to provide human or financial resources in the context of the European Union budget; welcomes the demand-based approach chosen by the Commission to stimulate organic farming;

increase public information and consumer awareness by way of information and promotion campaigns including the EU logo; improve the collection and analysis of relevant statistical data on the whole chain of organic production, processing, distribution and trade, and of other information relevant to the competitiveness of the sector; optimise integration of organic farming into the rural development programmes; strengthen research on organic production, processing methods and marketing of organic products, making full use of the possibilities granted within the framework of EU research programmes; define the basic principles of organi ...[+++]c production, both in the context of Regulation (EEC) No. 2092/91 and in international fora such as FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius and IFOAM; complete and further harmonise the standards for organic production, considering also the need for extending their scope to areas which are not covered for the present; clarify GMO-related issues; adapt inspection rules and improve cooperation among inspection bodies, following a risk based approach for compliance inspections, in order to streamline bureaucratic procedures and ensure product traceability; implement measures to facilitate trade in particular the market access for developing countries, including the improvement of equivalency-based opportunities for trade of organic products with third countries.

The effective funding of research into organic farming from the point of view of food safety and quality, including expanding research into the development of new products and processing methods and the environmental sustainability of organic farming, and into comparative studies between organic and conventional food.