The attractive growth of organic markets has enticed diverse entrepreneurs, farmers and conventional food companies to get involved in the organic business, presenting challenges to an overburdened regulatory system.
Over 95 % of the world’s more than 40 billion USD market is concentrated in Europe and the United States. Yet, the National Organic Program in the United States has just nine staff members and an annual budget of $ 1.5 million to regulate a 15 billion USD industry. The figures aren’t much different for the organic program in the EU Agriculture Commission. In sum, the growth of the regulatory system is far behind the growth of the industry, opening the door to both perceived and real credibility issues.
High profile speakers will discuss both cutting edge issues in sourcing organic products globally and also challenge the organic sector to improve the credibility of sourcing.
Speakers:
Geert Termmeert, Secretary of the Board at Tradin Organic Agriculture B.V. – Will be speaking on the sourcing experiences from the eyes of a pioneer in organic including current issues and future trends.
Bill Wolf, President of Wolf, DiMatteo + Associates – What issues are happening around credibility of Chinese products? He will speak of his on-the-ground experience in China.
Caren Wilcox, Executive Director of Organic Trade Associations in US – Will speak to what is happening in the US. How are credibility issues being addressed and what is impact on business, market, consumers and policy?
Elke Roeder, Executive Director of BNN Herstellung und Handel e.V. and Kirsten Arp, Manager of theMonitoring System from Bundesverband Naturkost Naturwaren (BNN) will present a successful example of how business is handling the issue of credibility at a very practical level.
Date: February 20, 2008
Time:
13:00 – 14:00h - Registration & Reception
14:00 – 18:00h - Symposium (with a break)
Venue:
Nürnberg Messe
CongressCenter Nürnberg (CCN Ost)
Room Shanghai
www.congressing.de/main/dckfkuya/dbt9lk0o/page.html
Dinner:
Directly after the Trade Symposium in Restaurant “Vasco da Gama”, (CongressCenter Nürnberg, CCN Ost), from 18:00h onwards
source: www.organic-market.info
