Dozens of agricultural producers from Almeria who made investments in new greenhouses for organic production during 2015 and early 2016 continue to sell these products as conventional, with the loss of income that this entails. This situation is taking place due to the delay of the Council of Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development in the resolution of the necessary files to go from conventional to organic agriculture. COEXPHAL has asked the Council of Agriculture of the Andalusian Government to adopt reorganization measures to solve this urgent problem.
A greenhouse must wait for two years to be converted, or recognised by the Andalusian Council of Agriculture within a maximum period of six months, as established by the Andalusian regulations. Given the strong demand for organic products registered two years ago, many horticultural companies and producers in Almeria invested during 2015 and early 2016 to be able to supply organic products by September last year.
Once the investments have been made and the move to organic has been requested, with the favourable reports from the certification bodies, all necessary documentation is sent to the central services of the Council of Agriculture in Seville. The excess of centralization entails the absence of intervention from the Provincial Delegation of Almeria, which is really the one familiar with the circumstances on the ground, and this is causing delays in the resolution of the files.
To date, files filed during 2015 and the first quarter of 2016 have yet to be greenlighted by the Council, which is causing the sale of organic products as conventional at a lower price. Producers in this situation are estimated to be losing on average of about 6,000 Euro per hectare and the economic result for these growers is disastrous, due to the lack of response by the Organic Production Service.
To this we must add that numerous contracts with supermarkets, which included a supply schedule with specific volumes, are being breached by the Almerian companies as a result of these circumstances.