EU's new organic law opens global market, local small farmers face fierce challenges

Just before Taiwan, China's first "Organic Agriculture Promotion Act" was born, the European Parliament passed a new organic law, revising outdated regulations to keep up with the rapidly growing organic industry.

Organic lettuce, organic eggs, organic flour, organic cookies are nothing unusual; with the rise of Eastern health trends, organic soy milk, organic tofu, and organic mock meat can be seen everywhere in European supermarkets. Sprouting from a marginal grassroots movement, "organic" grew strong through the 1970s, and in recent years, with rising consumer awareness and a push from large supermarket chains, organic products have broken out of the niche market in the EU.

The EU organic industry's turnover in 2016 exceeded 30 billion euros (about one trillion New Taiwan dollars), growing 112% over ten years; the land under organic production also doubled from 6 million hectares to 12 million hectares, but still accounts for only 6.7% of agricultural land, insufficient to satisfy the huge consumer appetite, and imported products seized the opportunity to cash in.