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With many reports of increasing levels of fraud in the organic food sector including from The Grocer in March 2018, the IFST statement on organic food is a useful guide that looks at current EU rules related to organic food, explores how this type of food should be labelled and advises on where to begin if a food business seeks to move into organic food production.

 It covers the following areas:

• What is organic food
• Labelling of organic food
• What EU Regulation applies to organic food?
• Where next
• References

Read the full statement here.

EUIPO 2017 is a situation report that establishes that organised criminal groups are involved in IPR crime. It also finds that EU-based criminal gangs involved in distributing counterfeit goods rely predominantly on manufacturers based abroad, but then organise importation, transportation, storage and distribution of the counterfeit goods within the EU. The majority of counterfeit goods come from China: the development of the Silk Road and the corresponding increasing use of rail and maritime transport between China and the EU support also new threats in the IPR crime landscape. 

The report also looks at the falsification of certification schemes such as organic, and the value of falsely labelled geographical indication products e.g. PDOs. Most commonly affected products are wine, spirits, cheese, meat, fruit, vegetables and cereals.

Read more details at: Headlines on Europol report on counterfeiting

Read the report at: EUIPO 2017 on counterfeiting