Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008Show full title

Article 36 Plant and plant products

1. For plants and plant products to be considered organic, the production rules as referred to in Articles 9, 10, 11 and 12 of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and Chapter 1 of this Regulation and where applicable the exceptional production rules in Chapter 6 of this Regulation must have been applied on the parcels during a conversion period of at least two years before sowing, or, in the case of grassland or perennial forage, at least two years before its use as feed from organic farming, or, in the case of perennial crops other than forage, at least three years before the first harvest of organic products.

2. The competent authority may decide to recognise retroactively as being part of the conversion period any previous period in which:

(a) the land parcels were subject of measures defined in a programme implemented pursuant to Regulations (EC) No 1257/99, (EC) No 1698/2005, or in another official programme, provided that the measures concerned ensure that products not authorised for organic production have not been used on those parcels, or

(b) the parcels were natural or agricultural areas which were not treated with products not authorised for organic production.

The period referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph can be taken into consideration retroactively only where satisfactory proof has been furnished to the competent authority allowing it to satisfy itself that the conditions were met for a period of at least three years.

3. The competent authority may decide, in certain cases, where the land had been contaminated with products not authorised for organic production, to extend the conversion period beyond the period referred to in paragraph 1.

4. In the case of parcels which have already been converted to or were in the process of conversion to organic farming, and which are treated with a product not authorised for organic production, the Member State may shorten the conversion period referred to in paragraph 1 in the following two cases:

(a) parcels treated with a product not authorised for organic production as part of a compulsory disease or pest control measure imposed by the competent authority of the Member State;

(b) parcels treated with a product not authorised for organic production as part of scientific tests approved by the competent authority of the Member State.

In the cases provided for in points (a) and (b) of the first subparagraph, the length of the conversion period shall be fixed taking into account of the following factors:

(a) the process of degradation of the product concerned shall guarantee, at the end of the conversion period, an insignificant level of residues in the soil and, in the case of a perennial crop, in the plant;

(b) the harvest following the treatment may not be sold with reference to organic production methods.

The Member State concerned shall inform the other Member States and the Commission of its decision to require compulsory measures.