BER : er. Aresi2021)4580sss - 20/07/2021

Warsaw, 16 July 2021

 

MINISTER FOR
AGRICULTURE
AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT
Ref.: DSJ.re.072.1.2021

MrX

Commissioner

Janusz Wojciechowksi

Member of the European Commission for

Agriculture

Dear Commissioner,

Further to your letter of 22 June 2021 concerning the implementation of the Action Plan for the
Development of Organic Production (COM(2021) 141 final), please note that the Ministry of Agriculture
and Rural Development has adopted the “Framework Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming in Poland
2021-2027” (attached).

The draft plan has been the subject of an open consultation of the social partners. It was published
from November 2020 to February 2021 on the public website of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development. On the basis of the feedback, a Framework Action Plan was adopted and published, taking
into account the objectives set out in EU documents. The “Framework Action Plan for Organic Food and
Farming 2021-2027” is already being implemented by, inter alia, preparing a support mechanism for the use
of organic food in schools and kindergartens, simplifying and facilitating existing procedures for organic
production, launching work on a handbook on green public procurement, and supporting the use of organic
seeds.

Organic farms are a valuable form of management of Polish agriculture due to the benefits for the
environment and human health. Poland plans to significantly increase agricultural aid in the 2021-2027 EU
budget period, in particular towards smaller farms. It should be stressed that organic production on smaller

farms is an opportunity for farmers to ensure that the factors of production are sustainable, thus enabling

them to market their products more efficiently.

We want the number of farms using organic production methods to increase at least twice. However,
achieving this objective requires support both for organic farms and for organic processing, for the
development of distribution channels for organic products, including the marketing of products from these
holdings. These actions aim to provide a dynamic organic sector with the right tools to achieve the objective
and objectives for organic farming set out in the European Green Deal Strategy.

The Framework Action Plan is not a final document and will be updated as work progresses on the
support mechanisms for this sector under the planned interventions in the Strategic Plan for the Common
Agricultural Policy and the National Plan for Reconstruction. Work is currently under way to define a
national indicator for the development of organic farming, involving experts from relevant scientific
institutes. Notwithstanding the above, however, the Ministry of Agriculture is currently carrying out
numerous information and promotion activities among citizens aimed at increasing demand and maintaining
high consumer confidence in organic products. These activities also include wide-ranging initiatives to raise
awareness of the merits of organic food, to inform about the principles of organic production and to promote
the consumption of these products. In addition, as part of the above-mentioned measures, the Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development is working to include organic products in public canteens through the
national public procurement mechanism and to increase the share of organic products in the EU school
scheme.

Poland has great potential to become a major producer of organic food in Europe. The Polish
Government sees a great opportunity in this potential and will take all necessary measures to make full use

of this potential in order to achieve the objectives of the European Green Deal for organic farming.

Yours faithfully,
as follows: Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development

    

/signed electronically/

Annex:
— “Framework Action Plan for Organic Food and Farming 2021-2027”