Turquía
 

Turquía

Title: Formulation of a project for the development of organic agriculture and alignment of related Turkish legislation (TCP/TUR/3001 (F))

In order to reach its targets and achieve a rapid increase in organic agricultural production, the Government decided to launch a multifaceted integrated project to develop organic agriculture, with a special focus on legislative issues, capacity building and pilot regions. A summary of a project proposal for the development of organic agriculture and legal alignment was prepared, with FAO support, and submitted by the Government to the European Union (EU).
By organizing six workshops in various parts of Turkey, focused on complementary topics, the TCP project not only assisted in the preparation of the complete project document, but also contributed to the creation of a nationwide network, familiarizing members of the Alternative Agricultural Production Department in MARA with all those involved in organic agriculture and creating linkages throughout the entire production-marketing chain, including:

  • National Strategy on Organic Agriculture in Turkey:
    Based on the workshop results, which gathered views from some 1 200 participants, a draft National Strategy on Organic Agriculture in Turkey was formulated and delivered to MARA.
  • Organic agriculture legislation:
    Although generally adequate, the existing standards on organic agriculture were initially developed in the absence of a legislative act governing organic agriculture. The project thus provided assistance to design a law on organic agriculture, which was passed in Parliament on 1 December 2004. The new law is in line with the most recent EU standards, covering both plant and livestock production and processing. As a framework law, it gives authority to the Minister responsible to adopt, amend and update implementing regulations, in order to meet future institutional, technical and scientific changes in the organic agriculture sector. The law also provides for penalties and sanctions, which were not spelled out in the 2002 Regulation. As part of the assistance provided, the project included the provision of training by an international consultant on accreditation procedures.
  • Formulation of project document:
    A costed project document on “Development of Organic Agriculture and Alignment of Related Turkish Legislation with the EU Acquis” was formulated for a three-year period, complete with Annexes and Terms of Reference. This project proposal was accepted by the European Commission in October 2004 for a two years period.