31/01/2007

The UK’s main organic certification body is considering a ban on air-freighted organic food, as part of a move to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

If the Soil Association plans are given the go ahead, organic food imported in the UK by air would not be allowed to label itself organic.

Hugh Raven, director of Soil Association Scotland said: “Very little Soil Association-certified food is actually air-freighted but we have to take this seriously, as aviation is such a hugely disproportionate contributor to climate change. We have frequently been contacted by people in the US, for example, who want to import fresh, organic, farmed fish from Scotland. We do what we can to help – but if we decide on a ban on air freight, in future they will have to import it by sea if they want it to carry the Soil Association label."

The SA has launched a year-long consultation on the issue.