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Biodynamic Federation Demeter International e.V.

BFDI

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International is an umbrella organisation of 49 member organisations active in 37 countries worldwide dedicated to biodynamic agriculture, a holistic, ecological and ethical approach of farming.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements EU Regional Group and

19 Nov 2025 · Austausch über Öffnung EU-Öko-VO und NGT

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament)

16 Sept 2025 · Veranstaltung zur neuen Gentechnik

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft e.V.

14 Feb 2025 · Biofach: Standbesuche

Meeting with Niels Geuking (Member of the European Parliament)

13 May 2024 · Landwirtschaftliche Kreislaufwirtschaft/ Ökolandwirt / Bergbauernhof

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Deutscher Bauernverband and Slow Food Deutschland e. V.

1 Mar 2024 · Öffentlicher Fachtag: Potenziale regionaler Landwirtschaft

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft e.V. and Assoziation ökologischer Lebensmittelherstellerinnen und -hersteller e.V.

16 Feb 2024 · Allgemeiner Austausch

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Deutsche Umwelthilfe e.V.

16 Feb 2024 · Diskussionsveranstaltung "Die Gemeinsame Agrarpolitik der EU: Wo stehen wir - wo wollen wir hin?"

Meeting with Franc Bogovič (Member of the European Parliament)

10 Jan 2024 · Meeting on agriculture related legislation

Response to Revision of the plant and forest reproductive material legislation

7 Dec 2023

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International, as part of the organic movement, welcomes the proposal on the production and marketing of Plant Reproductive Material (PRM) published in July 2023. The proposal helps to meet the goals laid out in the Farm to Fork Strategy and the EU Green Deal by enabling more agrobiodiversity and more flexibility for the organic breeding sector. It guarantees access to diverse PRM and to a wide range of cultivars adapted to regional climatic and organic growing conditions which are crucial for organic and biodynamic farming. The proposed measures to facilitate the registration of organic varieties with adapted uniformity (DUS) protocols and the value for sustainable cultivation and use (VSCU) testing under organic conditions are key in this regard, along with the easier market access for traditional and locally adapted cultivars with a high level of genetic diversity such as organic heterogeneous material provided it remains as it stands or conservation varieties. Nonetheless, for professional operators, especially small and medium enterprises, when it comes to variety registration, the administrative burden remains high. The extension of VSCU testing to all type of crops will lead to increased costs and higher constraints. Furthermore, the EU Organic Regulation 2018/848 should not be amended in any way by the PRM proposal. The simple notification of Organic Heterogeneous Material (OHM) laid out in the EU Organic Regulation is an important step towards the increase and diversification of the seeds and other plant reproductive material available for organic farmers. OHM and all OHM-related provisions must therefore remain as currently laid out in the EU Organic Regulation. In line with this, the commercialization of PRM of heterogeneous material (HM) should also be possible for all crop species as is foreseen in the EU Organic Regulation. In parallel, the organic multiplication practices as defined in the EU Organic Regulation must be maintained as they currently stand and should not be extended to any further practices. Lastly, conservation varieties, organic varieties, and HM must not be derived from novel genomic techniques, and not be covered by patent protection. Transparency on breeding methods and patents must be ensured by making this information publicly available through the EU Plant Variety Portal. For further information, please consider our detailed feedback to the proposal in attachment. Thank you for taking our views into consideration.
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Meeting with Juozas Olekas (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur for opinion)

2 Nov 2023 · New plant breeding techniques

Response to Legislation for plants produced by certain new genomic techniques

26 Oct 2023

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International, representing the biodynamic farming movement worldwide as part of the organic sector, welcomes the possibility to provide feedback on the legislative proposal on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques (NGTs) and would like to share our utmost concerns regarding the proposal. The biodynamic movement remains committed to GMO-free farming and breeding, as the use of gene editing technologies clearly goes against the principles of biodynamic and organic farming. Upholding a precautionary approach to all changes made to our genetic heritage and planetary biodiversity is of primary importance, as the use of these techniques comes with potential risks and can lead to unintended effects. For these reasons, the Demeter Standard strictly prohibits the use of seed, propagation, or plant material produced by NGTs. Therefore, the explicit ban in the legislative proposal of all NGTs in organic production is essential. Organic and biodynamic producers have a right to produce without using NGTs. Not only must this right be ensured by a ban of all NGTs in organic production, but it must also be accompanied by a clear legislative framework and technical provisions. For operators to guarantee the absence of NGTs throughout the production process, traceability for NGTs along the entire value chain must be ensured. Along with the freedom of choice for operators, the right to choose must also be guaranteed for consumers. This is only possible through transparent information via on-pack labelling for all NGTs used in the final product. To ensure possible coexistence, Member States must have the legal means to adopt crop-specific coexistence rules and have the right to ban the cultivation of both category 1 and 2 NGTs in their territory. Issues related to patents on conventional traits and plant material must be resolved before proceeding with the legislative proposal. Otherwise, there is a risk that the new legislative framework for NGTs will lead to the commercialisation of more patented plant varieties. Therefore, the scope of patents on NGTs must be limited to protect the freedom of breeders and farmers. Thanks for taking our views into consideration. You will find in attachment a briefing paper with further information on the different aspects of the proposal.
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Meeting with Christophe Clergeau (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and Greenpeace European Unit and

26 Oct 2023 · Table ronde avec les représentants de la société civile sur la proposition de règlement sur les nouveaux OGM

Meeting with Isabel Carvalhais (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur)

7 Sept 2023 · Production and marketing of plant reproductive material in the Union

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Bund Ökologische Lebensmittelwirtschaft e.V. and

16 Feb 2023 · Standgespräche Biofach-Messe

Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament) and Friends of the Earth Europe and

7 Feb 2023 · Übergabe der Petition “Keep New GMOs regulated and labelled!”

Response to Template for reporting on investigations due to contamination with non-authorized products in organic production

30 Aug 2022

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International e.V. is an umbrella organisation with 47 members organisations in 36 different countries across the world. It is the only organic association that has built up a network of individual certification for biodynamic farming worldwide, the Demeter brand. The Federation would like to thank the Commission for the opportunity to comment on this draft implementing regulation and hope that the following considerations will be taken into account. It should not be assumed that every positive finding must be documented. Only cases that give rise to a suspicion of an infringement should be subject to an official investigation in line with Art. 29 (1) of EU Regulation 2018/848 and documented in accordance with the model and, if necessary, reported to the Commission. A mandatory reporting of every positive finding might not only lead to a considerable increase of the number of cases to be documented but would also imply additional costs and administrative burden for the operator without guaranteeing significant improvements for the consumer. Regarding the documentation of the cases, a distinction must be made between cases of contamination that are accidental and unavoidable, in short that are not due to a concrete fault of the operator, and cases of contamination that are the responsibility of the organic operator and consequently give rise to suspicion. It must be possible to classify a finding as accidental and unavoidable. Only results of official inspection by control bodies or control authorities must be documented. The findings collected during those inspections could be considered in case an official investigation is opened.
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Meeting with Martin Häusling (Member of the European Parliament)

22 Jun 2022 · Gemeinsame Saatgutkonferenz mit anderen MdEPs und Organisationen zum Thema "EU Seeds Marketing Reform - Which seeds for organic, agroecology, low-input & peasant seed systems?"

Response to List of antimicrobials reserved for treatment of certain infections in humans

16 May 2022

While the Biodynamic Federation Demeter International welcomes the adoption of a list of reserve antibiotics to be prohibited in the livestock sector, we strongly call for a revision of the list in a way that it truly fulfils the goals set under Regulation (EU) 2019/6 as the list proposed by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) is inadequate to address Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) sustainably. AMR is an increasingly concerning threat to humanity. Already now, 700 000 people die every year due to AMR (European Parliament, 2021). Since 73% of global sales of antimicrobials are applied in livestock, their usage in the agricultural sector needs to be strictly regulated (Tiseo et al., 2020). However, the list proposed by the EMA will not only undermine the Commission’s goal to reduce the application of veterinary antibiotics to the absolute minimum, but it might even lead to counter-productive effects (Häusling, 2022). First, the proposal allows pharmaceutical companies to approve new antibiotics for veterinarians. Second, the list only reserves antibiotics for human medicine that are not allowed for the veterinary application in the EU anyway. Thus, the list needs to be extended to include more antibiotics, such as ‘Colistin’ which is often used to counter the negative effects of early pig weaning. Further, we call upon policymakers to go beyond the regulation of reserve antibiotics and to develop stricter rules on other aspects of antibiotics usage in the farming sector, including the prohibition of preventive applications, application limits, and mandatory usage reporting. Even though the preventive use of antibiotics is already prohibited, the exact definition and circumstances remain vague, leaving ample space for loopholes. We implore the Commission to adopt a more holistic strategy: rather than relying on veterinary medicine as the first resort, politics needs to promote health-oriented livestock systems that reduce the need for antibiotics in the first place. This includes the encouragement and funding for best practices and the development of stricter animal welfare standards. Extensive research findings (Blaha, n.d.) and reports from veterinarians (Burgin, 2016) show that improved animal welfare standards from breeding and feeding to housing, lead to a less stressful environment, increasing natural disease resistance, improving animal health, and consequently lowering antibiotic usage. In conclusion, there is a need for a stricter list of reserve antibiotics and comprehensive animal-welfare oriented livestock systems. Organic and biodynamic farming practices show the way forward in applying health-oriented livestock management and high animal welfare standards that reduce the need for antibiotic treatments from the beginning. For an in-depth explanation about the need for a holistic animal husbandry to address AMR and on how organic and biodynamic farming can provide best practice examples to increase animal welfare and thus lower the need for antibiotics, please consult our briefing paper in attachment.
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Response to Recommendation for strengthened actions against antimicrobial resistance

16 Mar 2022

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International welcomes this call for evidence on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and would like to underline the importance to tackle this silent pandemic through concrete measures and actions at Member State level. The EU Council Recommendation must engage in an animal welfare-oriented approach to reduce the need for antibiotics in the first place. We must recognize that health-oriented livestock management and high animal welfare standards can play a crucial part in fighting AMR. Research findings and reports from veterinarians confirm that better animal welfare and a less stressful environment leads to higher disease resistance, improved animal health and consequently lower antibiotic usage. Therefore, it is crucial to consider that, even though the livestock sector is connected to the rise of AMR in public heath, not all agricultural systems contribute equally. Biodynamic and organic farming have strict veterinary rules on the application of antibiotics, significantly reducing the occurrence of AMR in livestock. About 73% of the sales of antimicrobials are applied in livestock. Problematically, the more antimicrobials are used on livestock, the higher the chances of AMR developing in animals, and subsequently in humans. However, livestock systems vary significantly. On the one hand, industrial production routinely over- and misuses antibiotics. This is due to the (1) stressful living conditions for animals, (2) overcrowding, and (3) the preventive application of antibiotics for growth promotion. On the other hand, in organic and biodynamic farming, for instance, the preventive use of antibiotics in treatment of animals is prohibited. Biodynamic farming goes even further in the treatments in case of serious illnesses. These are strictly applied by veterinarians, with sufficient withdrawal times, and a maximum of three treatments. Research shows that the use of antibiotics and the prevalence of AMR is considerably lower in organic farms compared to conventional farms. For more details and references, please consult our recent briefing paper in attachment on AMR and holistic animal husbandry through health and welfare.
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Response to Animal welfare labelling for food

24 Aug 2021

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International welcomes the revision of the EU legislation on animal welfare and the opportunity to provide feedback. We would like to share our feedback on the inception impact assessment in the attached document.
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Response to Revision of the plant and forest reproductive material legislation

13 Jul 2021

The Biodynamic Federation Demeter International is an umbrella organisation with 46 members organisations in 36 different countries across the world. It is the only organic association that has built up a network of individual certification for biodynamic farming worldwide. The Federation would like to thank DG SANTE for having the opportunity to provide feedback on this initiative on plant and forest reproductive material and would like to attract the attention of DG SANTE on the following points. • The Federation welcomes the alignment of the seeds marketing legislation with the objectives of the European Green Deal, especially the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies, as well as the aim to simplify the Seeds Directive framework. • The revision of the plant and forest reproductive material must take into consideration the new Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848, especially the new possibilities it includes for plant reproductive material. • To facilitate the registration of organic varieties, more flexibility and adapted criteria are needed. In addition, the results from the temporary experiment must be implemented directly in the Seeds Directive. This will be a great help for the development of organic varieties adapted for organic and biodynamic production. • Regarding variety testing, a VCU adapted to organic input conditions would be welcome to foster new varieties on the market and reduce the costs of variety testing, as well as ensure a level playing field between the different Member States. Increased flexibility for VCU protocols in general should also be encouraged. • The use of bio-molecular techniques (BMTs) in the registration process might create unnecessary burden for small operators and breeders. It is therefore central that it remains optional and to maintain the possibility of a phenotype-based registration process. • The creation of a specific EU framework for the exchange in kind between farmers of plant reproductive material and services is a step in the right direction. Indeed, to face the unavailability of certified seeds for organic and biodynamic farmers, the possibility of farmers seed exchange would enable to guarantee sufficient seed supply. • Regarding the possibility to exempt seed conservation networks and marketing to amateur gardeners from the scope of application of the current legislation, it should be taken into account that professional operators, being them organic or biodynamic, also use conservation and amateur varieties due to their improved adaptability. Therefore, it is important to maintain different options when it comes to the professional use of amateur and conservation varieties. • To limit additional burden for operators and enable the exchange of plant reproductive material between breeders, a risk-based assessment, that takes into account the size of the seed lot, should be carried out when it comes to the link with the plant health and official controls regulation.
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Response to Production rules concerning feed and veterinary parasite treatments in aquaculture and sprouted seeds

17 Nov 2020

The Biodynamic Federation – Demeter International is an umbrella organisation with 46 members organisations in 37 different countries across the world. It is the only organic association that has built up a network of individual certification for biodynamic farming worldwide. The Federation welcomes the possibility offered by the European Commission to give its feedback on the amended rules as regards organic production rules on sprouted seeds and chicory heads, on feed for certain aquaculture animals and on aquaculture parasite treatments. We would like to attract the European Commission´s attention on the following aspects described below regarding organic horticulture. To support organic horticulture, it is particularly important that the forcing of bulbs as cut flowers in spring in boxes with unfertilised substrate material (mainly tulips), the forcing of bulbs of chives in boxes in winter and early spring (for bundles especially) and the forcing of chicory roots in boxes with soil with unfertilised substrate is maintained in the new EU Organic Regulation. These practices are an integral part of traditional and professional organic horticulture and the production processes in accordance with art. 2g of EU Regulation 889/2008. Indeed, the main growth steps for these three production areas all take place in the grown soil, the forcing is only a final cultivation step mainly in spring (also in winter for chives) according to the climatic conditions. The forcing of bulbs and chicory in clear water with an inert stabilisation and carrier material and no addition of any fertiliser should be maintained as well, as this is an alternative traditional production method to the forcing in unfertilised substrates. A change in these practices could affect the entire European organic horticulture sector since it would jeopardize the offer of bunches of chives in winter and early spring and the production of organic tulips in spring. The supply of organic chicory would also go down as most small and medium farmers cannot afford to switch to water drifting. At a time when regional and local markets, as well as organic production, should be reinforced, it seems essential for the new EU Organic Regulation to support further the development of the organic horticulture sector instead of putting it in jeopardy.
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