Cambodia Organic Rice Program in the news

Article in Thai language from the news site of the Manager abouth the organic rice program and potential rice export from Cambodia. The news is mentioning the "famous Certification instutute BCS-Oeko Garantie from Germany"
Unfortunatly the article is partly not really up to date

to article (in Thai)

Story of Stuff

Something I found interesting and entertaining
It's a nice, funny and educational clip, downloadable from this site

clipped from www.storyofstuff.com What is the Story of Stuff? From its extraction through sale, use and disposal, all the stuff in our lives affects communities at home and abroad, yet most of this is hidden from view. The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world. It'll teach you something, it'll make you laugh, and it just may change the way you look at all the stuff in your life forever.

Organic Farming Sprouts Slowly

today in the Bangkok Post under "Top Stories" this article on organic farming and certification.

Organic farming sprouts slowly

"With demand for organic foodstuffs in developing countries rising at 25 per cent per year, Thailand has been slow to jump on the organic gravy train, according to GTZ, which has started a programme to facilitate Thai organic exports to Europe.
To date, there are only a handful of Thai companies specializing in organic foodstuffs and even a smaller number in the export market..."

Contains some views on how and why organic production is still under-represented in Thailand, a country which is claiming to become the "kitchen of the world".

also one part is factually not correct in this article:

"To meet international organic certification standards, such as those set by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), or BCS Oko Garantie of Germany, organic farms need to be at least 20 metres away from conventional farms, a tall order in Thailand's patchwork of small-holdings."

Such standard would be really difficult to meet by small paddy farmers in South East Asia. Fortunatly such standard requirement does not exist. There are more differientiated and complex rules on how an organic farmer has to minimize risk of contamination.

Coffee Minimum prices raised

clipped from www.fairtrade.net Thursday 13. of December 2007 FLO International Adjusts Fairtrade Minimum Prices for Arabica Coffee to Cover Costs of Sustainable Production Fairtrade continues to address the needs of coffee producing communitiesFairtrade Minimum Prices for Arabica coffee will be adjusted upwards to ensure Small Farmers’ Organisations continue to receive a price which covers the... Category: Important News [more]

New Mandatory Labelling For Fruits And Vegetables to the EU

From 1st of January 2008, the country of origin must be stated for all kinds of fruit and vegetables in the EU.
A change in European law (Article 2, paragraph 1 of Council Regulation (EC) No. 1182/2007) means that all types of fruit and vegetables now have to be labelled with their country of origin.
This mandatory labelling previously applied only to fruit and vegetables subject to EC marketing standards.