Agriculture, Brands, Ecology, EU – Baltic States, Foodstuff, Markets and Companies

From 1^st of July 2010, the organic logo of the EU will be obligatory on all pre-packaged organic products that have been produced in any of the EU member states and meet the necessary standards. Though, it will be optional for imported products.

Other private, regional or national logos will be allowed to appear alongside the EU label. The adoption of the new logo means that the EU organic farming regulation will be amended to introduce the new logo into the legislation’s annexes.

Commission’s opinion

“I am delighted that we now have a fresh EU organic food logo. This exercise has raised the profile of organic food and we now have a logo, which everyone will be able to identify with. It is a nice elegant design and I look forward to buying products carrying this logo from July 2010”.  

The outgoing Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mariann Fischer Boel, who initially suggested to hold a competition to select the new logo. 

The winning logo was the result of a pan-European contest open to art and design students. About 3,500 logo designs submitted their proposals, which were examined by an internationally renowned jury. The best three logos were uploaded on the competition website www.ec.europa.eu/organic-logo and subject to an online vote which ended on 31 January 2010.

Some 130,000 people have voted online over the past two months, to choose the new organic symbol from three finalists. Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, who gained 63% of the overall vote for his “Euro-leaf” logo, makes the winning design.

The “Euro-leaf” design shows the EU stars in the shape of a leaf against a green background. It is a very straightforward sign containing two clear messages: Nature and Europe.

The winner and the winners of the second and third prize will be honoured by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development at an official award ceremony that will take place in Brussels in July 2010. The three winners will receive prizes of € 6,000, € 3,500 and € 2,500.