Federal Minister of Food & Agriculture Sets the Pace for Greater Sustainability
NURNBERG, Germany, February 17, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- The Dutch Minister of Food & Agriculture Gerda Verburg launched a new comprehensive sustainability standard at the international BioFach fair (17-20 February). The label unveiled is a pilot project by the Dutch Nature & More Foundation. The initiative is the result of a long-term partnership between several international organic companies, which handed the ministers a joint declaration "from the private sector on the worldwide challenges" facing greater sustainability in agriculture and trade, when the pilot was launched.
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"Anyone that helps combine global protection and preservation of natural resources, while explicitly combating world hunger and poverty in developing countries, like this project, deserves attention and respect," said the minister at the launch. The centre of the "Sustainability Flower" stands for social responsibility, while its petals symbolise commitment to the environment and the preservation of ecological resources.
The Sustainability Flower was developed by the international Nature & More Foundation, the first European organisation to create a TUV-tested CO2 product cycle assessment system back in 2006, which enabled consumers to measure emissions per kilogramme of goods. The "stamp" displayed directly on the products includes a simple code, which allows consumers to access online producer specific profile pages. The website also includes detailed information and opinions on their environmental & social working methods and motivation. The foundation has received numerous international awards for its unique "trace & tell system".
The basis of the new project is long-term partnership between a network of leading international organic companies (International Association for Partnership, IAP), which highlights the significance of social and ecological quality standards for organic agriculture by means of a "Declaration of Commercial Enterprises on Global Challenges".
"With the current project, we are taking another step forward," stresses Volkert Engelsman, chief executive of the Nature & More Foundation. "The Sustainability Flower combines the social and ecological skills of manufacturers from around the world to create a clear and graphically appealing overview. The information is presented strictly according to the GRI guidelines (Global Reporting Initiative, one of the organisations closely linked to the UN). This provides an objective framework, which enables comparisons to be made with other companies and production processes. This means that we are consciously entering a domain, which is not only reserved to the classic "organic organisations", but also objectively describes sustainability in the social domain and environment, independently of goods/service sectors or existing certification systems."
The concept will be presented at BioFach in Nurnberg (17-20 February 2010) (Eosta/ Nature & More, Hall 7, Stand 625).
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SOURCE Eosta BV
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