Item 2 of the agenda: Mandate of the Task Force on 'Organic farming statistics'

Transcription

1 Luxembourg, April 2009 MDS/ERT Directorate F: Social Statistics and Information Society Unit F5: Health and Food Safety statistics Doc. (available in EN) Orig. : EN Meeting of 4 5 May 2009 Luxembourg Chair: Mrs. M. DE SMEDT Item 2 of the agenda: on 'Organic farming statistics'

2 on 'Organic Farming statistics' I Introduction...2 II Terms of reference...2 II.1 Who...2 II.2 What: The objectives...2 II.3 How...3 II.3.1 Working method...3 II.3.2 Meetings...4 II.3.3 Working languages...4 II.3.4 Budgetary matters...4 III Annex: Proposed timetable...5 1/5

3 I Introduction As proposed during the meeting of the Working Group on Food Safety statistics held in Luxembourg December 2007, Eurostat has set up a Task Force on Organic Farming statistics. The objective of the Task Forces is to discuss in depth on technical and quality issues and to take account of the fact that some countries are more "specialist" than others regarding specific topics. Utmost attention should be given to a good link between the activities of the Working Group and those of the Task Forces. In other words, the proposals of the Task Forces need to be sufficiently representative of the opinion of the 27 Member States and other countries in order to facilitate approval when the TF's recommendations are discussed in the Working Group, at least so that the technical discussions do not have to be restarted. II Terms of reference II.1 Who The Task Force covers a particular "field of activity" (in this case, Organic farming statistics) and comprises experts from a maximum of 12 of the 27 Member States; other countries 1 could be part of the TF according to the specific cooperation agreements with Eurostat. The Task Force is chaired by Unit F5 of Eurostat. The countries represented in the Task Force will be those which have experts or a particular interest in the specific area being addressed. It is desirable that European diversity be reflected. By end of January 2009 the interested Member States (and possible other countries as specified above) forwarded to Eurostat the name of the expert they propose for the Task Force. Eurostat has decided on the final composition of the Task Force on the basis of the proposals made by the countries. The Eurostat Units E1 'Farms, agro-environment and rural development' and E2 'Agricultural and Fisheries statistics' as well as colleagues from the Directorate-General 'Agriculture and Rural development' (DG AGRI) have been also invited to participate. II.2 What: The objectives The Task Force on Organic Farming statistics will have three main objectives: 1. Discussion of the results of the 2007 TAPAS actions "Organic Farming" carried out in 2007/2008 and the possible use of the described methodologies by other Member States. 1 EFTA/EEA and Candidate countries. 2/5

4 2. Discussion of the revised questionnaire for the data collection of Organic Farming statistics, as based on the proposal presented at the last meeting of the Working Party on Food safety Statistics (Doc. ESTAT/F5/ES/182) Depending of the results of the work of the TF, the questionnaire is expected to be applied as of 2009 onwards (for data of reference year 2008). 3. Proposal for any further actions to be taken in order to improve quality and comparability of Organic Farming statistics. The work to be done by the Task Force will also imply: Cooperation with the working groups of the crop and animal production. Reporting to the Standing Committee on Agricultural Statistics The members of the Task Force should: - select relevant information to put in common the results of the TAPAS actions; - give their view on the revised questionnaire; - propose a timetable for possible issues/steps to be followed in order to further improve quality and comparability of Organic Farming statistics. The duration of the activity of the Task Force is expected to end at the next meeting of the Working Group on Food Safety statistics (scheduled to take place 30 November-1 December 2009) where the results of its work will be presented. II.3 How To ensure a smooth transition between the Task Force meeting and the meeting of the Working Group, at which the Member States representatives are not always fully expert in the matter at hand, it will be necessary to ensure that: - there is effective and efficient coordination of the discussions among the Member States; - a rapporteur for the Task Force will be designated and that tasks will be distributed within the group; - the Working Group discussion will be prepared before the Working Group meeting by an exchange of views using (and via CIRCA) involving all the Member States, thus making it possible to target points for discussion at the meeting. II.3.1 Working method Eurostat will transmit to all members of the Task Force and of the Working Group the relevant documents and propose a work schedule (see timetable in Annex). 3/5

5 The exchange of information as well as invitations, minutes, etc. will be done by . A special section in CIRCA will be created to store documents related to the Task Force. Among the TF members a 'rapporteur will be chosen who will report to the Working Group. It is recommended that members of the Task Force also gather the opinions of colleagues of Member States not participating in the Task Force, so that the diversity in the EU of the systems in place is reflected in the Task Force. II.3.2 Meetings The Task Force will meet physically once in 2009 in Luxembourg: May 2009 Virtual meetings (using CIRCA facilities) could be foreseen when appropriate and needed. II.3.3 Working languages Written contributions from members of the Task Force should be made preferably in English to avoid delays due to translation. The meeting itself will also be held in English. II.3.4 Budgetary matters For EU Member States, Eurostat will reimburse the travel expenses (no daily subsistence allowance) for 1 participant per country (for a maximum of 12 MS). 4/5

6 III Annex: Proposed timetable for the Task Force on Organic Farming statistics Date End January Action Countries indicate their interest to participate and propose an expert for the Task Force End March Eurostat nominated the members of the Task Force on the basis of the proposals made by the countries and informed them accordingly 4-5 May Meeting of the Task Force: Next steps and timetable to be decided End June Deadline for comments on the revised questionnaire 30 Nov-1 Dec Presentation of the results to the Working Group on Food Safety statistics 5/5