New leaf for EU organic food

The European Commission has unveiled the winning design for its new organic logo. The ‘Euro-leaf’ design shows the EU stars in the shape of a leaf against a green background.

From 1 July 2010, the new EU organic logo 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. It will be optional for imported products.

Other private, regional or national logos will be allowed to appear alongside the EU label.

The organic farming regulation will be amended in the coming weeks to introduce the new logo.

“I’m delighted that we now have a fresh EU organic food logo, says Mariann Fischer Boel, commissioner for agriculture and rural development.“This exercise has raised the profile of organic food and we now have a logo with which everyone will be able to identify.

The winning logo was the result of a pan-European contest open to art and design students. Nearly 3,500 logo submitted designs were examined by an internationally renowned jury. The winning logo was designed by Dusan Milenkovic, a student from Germany, who gained 63% of votes in an online poll.