A legal examination of the requirements relating to developing countries' exports of organic products to the European Union

摘要

When producers of organic agricultural products in the developing countries attempt to export to the EU they meet considerable legal obstacles in the form of the EU's Organic Regulation. This paper provides a legal analysis of these obstacles. First it examines the legal basis of the Organic Regulation. Next it examines whether the requirements of the Organic Regulation conform to international law, Following this, the paper examines the Regulation in the light of the proportionality principle, the Community's environmental obligations and its obligations in the field of development policy. While it is not possible to establish that the Regulation is unlawful under EU law, the paper recommends further examination of two points, namely the Regulation's legal basis and its conformity with the principle of proportionality.