Egypt’s Parliament approved on Sunday, a new law drafted by the government to regulate organic agriculture. It aims to limit the negative effects of traditional farming methods that depend on synthetic chemicals in planting and animal feeding.
Using these chemicals increases the percentage of pollutants in water, soil, and agricultural products, and decreases soil fertility, which increases desertification and outbreak of diseases.
The new legislation aims to support the state’s plan to produce healthy food, by reducing the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilisers, and replacing them with healthy alternatives like organic fertilisers produced from the remnants of agricultural crops.
The law granted powers to both the Egyptian Food Safety Authority and the Central Laboratory of Organic Agriculture at the Ministry of Agriculture, to oversee the implementation of the law and control farms and factories involved in the process.
The parliamentary committee of agriculture said the law seeks to subject farms and organic food production units to the best environmental practices, using organic inputs to conserve biological diversity, conserve natural resources, and activate control over organic production inputs and products to ensure high production quality.
