Welcome address BioFach China by Gerald A. Herrmann, IFOAM President
发布者：管理员 发布时间：2007年6月7日
Welcome address BioFach China Trade Fair and Conference
Shanghai, China May 31 to June 2, 2007
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen, dear organic friends, It is with great pleasure that I am here today to welcome you in the name of IFOAM, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. IFOAM is the global voice for all being active in organics and striving for further development.
I would like to thank NürnbergMesse, the owner of BioFach, its daughter companies Nürnberg Global Fairs and NürnbergMesse China as well as their Chinese partner the China Green Food Development Center under the Ministry of Agriculture, the latter two being the organizers of this first BioFach China
trade fair and conference, for their pioneering work. Co-organizers and supporting organizations should also be thanked for their support to the organic development in this country. It is my honor and pleasure to grace this important event with my presence on behalf of IFOAM, the patron of BioFach
trade fairs worldwide.
Already in 1995 I had the opportunity of meeting two of the movers of organic in China, the China Green Food Development Center under the Ministry of Agriculture and the Organic Food Development Center under the State Environment Protection Agency. Since then I could follow the development in
China closely, visiting the country again for several times. The development of the organic guarantee system evolved with the organic law coming into force, inspection bodies and the accreditation system being established. At the same time production and processing developed. International interest in
sourcing organic products from China grew fast. Domestically we can experience a development of markets even if still being small. Perspectives for both are promising. I feel most privileged to be back yet another time to share my experience and to bring back new impressions and knowledge, which you hopefully will share with me during this event.
Representing IFOAMs leadership, I am most appreciative of the developments in China. We can’t stress enough that one of the reasons for the continuous growth and influence of the worldwide organic movements is to be globally organized, and that each progress in any country or region is rengthening
this international movement and its potentials to lead the way towards the worldwide adoption of Organic Agriculture as ecologically, socially and economically sound systems based on its principles of Health, Ecology, Fairness and Care. We should therefore not forget that the successful growth
the organic market development takes in this country has to go along with responsibility and reliability of all partners involved. It is the credibility that will finally succeed as consumers will buy organic products only when they trust their organic integrity.
IFOAM is the only international organization further developing an organic guarantee and equivalence system, and plays a leading role in the social and political dimension of organic agriculture worldwide. It represents the organic movements at United Nations and other intergovernmental agencies. IFOAM’s richness and relevance are based on its members and associates from all spheres of organic agriculture activities. Currently IFOAM has 750 members
and associates in 108 countries. And, IFOAM is reaching out to its members and interested parties with its staff, regional offices or in the case of China with an expert appointed by IFOAM. His name is Zhou Zejiang and well known in the organic sector. Additionally IFOAM will implement a Common Fund for
Commodity project in the following years.
With BioFach, the most prestigious and biggest organic trade fair and conference organizer entering China, we surely have the proof that China has become an important stakeholder of the global organic industry. We hope that BioFachs presence will fuel market dynamics, and will lead to an increased development of organic production and trade in China. With this development we dare to put high hopes in increased cooperation and coordination among Asian countries for the development of technologies, standards and guarantee systems, as well as regional trade.
We are living in a world that is increasingly shaken by ecological challenges such as global warming, dwindling non-renewable natural resources, loss of biodiversity, poor management, scarcity and lack of water in many regions, global inequity and other man-made dangers. Organic Agriculture, if developed with care and integrity, can become an important tool to achieve a worldwide sustainable development that takes into account the welfare and health of people and the environment by reducing energy consumption, keeping biodiversity rich, water clean, and soils fertile. BioFach China trade fair and conference provides an opportunity for us to actively participate in this process.
I wish all of you success, especially all of you exhibiting, as your success will be the success of BioFach China! Thank you!
Gerald A. Herrmann, IFOAM President |