UK organic group says air-freight food ok if aids poor

LONDON, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Britain's largest organic food association said on Wednesday it will continue to put its stamp of approval on products sent by air freight, but only if the food sales help poor farmers.

The Soil Association, which certifies over 70 percent of organic produce sold in Britain, had previously debated refusing to certify products shipped by air freight because of high carbon emissions from airplanes.

"We recognise that building alternative markets that offer the same social and economic benefits as organic exports take time," Anna Bradley, chairwoman of the Soil Association Standards Board told a news conference.

"Our aim is to minimise airfreight by encouraging alternatives, such other forms of shipping, and creating local organic markets," she said.

The group said details of the proposal would be open to discussion throughout 2008 and would become effective from January 2009.

Environmental organisations like Greenpeace, which earlier said it was concerned about the large carbon footprint created by food shipped via air freight, had been involved in consultations over the new standards, Bradley said.

Withholding certificates from companies which use airfreight could have hindered development in poor countries.

Blue Skies, which exports pre-cut ready-to-eat fruit from Ghana, is entirely dependent on air freight which has helped create jobs in the West African country.

"The impact has been very positive, where farmers were not well off, they now have houses and they can pay for their children to go to school," said Ernest Abloh, Chief Agronomist at Blue Skies Ghana.

The Soil Association said that although only around one percent of organic food in Britain arrives via air freight, this form of transport is growing rapidly.

"Right now we're mostly concerned about air freight's growth rate," the association's Policy Director Peter Melchett said.