On the shelves of local stores, as well as in the markets, there are more and more products, mainly fruits and vegetables, which are sold as ecologically grown food. The sale of products labeled “eco” or as organic has been widespread through social networks for years.
However, an ecological product must contain 95 percent of ecological ingredients and, in fact, the manufacturer must comply with all the principles and requirements set by the controllers, and certificates are issued by authorized houses in accordance with international standards. Prof. confirms that buyers often fall for it, and the inspection almost never controls even those eco-products that have declarations and certificates. Ph.D. Ahmed Džubur from the Agro-Mediterranean Faculty of the University “Džemal Bijedić” in Mostar.
A huge amount
As he says, the protection of food consumers, production and sale of ecologically grown or organic food is at the lowest possible level in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
– A lot of things are sold under certain labels, and, for example, a huge amount of honey is falsified and does not correspond at all to the condition on the declaration. Furthermore, in supermarkets, markets, markets, and ordinary stores, you have raw fruits and vegetables and processed products that are sold under the label of organic, and which, if huge analyzes were done, would show that they are carcinogenic, that is, harmful to human health. Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina, both entities, do not have mechanisms of effective control and sanctions against those who produce such food – says Džubur for “Dnevni avaz”.
It indicates that a product, in order to be ecological and organic and similar, must have a label and a certificate, and even, it is stated, it is counterfeited, which is not uncommon even in the European Union, where the European Commission proved that 53 percent of products labeled “eco”, actually, fake.
Growing food in a natural and ecological way is extremely demanding and expensive, as Marijan Brajković, president of the Agricultural Cooperative “Matica” in Višići near Čapljina, tells us. Their agricultural producers, as Brajković tells us, in their production were based on the so-called IPM approach, which means that they make maximum use of biological means.
Expensive production
And such a way of production, as well as protection where possible, is far above conventional production.
– Nevertheless, it still cannot be called organic production, if all the rules are followed, although the quality of those products is much higher than those called organic or eco. It’s on the low branches here. On the one hand, it is an extremely expensive production, and therefore the final product should have a much higher price, and it is clear what the paying power of our citizens is, so it is difficult for us to get into those stories – explains Brajković for “Avaz”.
Fake tags
And he states that products under the “eco” label are sold on our market, which have neither a trademark nor a declaration.
– For example, our tomato production is done on a wild tomato substrate that is extremely resistant to all diseases and is literally treated with nothing. We deal with certain pests with a 100 percent biological approach and we can guarantee that it will pass all tests, but therefore we do not sell it as organic. While, on the other hand, you have a tomato that citizens buy as ecologically grown, but which, in fact, has a false label – Brajković tells us.
