The Ministry of Agriculture has produced draft legislation overseeing organic production and sales that includes a fine of up to SR1 million for offenders.

Ayman Al-Ghamdi, the director of the department of organic agriculture at the ministry, said recently the fines would depend on the type of offense.

Al-Ghamdi said the ministry’s inspectors would check markets regularly to see if producers, wholesalers and retailers have the proper certificates and approved stamps to ensure the authenticity of organic products. Each stamp would have a registration number linked to the ministry with the date of production and origin of the product.

Al-Ghamdi said the organic farming policy currently being drafted by the ministry includes increasing the number of organic farms and products, and rationalyzing water consumption.

“A five-year action plan was drafted based on achieving these goals.” He said the ministry would hold a workshop on the issue next week, with the plan possibly finalized by the year-end.

He said there are no statistics on organic production currently. “It is estimated to be 1 percent. However, organic farming is progressing according to current plans. Until last year, we had 110 organic farms in Saudi Arabia over 16,000 hectares,” he said.

These farms produce vegetables, fruit, fodder, and aromatic and medicinal plants. “The industry has produced 5,000 head of organic livestock, 350 birds and 700 beehives,” he said.

He said there was an increasing demand for organic products in the country. “We have many organic producers here in the Kingdom, and importers of organic products. But there are more challenges to overcome, including further effort to meet rising demand,” said Al-Ghamdi.

He said the main goal of the legislation was to manage, regulate and supervise organic production in the country.

He said the ministry would publish and implement the standards and controls for organic production this year, which would apply to producers and related industries.

He said the ministry would provide technical support for farmers with the cooperation of the organic farming project, and the Saudi Organic Farming Association.

These joint efforts would ensure producers provide more and diverse organic products for the domestic market.