Organic food flown into Britain faces being stripped of its right to be called organic as part of a drive to cut down on carbon emissions caused by air freight.

If producers want to keep the prized organic label they must meet stringent ethical standards, the Soil Association said yesterday.

Farmers must start investing in local communities, allow their workers to form unions and fund education schemes by 2009 if they want to keep their status. Lord Melchett, the charity’s policy director, said: “Some will find it impossible, I suspect.”

The association, which certifies three quarters of the £1.9 billion organic food sector in Britain, has backed away from an outright ban on importing by air which would punish farmers in developing countries who rely on air freight to make a profit. About 1 per cent of organic food on supermarket shelves is flown in from overseas, of which about 80 per cent comes from low or lower-middle income countries.

The push to reduce the use of air freight comes after a public consultation in which more than half of respondents called for food transported by air to be stripped of the organic logo. The Soil Association claims that transporting produce by air generates 177 times more greenhouse gases than shipping.

Brian Wilson, chairman of Flying-Matters, which represents airlines and tourism bodies, said that a ban could be very damaging for the farmers the Fairtrade lobby was seeking to protect.

He said: “Unless teleportation becomes viable in the next few years there is no alternative for them to get their fresh produce to market in time.”

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