While, the standards that say what the organic label can be applied to are regulated by the EU, and do involve avoiding artificial pesticides and fertilisers there are also many other regulations aside from these, including encouraging sustainable methods, is airfreight a sustainable method?
Also so long as their standards have EU standards in them, the soil association can add whatever extra standards they want to, they could make it so apples have to be picked by the full moon if they wanted to and it would still be legal.

Laurie Cannell, Bradford, West Yorks

We have here a case where the "invisible hand" has ruled. Were it not economically viable to air freight Chilean produce, it would not be happening, or at least you wouldn't be willing to pay for it. As for terrestrial transport, it is not viable for many crops as the spoilage losses are too high. I sincerely doubt one would pay a premium for half rotted produce because it was "low-carbon transported". And if the carbon footprint of that Chilean apricot swells to unacceptable levels, then I suppose Britain can go back to boiling parsnips for most of the year. Oops, it takes carbon to boil the water.

Well then, perhaps we should include cooking energy requirements in the carbon footprint of the product, as edible raw fruits, whether imported or not, require none, where the parsnip clearly does, and so that difference should be credited back to the apricot. THen there's refrigeration energy...

Richard L Johnson, Bellevue, WA, USA

This is simply bigotry!
Food grown without fertilisers. pesticides etc is organic. The fact that some members of the Soil Association hate aeroplanes has no impact on the organic credentials of any food carried by them.

If you REALLY can't see the hypocracy in this, please explain why food from developed countries becomes 'inorganic' when moved by air, while food from underdeveloped counties ('Freetrade') can fly through the air with no ill effects whatsoever!!

Mike Bibby, St Albans, England -not EU