Will Bulgaria be able to defend the status of rose oil before the European Commission?
Source：Investor BG
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Sofia
Update Time：2023/03/04
Kazanlak Mayor Galina Stoyanova and MEP Andrey Novakov reported a problem related to the essential oils regulation.
The state must intervene with all the levers of influence and request from the European Commission a regulation for the protection of essential oils, so that they are not controlled in the same way as chemical products. This was insisted on Bulgaria ON AIR by the mayor of Kazanlak, Galina Stoyanova.
"The change affects all agricultural products from which ethereal sites are extracted," she explained and reported that she found out about the preparation for amending the regulation from the mayor of Kazanlak's twin French city of Grasse.
According to her, for now this problem is unknown to the government and the parliament. Stoyanova did not hide her concern for the livelihood not only of the Valley of Roses, but also for the entire country. "There are 2,900 producers of rose oil in Bulgaria, which are in Panagyurishte, Karlovo, Strelcha, Sopot and Kazanlak," she pointed out and stated that not only their livelihood is threatened, but also the culture of the whole of Europe. She recalled the benefits of rose oil for the human body and warned of the economic effect of banning essential oils in the health care, food and perfume industry.
In order to protect the Bulgarian interest, the MEP Andrey Novakov took up the case. He is adamant that no one has moved to ban rose oil yet, but the European Commission plans to change the way it regulates its production.
"I understand the concerns of everyone who makes a living from this. Rose oil is part of our national identity. I hope for a quick response from the European Commission, they have not published anything in black and white. The fact is that mayors from France are raising the alarm about this problem, I spoke with some of them. I understand that the refining of rose oil should be equated with chemical products like bleach," commented Novakov.
He noted that since essential oils are produced from plants whose production does not harm the environment, it makes no sense to treat them as chemical products.
Novakov congratulated the mayor of Kazanlak that she immediately started solving the problem in order to prepare the protection of rose oil in time and hopes to meet understanding with the European Commission to prepare for the protection of the production of rose oil and other essential crops in European Parliament.
The Bulgarian MEP is convinced that the planned Bulgarian exhibition in the European Parliament in the spring, related to the cultivation of roses and the production of rose oil, will show the tradition, pointing out that nowhere in the world can the conditions in which it grows is reproduced "Rose Damascena".
Novakov reminded that rose oil is exported all over the world and affects the perfumery and cosmetics industry of companies that earn millions.
Source: https://www.investor.bg/a/527-svyat/368648-shte-uspee-li-balgariya-da-zashtiti-statuta-na-rozovoto-maslo-pred-evropeyskata-komisiya