ASOBIO wants ecological public procurement to include a series of objectives related to certified foods for collective dining facilities and to facilitate access to tenders for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
The Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge (MITECO) has recently opened for public consultation its Ecological Public Procurement Plan 2026-2033 for food purchases and ASOBIO believes it is essential that it takes into account a series of criteria that it has submitted through the appropriate channels for this.
Among the sector’s proposals for ecological public procurement is that ecological production be recognized as an objective environmental criterion, verifiable and endowed with full legal certainty, with official certifications carrying the most weight to prevent greenwashing, among other considerations.
ASOBIO and Ecological Public Procurement
The Spanish Association of Ecological Producers and Marketers (ASOBIO) has participated in the public consultation opened by MITECO (Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge) in order to outline the guidelines for drafting the Ecological Public Procurement Plan 2026-2033.
This is a new strategic instrument that will guide the State in the coming years regarding the incorporation of the various environmental criteria that should govern contracting and the ecological public procurement of the General Administration.
Public procurement is a key lever in promoting more sustainable models of production and consumption. That is why ASOBIO has considered it essential to convey the ecological sector’s perspective to the authorities, in order to defend the role of certified ecological production as an indispensable tool if we are to advance on the path of the ecological transition.
What are ASOBIO’s contributions?
Among the main contributions sent to the Ministry, ASOBIO has defended several points of great importance:
Criterion
The recognition of certified ecological production in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848 as an objective environmental criterion, verifiable and endowed with full legal certainty.
Greenwashing
Prioritizing official certifications over vague and poorly defined environmental statements, thereby helping to prevent greenwashing in public procurement.
Public procurement
The incorporation of public procurement targets for ecological products and the promotion of ecological food in collective catering.
Facilities
The development of tools and common bidding templates for ecological public procurement, as well as the development of the necessary training activities to facilitate the application of environmental criteria by the administrations.
Added value
Support for small and medium-sized enterprises through procedures that recognize the added value of ecological certification and promote their participation in public tenders.
Ecological production as a strategic instrument
Through these proposals, ASOBIO continues its work with the aim that ecological production be recognized as a strategic instrument that is part of sustainability policies, through ecological public procurement.
For the association, it is essential that public administrations incorporate environmental criteria that are objective, in addition to verifiable, and that are backed by official certification systems, which will bring greater transparency, trust and legal certainty to public procurement.
