Reference metadata describe statistical concepts and methodologies used for the collection and generation of data. They provide information on data quality and, since they are strongly content-oriented, assist users in interpreting the data. Reference metadata, unlike structural metadata, can be decoupled from the data.
The collected statistics for the country cover the following data:
Certified registered organic operators (referring to their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of operators)
Certified registered organic processors who manufacture organic products (as their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of processors)
Certified organic crop area (under conversion and fully converted) (expressed in hectares)
Certified organic crop production from fully converted area (expressed in 1 000 kg)
Certified organic livestock (expressed in heads of live animals)
Production of certified organic products of animalorigin (expressed in 1 000 kg of carcass weight and in thousand eggs)
Production of certified organic milk products (Produced on farms or Processed on farms or by dairy enterprises) and Honey and products of bee-keeping (expressed in 1 000 kg of products obtained)
Certified organic aquaculture sold by producers (expressed in 1 000 kg live weight)
For different indicators data are collected from 2005 onwards
3.9. Base period
Not applicable.
Certified registered organic operators (referring to their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of operators)
Certified registered organic processors who manufacture organic products (as their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of processors)
Certified organic croparea (under conversion and fully converted) (expressed in hectares)
Certified organic cropproduction from fully converted area (expressed in 1 000 kg)
Certified organic livestock (expressed in heads of live animals)
Production of certified organic products of animal origin (expressed in 1 000 kg of carcass weight and in thousand eggs)
Production of certified organic milk products (Produced on farms or Processed on farms or by dairy enterprises) and Honey and products of bee-keeping (expressed in 1 000 kg of products obtained)
Certified organic aquaculture sold by producers (expressed in 1 000 kg live weight)
Calendar year
6.1. Institutional Mandate - legal acts and other agreements
Legal acts and other agreements - EU level
Up to reference year 2007 data were delivered to the Commission on the basis of 'Gentlemen's agreements' (no obligation to deliver statistical data).
From reference year 2008 and until 2022 included, data were provided according to Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 889/2008 of 5 September 2008 laying down detailed rules for the implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.
From 2022 According to the Organic Production Statistics ESS Agreement the Member States should provide for the first time a quality report
National legal acts:
Common Organization of Markets in Agricultural Products of the European Union Implementing Act
Ordinance 5 from 3rd September 2018 for implementation of the rules of organic production, labeling and control, and for issuing a control activity permit for compliance with the rules of organic production, as well as for subsequent official supervision of the controlling persons.
6.2. Institutional Mandate - data sharing
According to Art. 16a, para. 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Common Organization of Markets in Agricultural Products of the European Union Implementing Act (GPA) The Ministry of Agriculture maintains a public electronic register of persons who produce, process, store and trade agricultural products and food produced according to the rules of organic production, including the subcontractors (Electronic Register). Information in the electronic register is entered by the control bodies carrying out inspections on organic production, with whom the operators have a contract for control and certification (art. 16a, para. 2, item 1 of GPA). In order to guarantee the quality of the data in Art. 45 of Ordinance 5 of 2018 on the implementation of the rules for organic production, regulatory deadlines for recording up-to-date information into the register from the CBs are specified.
7.1. Confidentiality - policy
Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009, stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society.
Information that is placed for the public is in conformity with The General Data Protection Regulation on EU level and with the Personal Data Protection Act on national level
7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
not applicable
8.1. Release calendar
There is no publication calendar for this data collection. The data are sent to Eurostat after summarization and validation.
8.2. Release calendar access
Not applicable.
8.3. Release policy - user access
In line with the Community legal framework and the European Statistics Code of Practice Eurostat disseminates European statistics on Eurostat's website respecting professional independence and in an objective, professional and transparent manner in which all users are treated equitably. The detailed arrangements are governed by the Eurostat protocol on impartial access to Eurostat data for users.
Data are annual. Eurostat receives and disseminates data after reception and validation.
10.1. Dissemination format - News release
News releases on-line (no regular press release calendar).
The Ministry of Agriculture publishes a report on the state and development of agriculture on its website. It contains summarized information on organic production - number of operators, total certified area and number of certified animals.
10.3. Dissemination format - online database
The National Statistic Institute database does not include detailed information on organic farming as does EUROSTAT.
At this time there is no online database on national level containing information on certified operators, area, livestock, production, etc.
10.3.1. Data tables - consultations
Not applicable.
10.4. Dissemination format - microdata access
Information on each individual certified operation is collected throughout the year. It is presented by the control bodies by entering into an electronic register for each certified unit. Annual reports are generated at the end of the year. The information from the register is used to complete the questionnaire for reporting to Eurostat.
10.5. Dissemination format - other
Not applicable.
10.5.1. Metadata - consultations
Not applicable.
10.6. Documentation on methodology
The information in the electronic register is entered by control bodies according to the "Guide for the role of an Administrator by a Control Body in the Register of producers, processors and traders of agricultural products and food produced according to the rules of organic production"
10.6.1. Metadata completeness - rate
Not applicable.
10.7. Quality management - documentation
None
11.1. Quality assurance
Not applicable
11.2. Quality management - assessment
Not applicable
12.1. Relevance - User Needs
The main users are DG Agriculture and Rural Development (DG AGRI), DG Environment (DG ENV), European Environment Agency (EEA), Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FIBL) and the general public.
12.2. Relevance - User Satisfaction
Not applicable.
12.3. Completeness
All data are reported according to the questionnaire provided by Eurostat based on the information entered by the control bodies in the electronic register.
12.3.1. Data completeness - rate
All fields relating to the specific operator are mandatory and should be filled in by the control bodies. In this regard, the completion rate is 100 for each year.
13.1. Accuracy - overall
Not applicable
13.2. Sampling error
Not applicable
13.2.1. Sampling error - indicators
Not applicable
13.3. Non-sampling error
Not applicable
13.3.1. Coverage error
Not applicable
13.3.1.1. Over-coverage - rate
Not applicable
13.3.1.2. Common units - proportion
Not applicable
13.3.2. Measurement error
Not applicable
13.3.3. Non response error
Not applicable
13.3.3.1. Unit non-response - rate
Not applicable
13.3.3.2. Item non-response - rate
Not applicable
13.3.4. Processing error
Not applicable
13.3.5. Model assumption error
Not applicable.
14.1. Timeliness
See concepts below.
14.1.1. Time lag - first result
The deadlines for entering information by the control bodies in the electronic register are specified in the national legal acts. The table for Eurostat is filled out based on this information and is provided due to 30.06.
14.1.2. Time lag - final result
Most data deliveries are on time.
14.2. Punctuality
See concepts below.
14.2.1. Punctuality - delivery and publication
The table for Eurostat is filled out based on this information and is provided due to 30.06.
15.1. Comparability - geographical
The information is filled in for the whole country to be used in harmonised questionnaire of Eurostat
15.1.1. Asymmetry for mirror flow statistics - coefficient
Not applicable.
15.2. Comparability - over time
The comparability over time is mostly ensured. Data are available with Eurostat for at least the past 15 years (depending on the indicator).
15.2.1. Length of comparable time series
Depending on the criteria (number of operators, certified area, livestock producers, etc.) data is comparable from the first year it was submitted to EUROSTAT.
E.g. number of operators from 2005;
Certified area from 2006;
Livestock from 2006.
15.3. Coherence - cross domain
The agricultural structure data census covers the full agricultural sector in Bulgaria every 10 years and a sample of farms (conventional and organic) each year. “Organic farming” directorate summarizes the data for organic production annually for all certified operators. The data consistency is not sufficient due to the following reasons:
1. There is a difference in the scope: the Organic register includes both large and small farms whilst the farms in IFS2020 meet the requirements of Regulation (EU) 2018/1091.
2. The Agrostatistics division collects data for conventional farmers mainly. Organic holdings do not fall explicitly in the scope of the census.
However, comparison with the data published by the Agrostatistics Department on the number of animals, area, production and average yields by crops, is done before sending the data to EUROSTAT.
15.3.1. Coherence - sub annual and annual statistics
Not applicable.
15.3.2. Coherence - National Accounts
Not applicable.
15.4. Coherence - internal
Comparison of the data with those reported in the previous year. If necessary, additional information is required to verify the current value.
The data is organised by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food through national database for organic farming. The data are uploaded by officially recognized control bodies.
17.1. Data revision - policy
Review of data entered in the register and control of outliers; In case of inconsistencies in the entered information, additional checks and analysis of the information are made. Summary of the entered data; Comparison with the data published by the Agrostatistics Department on the number of animals, area, production and average yields by crops; Comparison with organic production data reported in previous years.
17.2. Data revision - practice
The "Organic Farming Directorate carries out an examination and, if necessary, requests additional information from the control bodies.
17.2.1. Data revision - average size
Not applicable.
18.1. Source data
Administrative data provided by national Certification and Control bodies via electronic register
18.2. Frequency of data collection
Continious over the year
18.3. Data collection
Data are collected using the national organic database. They are then summurized by the Organic farming Directorate withing the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The final result is the Eurostat harmonised questionnaire .
18.4. Data validation
Coherence and completeness checks lead to requests for data revision or explanation by control bodies.
18.5. Data compilation
Experts in the Organic farming Directorate compile the data uploaded by all control bodies
18.5.1. Imputation - rate
Not applicable.
18.6. Adjustment
Not applicable.
18.6.1. Seasonal adjustment
Not applicable.
The collected statistics for the country cover the following data:
Certified registered organic operators (referring to their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of operators)
Certified registered organic processors who manufacture organic products (as their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of processors)
Certified organic crop area (under conversion and fully converted) (expressed in hectares)
Certified organic crop production from fully converted area (expressed in 1 000 kg)
Certified organic livestock (expressed in heads of live animals)
Production of certified organic products of animalorigin (expressed in 1 000 kg of carcass weight and in thousand eggs)
Production of certified organic milk products (Produced on farms or Processed on farms or by dairy enterprises) and Honey and products of bee-keeping (expressed in 1 000 kg of products obtained)
Certified organic aquaculture sold by producers (expressed in 1 000 kg live weight)
Certified registered organic operators (referring to their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of operators)
Certified registered organic processors who manufacture organic products (as their main or secondary activity) (expressed in number of processors)
Certified organic croparea (under conversion and fully converted) (expressed in hectares)
Certified organic cropproduction from fully converted area (expressed in 1 000 kg)
Certified organic livestock (expressed in heads of live animals)
Production of certified organic products of animal origin (expressed in 1 000 kg of carcass weight and in thousand eggs)
Production of certified organic milk products (Produced on farms or Processed on farms or by dairy enterprises) and Honey and products of bee-keeping (expressed in 1 000 kg of products obtained)
Certified organic aquaculture sold by producers (expressed in 1 000 kg live weight)
Experts in the Organic farming Directorate compile the data uploaded by all control bodies
Administrative data provided by national Certification and Control bodies via electronic register
Data are annual. Eurostat receives and disseminates data after reception and validation.
See concepts below.
The information is filled in for the whole country to be used in harmonised questionnaire of Eurostat
The comparability over time is mostly ensured. Data are available with Eurostat for at least the past 15 years (depending on the indicator).
