When purchasing food products green the contract authorities can reduce the chemical pollution of the environment (soil, water and air), ensure that purchased food products do not harm the human health with synthetic chemicals (colourants, preservatives, etc.), promote sustainable usage of timber, diminish the amount of waste and stimulate the effective waste management.

The two most important phases relevant to the environmental impacts in the life-cycle of food products are food production and food waste and packages management. No environmental impacts are to be considered in the phase of food products usage, and impacts to human health studies show different outcomes, from positive to neutral.

For food production, the following environmental impacts are relevant:

·        The fertility and biological activity of the soil is maintained or increased by the use of pesticides and fertilizers, resulting in water and soil contamination (eutrophication, acidification and ecotoxity). Organic agriculture has less negative impact;

·        Soil erosion;

·        Loss of biodiversity;

·        There is uncertainty about the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and their impact on the environment and human health;

·        Use of energy for processing food and transportation;

·        Use of resources for packaging.

After food is consumed, a lot of food waste remains. They include not only the remains of food products, but also the packages.

The contracting authority in the public procurement process has an opportunity to reach that the above mentioned negative effects on the environment and human beings would be avoided. One of the ways to reach this goal is to purchase organic food products. The growth, production, regulation and certification of organic food products are particularly regulated in the EU and Lithuania. The main legal acts are Council Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 of 24 June 1991 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs (with amendments of Commission Regulation (EB) Nr. 473/2002 and Commission Regulation (EB) Nr. 1481/2004) and Council Regulation (EC) No 1804/1999 of 19 July 1999 supplementing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91 on organic production of agricultural products and indications referring thereto on agricultural products and foodstuffs to include livestock production. The new 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 will come into force on January 1, 2009. These regulations are directly applicable in the Republic of Lithuania. Furthermore, the Rules on Organic Farming were approved by the Order No 375 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania on December 28, 2000 (it was amended by the Order No 3D-156 of the Minister of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania which came into force on April 11, 2007). It should be noted that the only agricultural and food products that meet the requirements of the above mentioned regulations on organic farming can be called organic products and labelled with eco-label.

The requirements for the organic agricultural products are very extensive. They are raised for organic agriculture land (it is required that land is not closer than 50 km from motorways, not closer than 10 km from country’s main roads), density of plants, crop rotation, fertilization, maintenance of fishery waters, feedstuff, stockbreeding places, livestock transportation, killing, regulation, and processing, etc. In this way the contracting authority purchasing organic food products certified with eco-labels makes sure that the effect on the environment of product’s production and growth was very slight or was avoided at all.

The contracting authority in the contract documents (the technical specification, the qualification criteria for the suppliers, the contract provisions) can determine the environmental criteria, which food products, methods of growth, technologies of production have to meet. You shouldn’t forget that the criteria have to be compliant with community law, in particular with the principles regarding non-discrimination and equal treatment; this implies, amongst other things, that the criteria have to be measurable/verifiable. Moreover, the criteria may concern only the production of the products, which are to be supplied to the contracting authority (and hence they cannot concern the overall environmental management measures of the company producing or supplying the products). For food and food services, these concern criteria which prescribe for instance: limited use of pesticides and fertilizers; limited use of energy and water; responsible way of treating waste products.

You shouldn’t forget that not only the processes of products’ growth and production have negative impact on the environment but also the waste products which emerge in the life-cycle of the products. Therefore, the contracting authority can determine the requirements for the waste management (such as commitment of supplier to collect and sort waste, to pick up the packages) and packages of food products (the contracting authority can define what kinds of ingredients are allowed and what kinds of ingredients are forbidden in packages).