Article 3 of Regulation (EU) 2021/2119 stipulates that farms committed to organic farming are obliged to declare the parcels and crops concerned to their certification body. They must also provide up-to-date information to their local DDT(M) (or, in the French overseas departments, to their DAAF) as part of their application for CAP subsidies, which entails a considerable administrative burden. From now on, thanks to a simple checkbox in the "Other obligations" tab, when declaring CAP 2025, farms will be able to easily transmit their data to their certification body through Cartobio. During their annual inspections, certifying bodies will then be able to validate the organic nature of plots directly in Cartobio. Validated data can then be used for CAP aid applications. Farms not applying for CAP aid can import or create their parcels directly on Cartobio.

Sharing information between organic players for smoother procedures

Cartobio takes the form of a web application for farms committed to organic farming and certifying bodies. The tool synchronizes with several geographic data sources to avoid duplication of information and facilitate dissemination. Farms enter their plot of land and the crops grown. This information is then used by certifying bodies to save time during inspections. Once certified, it can also be accessed by the authorities to streamline the CAP organic aid appraisal process.

A tool for monitoring and opening up data

In addition to the administrative and regulatory advantages, the aim of Cartobio is to obtain precise information at territorial and farm level, to enable better monitoring of public policies on organic farming. Anonymized and updated every year, the data relating to plots and crops is made available to the general public and to research, to provide input for studies (impact of organic farming on health, the environment, biodiversity, etc.) and to enable local authorities and public establishments to adapt local policies. For the time being, only parcels investigated as part of CAP aid applications are displayed. However, from the 2024 vintage, all parcels certified on Cartobio will be published.

A service resulting from a broad partnership

Cartobio is initiated and supported by the Agence Bio and the INAO. The project is supported by the DINUM, the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty and the Ministry of Ecological Transition, Biodiversity, Forestry, the Sea and Fishing. The project is financially supported by the Office Français de la Biodiversité as part of the Ecophyto Plan. It was incubated under the beta.gouv.fr program, an incubator for state digital services. The project was integrated into Agence bio in the course of 2024.