The European Commission recently announced the winner of the EU organic food logo competition.

Over the past two months, some 130,000 people have been voting online to choose the new organic food symbol from three finalists. The winning design is by Dusan Milenkovic, a German student who obtained 63 per cent of the overall vote for his 'Euro-leaf' logo.

From July, the organic food logo of the EU will be obligatory on all pre-packaged organic products produced in any EU member state and which meet the necessary standards. It will be optional for imported products.

Other private, regional or national logos will be allowed to appear alongside the EU label. The organic farming regulations will be amended shortly to include the new logo.

"I'm delighted we now have a fresh EU organic food logo," said Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Mariann Fischer Boel, who first proposed the logo competition.

"This exercise has raised the profile of organic food and we now have a logo which everyone will be able to identify with. It features an elegant design and I look forward to buying products with the logo."

The winning logo was the result of a pan-European contest open to art and design students. The nearly 3,500 logo designs submitted were evaluated by an internationally-renowned jury.

The best three logos were uploaded on the competition website www.ec.europa.eu/organic-logo and were the subject of an online vote which ended last month.

The 'Euro-leaf' design shows the EU stars in the shape of a leaf against a green background in the form of the European flag. It is a straightforward design containing two clear messages: nature and Europe.

The winner, together with the second and third runners-up, will be presented with their prizes by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development at an official award ceremony that will take place in Brussels in July.

The three winners will receive prizes of €6,000, €3,500 and €2,500 respectively.