TOS 130, FEBRUARY 2012 - the full article is available for logged in subscribers.

The ninth edition of The Organic Certification Directory was published in February 2012. The Directory lists all the organic certification bodies in the world and is distributed free.

Comparing with last year data, the Directory reports that there has been modest growth in the number of certification bodies in most regions of the world, though the number has increased rapidly in some Asian countries, mainly in India. Many of the new certifiers are branch offices to international certification bodies who gained approval by, for instance, the EU or a local government. The global total is now 549, up from 532 in 2010. Most certification bodies are located in the EU, Japan, the United States, South Korea, China, Canada, India and Brazil. Eighty-five countries have a domestic certification body

Kolbjörn Örjavik

News from TOS 129, JANUARY 2012 - the full article is available for logged in subscribers.

This article offers an overview on how the legislation on organic production and control is implemented in the different Latin America countries.

The conclusion is just passing a law is not enough. It is very important to also develop an organic agricultural policy that includes technical rules, educational programmes, financial funds, and rural advisory programmes. In addition, it is essential to have the public and private institutional capacity to implement the law. And finally, laws on paper provide no comprehensive benefit to organic agriculture, unless they are applied as a standard technique.

Carlos Escobar

IFOAM submits a policy brief advising governments not to complicate organic trade regulations

In a new policy brief, approved by the World Board in July 2011, IFOAM advises governments to not rush into regulating organic agriculture, and to do it with a view not to complicate imports and trade in organic products. IFOAM claims, perhaps contrary to common belief, that import of organic products to countries where the sector is small and emerging can help to develop the sector: ‘It is proven that consumers need a wide offer of products before the organic choice can become their daily habit. Hence facilitating imports of certified organic products into the country is an efficient way to promote domestic demand, which will in turn encourage domestic production.’

The brief states that the most important technical barrier to organic trade is the increasing number of government organic regulations that do not recognise or accept each other as equivalent. Very few countries recognise each others’ organic regulatory systems, which means that organic products have to be certified several times in order to access several markets. This places an unnecessary burden on producers, especially on small producers in developing countries.

The policy brief suggests measures to be taken to minimise those barriers. The recommendations were:

Consider organic product imports from the outset of establishing a regulation. Ensure that imports are primarily based on equivalence, not compliance.

An organic regulation should state that organic products may be imported if they comply with the domestic regulation, or if they comply with equivalent production and certification rules.

Adopt efficient processes to approve a high number of organic standards and technical regulations as equivalent.

Such processes recommended by IFOAM are to:

• Officially endorse the IFOAM Family of Standards.
• Make use of IFOAM’s equivalence assessment reports and conclusions.
• Fast-track their decisions on granting equivalence to other standards and regulations.
• Negotiate bi- or multi-lateral equivalence agreements on the basis of approval of their regulations in the IFOAM Family of Standards or the use of the Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standards, (COROS).

Adopt an efficient process to recognise a high number of performance requirements governing organic certification in other countries.

Here the recommendation is to accept IFOAM Accreditation as well as the new Global Organic System Accreditation. Both programmes are implemented by the International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS). Governments that want to make their own assessments can use the ITF International Requirements for Organic Certification Bodies (IROCB) as the tool that will be used for recognition of certification requirements and foreign certification bodies.

Finally, IFOAM recommends that governments should engage in international efforts to harmonise organic standards and regulations, such as the processes to develop the Codex Alimentarius organic guidelines or the IFOAM Standard. At the regional level, governments can consider engaging in cooperation projects to harmonise standards and technical regulations and/or to foster regional equivalence. Such regional initiatives have been developed in East Africa, the Pacific, the Caribbean and in Asia. The recommendations in the policy brief are largely built on the analysis and recommendations emerging from the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture, a joint venture between FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD.

Gunnar Rundgren

Source: How Governments can Regulate Imports of Organic Products Based on the Concepts of Harmonization and Equivalence, IFOAM July 2011, available at www.ifoam.org

The International Conference ‘Ecological Organic Agriculture: The alternative for Africa’ is being held on 15-16 November 2011 at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi/Kenya.

In addition to building awareness of accessible, productive and resilient organic farming systems, the conference will help to build alliances, capitalising on the African Union’s Resolution on Organic Farming. It will also implement the African Ecological Organic Agriculture Action Plan.

World Food Prize Laureate and winner of the One World Award, Hans Herren, and Peace Nobel Laureate, Wangari Maathai, will be speakers at the conference. In addition, the speakers’ line-up also includes three African Alternative Nobel Prize Laureates: Tewolde Eghziaber (Ethopia), Helmy Abouleish (Egypt) and Nnimmo Bassey (Nigeria).

Conference website: www.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_conferences/Organic_Alternative_for_Africa_2011.html

In a September press release, Fairtrade International (FLO) and Fair Trade USA jointly announced that Fair Trade USA (formerly TransFair) would be resigning its membership in the Fairtrade International (FLO) system effective 31 December, 2011.  The statement emphasised that, ‘as we go our separate ways, both Fairtrade International and Fair Trade USA are committed to maintaining the benefits we have achieved for farmers and workers, for business partners and for our supporters, and to growing impact over time.’  However, FLO expressed regret over the decision.

A short time later, Fair Trade USA announced that it was entering into a strategic partnership with Scientific Certification Systems to provide third party certification. Californian based Scientific Certification Systems, founded in 1984, provides third party certification in a variety of industries including food and agriculture, forestry and manufacturing. According to the press release, the new arrangement will allow Fair Trade USA introduce certification to a wider range of producer groups, introduce new standards for a wider range of products and offer cost-effective certification services.

The new arrangement does not sit well with many involved in the international fair trade movement.  A statement by the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) characterises the change as a move to extend the scope of Fair Trade to include plantations and factories, saying that ‘We are convinced that this decision will have long-term and far-reaching consequences for the Fair Trade movement.’

This controversy will be addressed more fully in a future issue of TOS.

Grace Gershuny - GAIA Services

For more information see:

www.fairtradeusa.org

www.wfto.com

CHONGQING, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- Officials with the Chongqing Municipal government said on Tuesday that the business management of Wal-Mart may be "problematic" after 13 Wal-Mart stores in the city were closed temporarily and fined over a case of product mislabeling.

The local government ordered the stores to close for 15 days and fined the company 2.69 million yuan (421,894.58 U.S. dollars) after the stores were found to be selling ordinary pork labelled as organic pork, the Chongqing Administration of Industry and Commerce said on Sunday.

Don't mess with the Chinese authorities!

Source:

http://english.cntv.cn/program/china24/20111018/103719.shtml

NSF International – which describes itself as ‘an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides standards development, product certification, auditing, education and risk management for public health and the environment’ - has expanded its  American National Standard for Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients (NSF/ANSI 305) to allow plant-based ingredients that are certified according to the EU Regulation. As a result, companies formulating personal care products for compliance with the NSF/ANSI 305 Personal Care Products Containing Organic Ingredients standard are now able to source from both US National Organic Program (NOP)-certified ingredients and EU-certified ingredients suppliers.

Further information in the fact sheet: www.nsf.org

For background information on the NSF/ANSI 305 Standard, see TOS issues 118 and 120.

In a recent press release ECOCERT, a French based certification body, has announced that it has acquired Indiana Certified Organic (ICO), a US certification body operating in the US and US Virgin Islands. ECOCERT explain that the transaction is key to its strategy in developing its North American business plan with well-established local partners in the USA. The acquisition of ICO brings over 300 additional US clients to the ECOCERT Group.

Informal discussions between ECOCERT and ICO started in 2009, and the formal process was initiated in July 2010 and completed on 28 January 2011.

Commenting on the acquisition, former ICO CEO, Cecilia Bowman noted, ‘ECOCERT was a natural choice as we share the same values and commitment to organic farmers and handlers.’ ECOCERT CEO, William Vidal, agreed, saying ‘We are proud to have ICO within the ECOCERT Group. It will strengthen our commitment to the organic sector’.

Source: ECOCERT press release, 20 September 2011.

The 20th IFOAM General Assembly in South Korea was held 3-5 October. Andre Leu was elected as the new President, and the two Vice Presidents are Gabriella Soto and Roberto Ugas.

Katherine di Matteo stepped down as the IFOAM President. Six of the incumbent World Board members stood for re-election, but it was only the two Vice Presidents André Leu and Roberto Ugas that made it to the new board, with an overwhelming support. This means that there are eight out of ten new Board members.

There were no decisions for any particular re-orientation of IFOAM in the General Assembly. Issues relating to Organic Guarantee System were not brought to the agenda by the Board. There was a member motion from France for limitations of growing greenhouse crops out of soil, which was amended in agreement with the World Board. The motion passed which means that IFOAM has to develop more detailed standards for greenhouse production.

The Assembly voted against proposals to introduce a gender quota in the board as well as a proposal to introduce staggered 6-years terms. A motion to increase the prominence of regional groups in IFOAM was approved. A decision was made to oppose “speculative” systems for carbon payments for agriculture.  Next IFOAM General Assembly will be held in 2014 in Istanbul, Turkey.

Gunnar Rundgren

The General Assembly was held in Namyangju City, Gyeonggi Province, Republic of Korea from October 3rd to October 5th, 2011. Read more on IFOAM's website.

IFOAM is the global organic umbrella organization with 800 affiliates in over 115 countries representing the organic farming and food sector covering over 37 million ha of organically managed land and 55 billion US$ consumer purchases. We are looking for an Organic Guarantee System Expert to complement our team in Bonn, Germany. The Expert develops and implements the Organic Guarantee System and assures marketing and quality development of our services.

We welcome electronic applications until November 15, 2011 to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

See www.ifoam.org/jobs for the detailed profile.