ecology and farming no 5/2011

REDUCINGTRADEBARRIERS

ecology AND

nr 5 // November 2011

farming

NIGERIA THE SLEEPING ORGANIC GIANT

THE STORY

OF THE GLOBAL

ORGANIC MARKET ACCESS

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BCS Öko-Garantie GmbH - the organic certifier Number 1

BCS Spread def.indd 2-3 24-08-11 17:01

Tableof Con

tents

DECEmbEr 2011 // NR 5

economy & market

8 The story of the Global Organic Market Access project Reducing barriers to international

trade. By Diane Bowen.

20 Six expert opinions on

reducing trade barriers E&F asked six experts if we can

reduce trade barriers through equi-

valence and at the same time main-

tain organic integrity in the markets.

By Diane Bowen & Peter Brul

events

12 Rapunzel supports “Futu-re makers” One World Award. By Gila Kriegisch

40 Organic World Congress The IFOAM General Assembly.

By Denise Godinho

organic&health

15 Antibiotics in agriculture: Organic practices lead the way in

reducing their use.

By Peter Brul

country report

16 Nigeria The sleeping organic giant of Africa.

By Mike Johnson

36 The organic sector grows in Korea

10,000+ organic farms.

By Gunnar Rungren

standards & certification

24 Rapid progress in deve-loping an Asian regional organic standard.

Asian regional standards.

By Jon Manhire

27 Building an ‘African-owned’ certification standard

East Africa’s regional standards.

By Gunnar Rundgren

30 A need for harmoniza-tion across Europe? Certification of organic catering.

By Melanie Lukas, Carola Strassner

& Anne-Kristin Løes

33 Which organic labels do consumers prefer?

Consumer recognition and willing-

ness to pay for different labels.

By Meike Janssen

44 The iFOAM family of standards

A global tool for multi-lateral

equivalence.

By Joëlle Katto-Andrighetto

ANd MORE....Editorial 5News 6Column by Gunnar Rundgren 7Calendar 51

The Organic World Congress in South Korea attracted nearly 2000 participants from 76 countries exchanging knowledge, research and ideas. During the General Assembly of IFOAM, a new World Board was elected. E&F reports on both events.

5ECOLOGY & FARMiNG | 5-2011

iNTROduCTiONiNTROduCTiON

Opening pathways for organic tradeFor most organic operators seeking to get their

products onto international markets, the world

of certification can be a daunting one. Where

there are no multilateral agreements, multiple

certification can often be the only option. This

increases the costs of accessing foreign mar-

kets and hampers the expansion of organic

production and consumption worldwide.

At a time when the contribution of small-scale

farmers to the world’s food security is increa-

singly being recognized, the reduction of trade

barriers is crucial – to avoid these farmers

being excluded from potentially remunerative

value chains.

The organic sector has always faced the dif-

ficult task of keeping the delicate balance bet-

ween providing reliable assurance systems with

formal rules that allow us to confidently classify

a product as organic, and – staying true to its

roots – facilitating the inclusion of small-scale

organic farmers in strategies for accessing glo-

bal markets.

And never has the importance of preserving

organic credibility and achieving consumer

loyalty, through a unified understanding of

the values of the organic sector been greater.

Fraud, a multiplicty of eco-labels and standards

that settle for sub-optimal requirements – see-

mingly to fast-track ‘organic’ results – all call

into question the viability of translating our four

principles – ecology, health, fairness and care –

into practice.

Notwithstanding the challenges, much has

been achieved. The GOMA Project (co-ordina-

ted by IFOAM, FAO & UNCTAD) has contribu-

ted to reducing trade barriers and, as the title

of its 2012 conference indicates, is working

to help the flow of good organic products.

IFOAM’s Family of Standards draws the line

between standards that are organic and those

that, after assessment, are considered to not

meet organic standards. Participatory Guaran-

tee Systems (PGS) are slowly starting to be

accepted as a conformity assessment permit-

ted under organic regulations. Earlier this year

they were recognized by the Brazilian Govern-

ment. IFOAM’s recently published policy

briefing ‘How governments can support PGS’

highlights how governments can promote the

growth of the organic sector thereby, creating

jobs and improving livelihoods in the agricultu-

ral sector.

There are few sectors that can pride themsel-

ves on being as diverse the organic one. Yet

with this diversity comes responsibility: the res-

ponsibility to not leave behind - in the pursuit

of profit – small scale farmers, the often mar-

ginalised backbone of the world’s food supply

system. We have a responsibility to continually

raise the bar and improve organic practices

and to share the lessons we learn with others,

so that our successes can be multiplied.

In the organic world this job is never done. But

we would not have it any other way.

Denise Godinho Peter Brul

6 5-2011 | ECOLOGY & FARMiNG

// uN ACCEpTS iFOAM dECLARATiON TO LABEL GENETiCALLY MOdiFiEd FOOdS

Bonn/New York, October 1, 2011

r

products including spirulina (algae), tea, quick

frozen vegetables, peanuts, soybeans, strawber-

ries and other fruits and vegetables. Several sam-

ples of these products were collected, shipped

and subsequently tested for pesticide residues

at the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service

(AMS) Field Laboratory Services in North Caro-

lina. NOP auditors also collected information

regarding the regulatory and research system

surrounding China’s growing organic industry.

The report states that the auditors found “a well-

educated and dedicated certifying agency staff

managing an organic certification system in a

dynamic and complex environment”. The NOP

auditors also noted that the accredited certify-

ing agencies were competent, professional and

committed to protecting organic integrity. They

noted that the certifying agencies carried out

frequent inspections (both announced and unan-

nounced), had robust pesticide residue sampling

programmes, competent inspectors, knowledge

of multiple organic standards and organisatio-

nal support and assistance from their parent

The report, which was largely favourable, des-

cribed assessments of the activities of the four

European-based, NOP accredited, certification

bodies operating in China (EcoCert S.A., BCS

Öeko Garantie GMBH, Institute for Marketeco-

logy -IMO and Certification of Environmental

Standards - CERES). NOP auditors visited the

Chinese branch offices of the four certifying

agents and reviewed their certification and com-

pliance activities. Inspections of certified opera-

tions were conducted in the provinces of Fujian,

Hunan and Shandong, regions that produce or

handle (i.e. process or export) a wide range of

// BuiLdiNG CONFidENCE: uSdA NOp viSiTS ChiNESE CERTiFiCATiON BOdiES ANd AuThORiTiES

Wilhelm believes that consumers

have the right to know whether the

food they buy is genetically altered.

“20 percent of all manufactured foods

in the US contains genetically modi-

fied ingredients,” Wilhelm said. “We

hope the Right2Know march will

raise consumer awareness and influ-

ence US legislators to require that

labels indicate whether the product

contains GMOs.” The UN declaration

was signed by Katherine DiMatteo,

IFOAM president; Joseph William,

IFOAM member; and Bernward

Geier, NGO coordinator. It outlined

the critical issues facing consumers

in the US and Europe. “Biased agri-

culture policies, research and deve-

lopment agendas, and private sector

strategies favor short-term individual

profits,” the declaration states. “This

(behavior) is to the detriment of the

long-term sustainable use of natural

News

In anticipation of the Right2Know

march from New York to Washington

D.C. October 1 – 16, representa-

tives of the International Organic

Agriculture (IFOAM) presented a

special declaration to the United

Nations. The declaration requests that

the United Nations commit all of its

member nations to a world without

genetically modified foods and to

identify existing genetically modified

foods on product labels. The UN

delegation included IFOAM repre-

sentatives, Joseph Wilhelm, founder

of Rapunzel organic products and the

force behind “the march;” and his

employees.” Maria-Luisa Chavez wel-

comed the delegation and accepted

the declaration on behalf of the UN.

She will pass it on to the President

of the General Assembly – the main

deliberative, policymaking and repre-

sentative organ of the United Nations.

The USDA National Organic Program recently published a

report of its on-site assessment of four USDA accreditation and

certification bodies and of a meeting with officials from the Cer-

tification and Accreditation Administration of China (CNCA) that

was held in November 2010.


Column

In her closing speech for the IFOAM General Assembly, the President Kathe-

rine di Matteo called upon the organic movement and IFOAM to spend less of its

energy on standards and certification and more on market development, support to

farmers and alike. I couldn’t agree more.

It should be recognised that the development of standards and certification

has been very useful for the organic sector and there are parts of the world where

this is a task that still needs priority. But we also have to realise that the whole

guarantee system takes an enormous amount of resources and energy, from pro-

ducers, from national organic movements and governments and from the interna-

tional community: resources and energy which could be used for market develop-

ment or advising producers. The guarantee system ensures that each producer is

audited every year. But who will ensure that all producers get an advisory visit, or

that producers are helped in their marketing efforts?

The World Fair Trade Organization says that, “the certification systems have

changed Fair Trade to such an extent that sales of products are the main measure

of success instead of the welfare of producers.” Unfortunately, this tendency is

not isolated to Fair Trade, but is also found within other social and environmental

labelling systems, including organic ones. The developments of guarantee systems

are almost uniquely driven by the actors who have a vested interest in them, such

as the standard-setters, certification bodies and accreditors; not by the constituents

(consumers, producers and the trade) they are supposed to serve. There are dimi-

nishing returns on the ever-increasing demands and procedures. For many years

organic standards and certification systems have established credibility for the

sector. Yet all the procedures added over the past decade have added little extra

credibility, while increasing the complexity and costs considerably. For sure, the

standards and certification systems need development, but development should

not always mean more procedures - it could also be the opposite: to get rid of

unproductive procedures.

Standardisation brings some benefits if it facilitates trade. Yet this is also

somewhat contradictory to the values of the organic movement, which heralds

diversity. There is surprisingly little understanding of this paradox within the

organic sector. Those who believe that standardisation is the right tool for evolu-

tion should read Darwin once more; diversity is the driver of evolution. Excessive

standardisation, especially when standards are prescriptive and not goal oriented,

stymies development and will leave organic behind other, more flexible, concepts.

It was apparent at the Organic World Congress how many other huge challen-

ges the organic sector faces and that we need to be more outward looking instead

of studying our navel. The challenge is to transfer the whole world’s food produc-

tion system into something that is truly sustainable or, as I prefer to say ‘regene-

rative’. To take on this challenge we need to be brave again, as the early organic

pioneers were. We need to have visions and we need to look ahead, far beyond

the narrow constraints of the certified organic market place.

Gunnar RundgrenDiversity is the driver of organic evolution

resources for the benefit of all and

is responsible for hunger, poverty,

climate change, and the destruction of

habitats and biodiversity.” Companies

leading production of genetically

modified foods include Monsanto

in the US and BASF and Novartis-

Syngenta in Europe. Unless radical

changes to curtail GMOs are adopted

worldwide and the subsidy for agri-

industry and monocultures is greatly

reduced, the future of organic farming

and healthy, natural foods will be

threatened. IFOAM and its 750 mem-

ber organizations in more than 110

countries are dedicated to uniting and

leading organic farmers and busines-

ses worldwide to work toward a safe

and natural food supply.

More information under:www.genfrei-gehen.dewww.right2knowmarch.orgwww.IFOAM.

companies in Europe. They also noted some

shortcomings, including approvals of incomplete

Organic System Plans and inspection reports

and inadequate procedures for reviewing labels.

NOP issued notices of non-compliance for these

infractions, with the requirement that the certify-

ing agencies demonstrate that they have underta-

ken the appropriate corrective actions.

In Beijing, NOP auditors met with govern-

ment representatives from the China National

Accreditation Administration (CNCA), which

is responsible for developing, promulgating and

implementing state laws, regulations and rules

concerning certification and accreditation, inclu-

ding organic accreditation. At the conclusion of

the meeting, the U.S. and Chinese announced

their intention to initiate and exchange visits

to learn more about the two countries’ organic

standards.

The full report of the visit is available from the NOP Newsroom (July 2011) on the NOP website, www.ams.usda.gov/nop.


Reducing barriers to international trade

The sTOry Of The GlObal OrGaNiC MarkeT aCCess prOjeCT

MarkeTaCCes

CleariNG paThWays


tifications for each of those countries. If

I have more market opportunities I could

truly support my family.” Even for those

producers and traders with sufficient

resources to obtain multiple certifications,

these requirements constitute an additio-

nal cost, akin to an extra tax on organic

trade, which conventional products are

not subject to.

Joining forces to find solutions

Ten years ago, IFOAM, the United Nations

Conference on Trade and Development

(UNCTAD) and the United Nations Food

and Agriculture Organization (FAO) dis-

covered that they had common concerns

about the problem, arising from some-

what different considerations. For IFOAM

the situation, which was rapidly worsening

as new standards and regulations came

into force, threatened the expansion of

organic agriculture and IFOAM’s mission

products sold in these countries often

need to comply with the requirements of

these private systems.

The different requirements of both

governmental and private sectors creates

an obstacle to trade, which constrains

organic market development and denies

market access to many, including hund-

reds of thousands of small-scale produ-

cers in developing countries. According

to Charles Kimani, a vegetable producer

in Kenya, without these obstacles “I could

sell my organic products in more coun-

tries without having to get different cer-

ECONOMY & MARKET

Organic agriculture and trade offer a way

to strengthen agro-ecosystem services

and present social and economic oppor-

tunities to people, especially those in

search of food security and ways out of

poverty. One of the main challenges for

the continued development of organic

agriculture is that trade pathways have

become clogged with multiple organic

standards and technical regulations.

Products that conform with one set of

organic standards and certification requi-

rements may also need to comply with

other organic standards and requirements

in order to be traded internationally. As

examples, the US, Japan, Argentina,

China, India, Brazil, and soon, South

Korea, all require imported organic pro-

ducts to be approved by certification

bodies directly under their government’s

control system to ensure compliance with

national standards. In addition, markets in

some countries are greatly influenced by

private standards and certification, and

IFOAM is working together with two United Nations agencies, UNCTAD and FAO to harmonize organic standards. This unique project, has drawn attention from academic researchers and others interested in this novel form of international cooperation.

diane Bowen

a prObleM TO TaCkle


vide norms-based, international common

denominators which can serve as core

references for assessing the equivalence

of production/processing standards and

certification requirements among different

countries and even private organic gua-

rantee systems. “Use of these tools will

lead us to more efficient and multilateral

equivalence assessments,” notes Sophia

Twarog, long-time UNCTAD member of

both the ITF and GOMA Steering Com-

mittees.

One reason for the many successes of

the ITF was the high level of coopera-

tion between its members. The ITF, its

objectives and processes, attracted

international attention, including being the

subject of an academic dissertation on

meta-governance and standard setting

from the University of Utrecht, the Net-

herlands. This document concluded: “By

combining a relationship building aspect

of the process with an enhancement of

the understanding of and importance

attached to the harmonization and equi-

valence agenda, the ITF has truly resulted

in a paradigm shift”…. “Not only are

people who co operated in the Task Force

more likely to also collaborate outside of

the framework provided by the ITF (but)

the atmosphere has changed more widely

across large parts of the worldwide orga-

nic regulatory community.”

Implementing the tools

and recommendations: GOMA

Although the partners were very satisfied

with the results of the ITF, particularly the

tools, they realized that the ITF project

was like a company with a research and

development programme and a manufac-

turing process, but lacking any marketing.

This was due to the limited timeframe

of the project. So in 2009 the partners

countries – including government orga-

nic regulators and standardizing bodies,

accreditation and certification bodies,

traders, national organic movements and

meta-organizations. In all the participants

came from 29 governments, eight inter-

governmental/international organizations

and 25 private sector/civil society orga-

nizations. The ITF studied the problem,

looked at models for solutions from other

sectors and recommended solutions. At

the end of 2008 the ITF issued six recom-

mendations for harmonization, equiva-

lence and other forms of cooperation.

Most of these were related to government

processes, although the involvement of

the private sector was also stressed,

of expanding organic agriculture world-

wide. UNCTAD, which promotes the inte-

gration of developing countries into the

world economy, saw that opportunities for

poor producers to gain access to lucrative

value chains were being compromised.

FAO, which sees organic agriculture as a

pathway for increasing food security, rural

development, sustainable livelihoods and

environmental integrity, saw that these

market access challenges were sup-

pressing opportunities for agriculture to

achieve these goals.

In 2002 these organizations organized a

conference on the subject, which came

to be known as the Harmonization Confe-

MOre sTaNdards MulTiplies The Task Of aChieviNG equivaleNCe

rence. Held just after BioFach in Nurem-

berg, the conference drew two hundred

speakers and participants from govern-

ment and intergovernmental agencies and

the private sector. Participants urged the

three organizations to organize a public-

private international task force to further

explore the situation and recommend

solutions. The International Task Force on

Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic

Agriculture, was born, thanks to financial

support from the Swedish International

Development Cooperation Agency (Sida),

the Government of Switzerland, and later,

the Norwegian Agency for Development

Cooperation (Norad). The Task Force (ITF),

worked from 2003 until 2008, bringing

together once a year, key private sector

actors from developed and developing

due to its strong representation in the

Task Force. The ITF also went beyond

its original mandate and developed two

practical tools to assist in the assessment

of the equivalence of organic standards

and performance requirements for cer-

tification (the organic equivalent of ISO-

65). The International Requirements for

Organic Certification Bodies (IROCB) and

the Guide for the Assessment of Organic

Standards and Technical Regulations (also

known as EquiTool), were launched by

executives of IFOAM, UNCTAD and FAO

at the 8th and final ITF meeting. Generi-

cally, these are called the ITF tools. After

some revision of EquiTool in 2011 adding

an annex called the Common Objectives

and Requirements of Organic Standards

(COROS), both of these tools now pro-


ter input, has enabled ACAO to restart

a stalled development process. It has

already made considerable progress on

developing a text for a common orga-

nic regulation. This regulation includes

standards for organic production and pro-

cessing, for organic certification bodies,

control and enforcement mechanisms and

import requirements. The next step in the

process will be the elaboration of indivi-

dual country versions for notification to

the WTO. The WTO notification process

includes an international comment period.

Barring major objections from the WTO

application, the harmonized regulation

should be ready for implementation in all

six countries by early 2012.

Facilitating and assisting elsewhere

GOMA is also involved in promoting the

recognition of the East African Organic

Production Standard by the European

Union. This will enable East African pro-

ducers to export to this important market

by complying with a standard that is

regionally appropriate and understanda-

ble to them. (This initiative is explained in

another article in this issue). Projects for

training governments to implement the

tools for equivalence assessments are

also underway in Canada, The Philippines

and Indonesia. New requests for informa-

tion, training and technical assistance on

harmonization, regional cooperation and

equivalence have been received from the

South American and African continents,

although these cannot be acted upon

now, as the GOMA project is scheduled to

end in May, 2012. At that time, the part-

ners will be able to report that much has

been achieved and more opportunities for

harmonization and equivalence are on the

horizon.

Contact the GOMA project at www.goma-organic.org

force has now been established. These

activities are paving the way for potenti-

ally establishing a Multilateral Agreement

(MLA) within the region for mutual recog-

nition of participants’ systems of regula-

ting organic labelling and other forms of

cooperation. This will include countries

that do not (yet) regulate organic label-

ling and trade. If the MLA comes into

being, Asian countries could be setting

the pace for a more efficient multilate-

ral regional trade system – not only in

the organic sector, but in general. The

innovation shown by the organic sector

in developing a cooperative model has

caught the attention of the Trade and

Agriculture Directorate of the Organization

of Economic Cooperation and Develop-

ment (OECD), whose ITF representative

informally commented to the ITF Steering

Committee, “you (ITF) are our heroes!”

Complete harmonization in Central

America and the Dominican Republic

All five Central American countries (Costa

Rica, Honduras, Guatemala, El Salvador,

Nicaragua and Panama), plus the Domi-

nican Republic are developing a harmo-

nized regional organic regulation with

the support of GOMA and the Instituto

Interamericano de Cooperación Agricul-

tura (IICA). GOMA is providing financial

and some technical support to the project

with a focus on facilitating stakeholder

involvement, while IICA is managing the

project’s operations (meetings, accounting

and communications). GOMA financial

support and its encouragements for bet-

obtained support from Norad for a follow-

up project, called Global Organic Market

Access (GOMA), to assist countries and/

or regions to implement the tools, the

recommendations and to foster and

spread the message of harmonization,

equivalence and cooperation. Norad

generously agreed to the project before it

(or GOMA’s partners) knew exactly which

countries and/or regions would become

involved in the project, although towards

the end of ITF’s existence it had conduc-

ted workshops in Central America and

Asia and identified prospective projects in

those regions.

Designing an Asian framework

for cooperation on organic labelling

and trade

Because there had been high partici-

pation from Asia in the ITF, GOMA set

out to explore if ITF might be implemen-

ted there. It organized two workshops,

one in Nonthaburi, Thailand and the

other in Shanghai, China, linked with

other organic events in these locations.

These workshops were well-attended

and recommended setting up a GOMA

Asia Working Group with the aim of

establishing a Framework for Organic

Labelling and Trade within Asia (to cover

East, South-east and South Asia). The

Working Group first met in Mumbai in

December 2010, and one of its main deci-

sions was to develop an Asia Regional

Organic Standard (AROS) to serve as an

instrument/tool for establishing regional

equivalence – a regional interpretation of

EquiTool (see related article in this issue).

The Working Group also decided to use

IROCB for assessing the equivalence

of countries’ certification requirements

and to establish a task force to look at

aspects of governmental supervision of

certification and enforcement. This task

ECONOMY & MARKET


rapuNZel suppOrTs “fuTure Makers”

ONE WORLD AWARD 2012:

gila kriegisch


Nominated individuals and projects should integrate the three

areas of sustainability (ecology, economy and social commit-

ment) and should have made extraordinary achievements. In the

first selection round, the OWA jury will screen all the nominati-

ons and select five finalists. Each of these finalists will receive a

2,000 Euro cash award. In the second selection phase, the jury

chooses the One World Award Laureate from the five finalists.

The OWA Laureate is presented with a coveted OWA statue and

a cheque for 25,000 Euro.

In addition to the One World Award, RAPUNZEL and IFOAM also

present a “Lifetime Achievement Award” – to honour outstanding

pioneers and/or individuals who have dedicated their life to the

development and support of the organic movement. The Lifetime

Achievement Award winner is presented with a One World Award

Joseph Wilhelm, German organic food pioneer and owner of

RAPUNZEL Naturkost GmbH, was inspired to establish a new

international award to support those whose actions reflect the

reality that we all live in one world. The One World Award (OWA)

honours and supports individuals and projects who give globa-

lization a positive dimension. OWA laureates show what is pos-

sible and what needs to be done in order to make our world a

better and fairer place. Joseph Wilhelm describes his motivation

for establishing the OWA.

“This award was not only inspired by our company philosophy

but it is also a matter that is near to my heart. I see the OWA ini-

tiative as a counter balance to the day-to-day examples of injus-

tice, unfairness and conflicts in our world and I hope that it sends

out positive signals to encourage, inspire and motivate people.

The only continuity in life is change”

EvENTS

The German organic food manufacturer Rapunzel and the international umbrella organization for organic agriculture (IFOAM) are opening the call for nominations for the 3rd international “One World Award“. We welcome nominations for innovative ideas, projects and/or individuals that contribute towards protecting the climate and the environment and promote social responsibility. The nominations should incorporate the three pillars of sustainability: ecology, economy and the social aspect.

OWa laureaTes raChel aNGOla aNd haNs herreN. bOTh WOrk ON The ‘push-pull’ MeThOd fOr COMbaTiNG COrN pesTs.

EvENTS


Trust in Quality.World-wide.We build bridges between regional suppliers and discerning consumers acrossmany languages, cultures and expectations.

A highly experienced international body for quality assurance of sustainable products.

With innovations one step aheadFair For Life - Fair Trade & Social ResponsibilityConCert - IMO Import Safety ServicesAquaGAP - Sustainable AquacultureGOTS Positive List SystemFairWild - Harvest & trade of wild plants

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IMO Head Office Weststrasse 51 CH – 8570 Weinfelden Switzerland Phone: +41 (0) 71 626 0 626 Fax: +41 (0) 71 626 0 623 [email protected]

www.imo.ch


statue. Nominations for either award should be submitted before

December 31, 2011. The application form should be completed

in English.

Details:

IFOAM has assumed patronage for the One World Award. The

OWA Jury includes Joseph Wilhelm, the two Right Livelihood

Award Laureates, Dr. Vandana Shiva from India and Tewolde

Egzeabher from Ethiopia, as well as IFOAM Vice-President

Roberto Ugas from Peru.

More information about the nomination process and the nomina-

tion details and other information is available at www.one-world-

award.com. Here you can find full details about nomination

criteria and a list of all previous finalists and laureates. You can

use this list to evaluate the chances of your nomination being

successful or simply for inspiration. Self-nominations are not

permitted.

Background information:

For more than 35 years, the organic food manufacturer Rapunzel

has been leading the way in implementing projects around the

globe that protect the climate and the environment and have

positive social repercussions. These projects include Hand In

Hand, the Genfrei Gehen (GMO-free marches) and the One World

Award. For more information visit www.rapunzel.de

The OWA Laureates 2010

The second OWA was awarded in 2010. The award ceremony

took place during Rapunzel’s One World Festival in Legau. The

OWA Laureates in 2010 were Hans Herren from Biovision and

Rachel Angola. Hans Herren founded the Biovision Foundation in

Switzerland in 1998. This foundation aims to improve the living

conditions of African people. The foundation’s work includes

malaria prophylaxis, the formation of an information network for

small peasants and the dissemination of the “push-pull” method

for combating corn pests. Rachel Angola is responsible for the

“push-pull” support group in her village Yenga in Kenya. This

self-help group also promotes innovative, agricultural methods to

other farmers.

The One World Lifetime Achievement Award“ went to the orga-

nic pioneer Bhaskar H. Save from India for his life’s work as an

ambassador of organic farming.

For more details visit [email protected]

Nominations for the 2012 One World Award are open until December 31, 2011. Find out more at www.one-world-award.de

The OWa is MeaNT as a COuNTer balaNCe TO The

day-TO-day exaMples Of iNjusTiCe aNd aNd CONfliCTs

iN Our WOrld


Local market development

The local organic market is informal and

growing, with visible opportunities in the

near future. Most organic production

and activities are done in the central and

south western parts of Nigeria, generally

by agricultural universities and research

institutes. The farm sizes of these insti-

tutions vary from 1 to 4 hectares of land

that is either in transition or non-certified.

The farms are managed by the university

lecturers and students. The products cul-

tivated include amaranths, chorchorus,

celosia, turmeric, ginger, lemongrass,

citrus fruits, tomatoes, okra, maize, plan-

tain, fluted pumpkins and palm kernel.

These products are sold on the university

campuses. Another influential player in

the local market of organic agriculture in

Nigeria is Dara / Eurobridge Ltd, the only

certified organic producer in Nigeria. Their

certified products are lemon grass, hibis-

cus, rice and ginger. Lemon grass, which

is processed into tea sold under the

brand name ‘Dara Dara’ ( meaning ‘good

age life expectancy of about 47 years.

The Olusegun Obasanjo Center for

Organic Research and Development

(OOCORD), a local NGO dedicated to

the development of research and know-

ledge exchange on sustainable, organic

agricultural systems has decided that it

is high time for Nigeria, a potential agri-

cultural giant in Africa to wake up from

her slumber and provide sufficient (orga-

nic) food and incomes for its 155 million

inhabitants. This led OOCORD to consult

the Agro Eco - Louis Bolk Institute in the

Netherlands.

The two parties discussed how progress

could be made and came up with a stra-

tegy, the first phase of which included

information provision, training and the

development of local and international

markets. The trainings would provide

producers and exporters with the relevant

information on organic agriculture and also

the criteria and expectations of importers

in the international market.

With 212,304 hectares, Uganda

has the most organic land

in Africa. The value of its

exported organic products in 2008 was

estimated to be around $30 million. The

equivalent figures in Nigeria are negligible.

In 2009, there were only 8,202 hectares

of organic land in Nigeria (Olugbenga,

2011), despite Nigeria being four times

larger than Uganda in terms of area and

population.

Before the advent of the petroleum indus-

try in Nigeria in the 1960s, the agricultural

sector flourished. It contributed about

60% of GDP, and provided sufficient and

healthy food for local and export markets.

The wealth generated by agriculture was

used in the construction of massive buil-

dings, such as Cocoa House and Univer-

sity College Hospital in Ibadan, which are

still used today. But the agricultural sector

now contributes about 32% of GDP. A

proportionate decline of 50%, resulting in

insufficient food in a nation with an aver-

Nigeriamike Johnson

The sleeping organic giant of Africa

The global sales of organic products reached $50 billion in 2009 with most sales and consumers in the United States and the European Union. The major organic producers and exporters are Asia, Latin America and Australasia. Very little organic produce comes from the African continent.


COuNTRY REpORT

good’) is the core product. At present the

company only targets the local market.

During our visit to Nigeria, it was noticed

that there could be a demand for several

local, organically produced products,

including local rice (ofada rice), ama-

ranths, chorchorus, celosia, turmeric,

ginger, lemon grass, citrus fruits, tomato,

okra, maize, plantain, and palm kernel.

These products form part of the staple

diet of Nigerians and existing (organic)

producers are unable to meet the supply.

Local consumers do appreciate organic

products, saying that they taste bet-

ter. Some even went further saying that

organic foods are are nutritious foods and

assist in the management of non-commu-

nicable diseases such as diabetes, cancer

and hypertension.

Consumers could even distinguish pro-

ducts that are cultivated in an organic

manner from those cultivated in a conven-

tional manner. Those that are cultivated

organically are of a natural size, colour

and less turgid, and are known as

“IBILE” (which means local or traditional

in Yoruba language). Those from conven-

tional cultivation are bulky and very turgid,

and are know as “AGRIC” which denotes

the use of conventional agricultural inputs

(pesticides and fertilizers). This awareness

suggests a ready market in Nigeria if local

organic products were being cultivated

and available.

International market development

For the international market, we were set

the assignment of selecting 10 organic

products with

the most export potential

that would fulfil the criteria

and demands of the European Union and

North American markets. This list was

drawn up using eight key criteria. One of

these was the ability to produce and sup-

ply without jeopardising local food secu-

rity, as we did not want a situation where

products are exported and the local

population left hungry. The next step was

the compilation of agricultural products

found from the 36 States and the Federal

Republics Capital, which produced a long

list of products cultivated in Nigeria. This

list was scanned to eliminate products

unsuitable for export such as cassava,

indigenous goat, kola nuts, etc.

What does the giant have to offer???

Nigeria is blessed with a diverse climate

and vegetation, that enables year-round

production of many different crops. Agri-

culture in Nigeria is still a major branch of

the economy. The agricultural sector pro-

vides employment for 70% of the popula-

The MajOriTy Of NiGeriaN farMers are sMallhOlder farMers WhO use TradiTiONal “OrGaNiC” MeThOds


tion. The majority of Nigerian farmers are

smallholders using traditional methods,

such as crop rotations, shifting cultiva-

tion, animal manure and natural pest

control. As such their farming methods

of farming could be classified as organic

by default. However, organic production

extends beyond cultivation. It is a pro-

cess that goes through the entire supply

chain. Properly organized organic farming

is still at the infant stages in Nigeria and

although small, the organic sector is

motivated and committed.

The strings and pegs that would hinder

Nigeria’s ‘organic awakening’

The majority of the farmers lack of

experience on active good agricultural

practices. Their systems may be organic

by default, but for export, producers are

expected to produce according to inter-

national standards and keep records.

For smallholder farmers it is difficult to

achieve product uniformity, certification

and to organize themselves for the export

market. There is just one local certified

organic producer and two certified produ-

cers and exporters in Nigeria. This does

not give the country a competitive pre-

sence in the international market. There

is also a lack of coordination between

organizations and institutions involved in

organic agriculture and a gap in the flows

of information and technologies between

them. There is no Nigerian certification

body to regulate and ensure compliance

with international organic standards.

Nigeria also has an image problem with

religious violence in the northern and

central parts and frequent kidnappings

in the southern part of the country. This

could be an obstacle to convincing

investors or importers in the EU and

USA to do business with exporters of

organic products from Nigeria. Finally

Nigeria will have to compete on the

export market with countries like India,

Uganda, Ghana and Tunisia, who are

experienced, organized certified coun-

tries with established customers.

Reasons for the giant to wake up

There is an increase in global demand

for organic produce. Global sales of

organic products continues to expand.

There is also an increasing local interest

in organic produce. The universities

could outsource to farmers who could

then produce on a larger scale to meet

demand. Finally there is local awa-

reness about the benefits of organic

foods and consumers believe organic

products are wholesome foods.

In all it is likely that Nigeria will become

increasingly involved in organic agri-

culture as farmers have nothing to lose

but stand to gain financially, increase

food sufficiency and build a healthy and

prosperous nation. The African giant is

waking up.

Mike Johnson ([email protected])

befOre The adveNT Of The peTrOleuM iNdusTry iN NiGeria, The aGriCulTural seCTOr flOurished


on reducing trade barriersE&F asked six experts if we can reduce trade barriers through equivalence AND at the same time maintain organic integrity in the markets.

In the US, the Deputy Secretary of Agriculture recently declared that the

National Organic Program is in the “age of enforcement.” Fraud prevention dis-

cussions and initiatives have emerged in Europe and North America, aimed at both

domestic and international trade. Major import markets remain suspicious of exports

from emerging countries and regions. Fraud scandals have the potential to shake con-

sumer confidence, which could harm organic markets and credibility and set back orga-

nic production/consumption.

Yet, at the same time, regulations and the attendant bureaucracies are choking organic

trade, creating an additional ‘tax’ on the best agricultural products by placing many

requirements on organic food that are not placed on other agricultural products. The

requirements for market access can be prohibitive, especially for producers from deve-

loping countries. They are not good for consumers either, as they reduces the diversity

of available products. The effect of these supply and demand restraint are to hold back

the expansion of organic agriculture. An “age of equivalence” is needed to remove bar-

riers to trade in organic products. Countries should find ways to cooperate and mutually

recognise that organic standards and conformity assessment measures accomplish the

same or very similar objectives, rather than seeking to impose their own criteria.

6expert opinions

diane Bowen & peter Brul


ment of the importing countries are responsible for

supervision of organic integrity; people should not

just solely blame the producers if any fraud is found.

At the same time, exporting countries are looking to

produce organic products at a lower cost by employ-

ing standards and management systems that are

more suitable to local situations.

Both developed and developing countries have a

shared aim of reducing cheating and increasing trade.

Standards equivalence, including equivalence recog-

nition and supervision management, is a useful tool

to promote international trade. Countries and CBs

from different countries must cooperate more and

exchange more information, so as to increase the

transparency of certification, public awareness and

participation. In Asia we are establishing a mecha-

nism for cooperation among countries and CbBs and

to improve exchanges among the supervisory autho-

rities of all the countries involved in organic trade.

– and the organic standards in these coun-

tries should address these issues.

If exports to the EU only need to com-

ply with the EU regulation then this will

not happen. Standards are also written

in a local context and should reflect the values and

expectations of local producers and consumers.

These different values make the situation very com-

plicated. The mutual recognition of standards on

the basis of equivalence needs to be based on the

understanding of the need for common objectives

and agreement that there are different ways to reach

these objectives. This requires a well-managed and

transparent process and dialogue among the sta-

keholders – whether at the local or the international

level.

ECONOMY & MARKET

Xingji Xiao, Director of the Organic Food Development and Certification Center of China (OFDC China).

Setting different standards or higher cer-

tification requirements is, perhaps, not

the right way to eliminate fraud. As long

as there are significant gaps between organic and

conventional products, ineffective supervision from

certification bodies and governments and insufficient

public awareness and involvement of the public with

organic products, there is always the possibility for

people attempting deliberate fraud.

All exported organic products are certified by control

bodies (CBs) that are accredited by the importing

countries: most of the CBs are transnational compa-

nies based in those countries. The CBs and govern-

Beate Huber, Head of the International Division of the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) and member of the “Anti-Fraud Initiative”.

There is a perception that compliance provides

more security for safeguarding organic integrity. Yet

the opposite is true . Organic integrity needs local

ownership and locally adapted solutions. Standards

are always written in a local context, for example:

the EU regulation on organic agriculture does not

tackle water quality or the issue of burning crop resi-

dues since these are regulated through the general

legal framework. In other countries the general legal

framework does not adequately cover these issues

beaTe huber

xiNGji xiaO


since 2009. In 2011 Canadian products were decla-

red as equivalent to EU ones, but this does not make

US and EU products equivalent to each other. Austra-

lia accepts the imports of organic products produced

under standards and conformity assessment systems

with “equal reliability”. Chile is considering amending

its law to accept imports of processed products using

transactional certificates from ‘regulated’ countries.

Overall, markets should ensure that equivalence

based on adherence to principles and clear objecti-

ves, rather than arguing about irrelevant details that

do not compromise the integrity of the end product.

The conventional market players are

the only ones gaining from the orga-

nic sector’s incoherence and narrow

mindedness. Equivalence is the only

way to increase trade and facilitate the

growth of international trade in organic

products.

Laura Montenegro, Technical Director and President of ARGENCERT S.A., certifier in Argentina. Even though over 70 countries have organic regula-

tions, there are few agreements about harmonization

for equivalence.

Here are some examples of the current situation:

Argentina has had equivalence with the EU for

exports since 1992. But Argentina does not recog-

nize the standards of any other countries for imports,

which is needed to make products available that are

not produced in our country. In January 2011 Brazil

implemented a law which included a stipulation that

certifiers of products labelled as “organic” in Brazil

are required to be accredited by the national accre-

ditation body rather than any other member of the

International Accreditation Federation (IAF). Canada

has had an agreement of equivalence with the USA

laura MONTeNeGrO

have been waiting

over 10 years on one

waiting list) and can

be hijacked by vested

interests.

At the moment there are already around 100 sets of

national regulations. Where is this leading? Is each

country going to seek equivalence with each other?

There are a number of good equivalence approaches

and options but the regulators have failed to pick up

and run with IFOAM’s Accreditation (despite its track

record and being highly respected) as one of those

equivalent approaches. This continues to be a great

missed opportunity and the IOAS would be happy to

work with any regulators in adding this to their tool

box.

Dr David Crucefix, Executive Director (Business), Inter-national Organic Accreditation Service.Equivalence agreements can help to reduce the

existing layers of bureaucracy. This is clear and is

already happening. Equivalence does not however

imply less rigour or new openings for fraud.

In fact equivalence has the potential to reduce con-

fusion and enables an inspector to focus on one set

of requirements rather than juggling 3 or 4 and not

having the time to focus on key issues of integrity.

The problem of our equivalence approach is that it

is difficult in practice (the IOAS has had plenty of

experience of this), can take forever (some countries

dr david CruCefix


We should implement fast lane import authorisation

procedures to avoid complex red tape practices that

hinder global trade and constitute a significant trade

barrier. The lack of any ‘polluter pays’ standard for

conventional agriculture probably forms the most

serious trade barrier for organic farming as it creates

an uneven playing field (with true cost

accounting in organic farming and the

externalisation of ecological costs in

conventional farming). But this issue

is probably beyond our sphere of

influence.

the mutual recognition of standards. Why not use the

IFOAM standard as THE international reference for all

organic standards? Each standard could be assessed

for its equivalence against the common understan-

ding of the reference. This benchmarking could pro-

vide a result that could be expressed as being higher,

equal to, or below the reference. The benchmarked

standard would then be free to communicate the

result to costumers, official bodies and stakeholders.

This system could be applied

worldwide without any dis-

crimination. Such a process

would increase transparency

and trust. The key to success

would be the equivalence of

the process. The Global Social

Compliance Program has

already developed one (See

www.gscp.net.com.)

Volkert Engelsman, Founder and CEO of Eosta, a major importer and export of organic fruit and vegetables.

It is important to convince govern-

ments to harmonise regulations

on the basis of a minimum global

standard (using IFOAM’s Family of

Standards as a key reference) and to

mutually recognise the equivalence

of locally justified adjustments.

Johann Zueblin, Migros super-markets in Switzerland. Deputy Head of Issue Management and Sustainability.

Organic producers take their reference from local

standards, label programmes and very often natio-

nal legislation. Standards try to be different without

adding real value. They do so this to differentiate

themselves and to increase their market share. This

behaviour leads to complex production and certifi-

cation systems as well as supply chains. IFOAM as

an international body has defined a standard, which

we could call the “reference standard for organic

production”.

I strongly recommend that the organic community

develops and starts to use a system that allows for

jOhaNN ZuebliN

vOlkerT eNGelsMaN

ECONOMY & MARKET


The key criterion for developing regional

organic standards is to ensure that they

are tailored to reflect local conditions and

issues. Though there is a great diver-

sity within the region in terms of climate,

crops produced, farming traditions and

systems, there are also some common

features.

rapid prOGress iN develOpiNG aN asiaN reGiONal OrGaNiC sTaNdard

Jon manhire

Asian regional standards

The large number and critical

importance of small farms for sup-

plying most of the region’s food

requirements. Many of these

small farms also keep livestock,

such as chickens and pigs.

The long history of practicing

agriculture in the region and the

subsequent evolution of farming

systems adapted to local condi-

tions, resources and societal

needs.

Strong linkages between local

food production and local, nation-

al and regional cultures.

The importance of rice produc-

tion and consumption in most

countries in the region.

A tropical climate (over most of

the region) and the evolution of

farming systems which are adapt-

ed to tropical climatic conditions.v

The Global Organic Market Access (GOMA) project is a joint project involving FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD that was established in 2009 to promote and foster equivalence and harmonization of organic standards and technical regulations. GOMA organized a Working Group for Co-operation on Organic Labelling and Trade for Asia (South, South-East and East Asia) which decided to develop the Asia Regional Organic Standards (AROS).

Organic Issues in Asia

MarkeTaCCess


STANdARdS & CERTiFiCATiON

The aim is to create a reference for

equivalence of government organic

standards in the region as part of

a framework for cooperation on organic

labelling and trade in the region. It was

also anticipated that AROS could also be

adapted to serve as the national standard

for some individual countries in the region

that do not yet have a standard. However

it is not the intention for AROS to replace

any existing national organic standards.

Traditional approaches to farming in the

Asian region are strongly aligned with the

values and objectives of organic farming.

Like organic production systems they

have been based on the use of natural,

biological, renewable and regenerative

resources. Soil fertility is primarily main-

tained through recycling organic matter.

Pests, diseases, and weeds are managed

primarily through cultural practices. Food

processing is typically simple using biolo-

gical, mechanical, and physical methods.

Possibly as a result of this alignment

between traditional and organic farming

systems the understanding and subse-

quent development of organic farming in

the region has been comparatively strong.

Governments and non-governmental

groups see that the increased adoption

of organic production will bring a range of

The arOs develOpMeNT prOCess

benefits to their countries in addition to

enhancing trading opportunities.

While the organic sector is a very dif-

ferent level of development (from the

early stages of development to the highly

regulated) in different Asian countries, it

is now an accepted concept and a grow-

ing market trend in the region. Exports

remain a dominant feature of the sector’s

development in the majority of countries,

but local markets have emerged and are

gaining ground.

The GOMA Working Group

has established a sub-project to

develop AROS and establish the

principles that should guide its

development.

The standard should be develo-

ped through a highly inclusive pro-

cess, with in-country consultation

facilitated by participating govern-

ments and stakeholders.

The standard development will

take into consideration:

•anearliertechnicalcompara-

tive study prepared by GOMA

•therequirementsofthe

Codex Alimentarius Organic

Guidelines and the IFOAM

Basic standards version 2005

•theEquiTool–especially

Annex 2 – Common Objectives

and Related Requirements for

Organic Standards – (COROS).

The development process will

be overseen by the Asia Organic

Standards Drafting Group, a sub-

group of the Working Group.


Conversion period: it was decided that the mini-

mum conversion period for this region should be 12

months for annual crops and 18 months for peren-

nial ones. Although conversion periods are typically

longer in temperate climates, this standard is being

developed for a region that is primarily tropical and

sub-tropical, where chemicals break down faster.

It was agreed that these shorter conversion peri-

ods provide a sufficient time period for the organic

system to become established without financially

penalizing the farmer.

Seeds and planting materials: there is some flexi-

bility in the standard that allows for the use of non-

organic seed when organic or untreated seeds are

unavailable. Although there is an aspiration to use

organic seed, such markets are not yet well develo-

ped in this region.

Hydroponic production: discussions revealed dif-

ferences in certification practices and opinions over

hydroponic production –even when it otherwise

meets the requirements of organic production. The

draft prohibition on this type of production was left

intact, subject to further discussion and inputs.

Use of human excrement as a fertility amendment:

the first draft prohibited the use of human excre-

ment on any crops for human consumption, but

after discussing the issue again, the group changed

the language to permit highly restricted use that

excludes application on any leafy, tuber or root

crops, plus measures to control pathogens.

Lists of inputs: the indicative lists of inputs for

organic production were modified to include plant-

derived substances that are used in the region.

These included permitting the use of tea-seed meal

and fishtail palm extracts as biological substances

that can be used to protect crops.

The comment period on the second draft ended

on the 1st of November and includes inputs from a

consultation workshop held at the Organic World

Congress on 30th September.

March - Philippine Drafting Group Workshop

The Drafting Group (DG) consists of repre-

sentatives of government, industry and

non-government organizations from coun-

tries throughout the region. It has so far

held two workshops, the first in the Philip-

pines and the second in Laos, preceded

and followed up by extensive in-country

consultations facilitated by the DG mem-

bers after each workshop. The DG mem-

bers have a wide range of knowledge and

experience with organic production in the

region and in the development of organic

standards and regulations. They have

worked well together in the development

process, sharing ideas and experiences

to ensure that AROS effectively reflects

regional conditions and practices. The

first draft of AROS was prepared at the

March 2011 workshop held in the Philip-

pines. Following feedback a second draft

was developed at the Laos workshop in

Vientiane in June 2011. Some key deci-

sions were made at this workshop by the

DG and only a few outstanding issues still

need to be addressed. These decisions

covered a number of key issues.

Jon Manhire works for the AgriBusiness Group, New Zealand and was involved in the development of AROS.


buildiNG aN ‘afriCaN-OWNed’ CerTifiCaTiON sTaNdard

kiliMaNjarO

East Africa’s regional standards

MarkeTaCCess



and Regional Cooperation for Organic

Standards and Certification in East Afri-

can (OSEA - implemented by IFOAM and

the national organic movements of East

Africa), are assisting stakeholders and

the East African Community in getting

the European Commission to recog-

nize EAOPS as an equivalent standard.

This will facilitate the export of organic

products from East Africa into the EU.

The strategy has been for one or more

certification bodies to include EAOPS as

part of their application for the Commis-

sion’s approval as equivalent certification

bodies. The first applications were sub-

mitted in 2009 and the EU is expected

to approve the first group of certifica-

tion bodies soon. Several certification

bodies that are active in East Africa are

involved in this first round of submissions.

Approvals are based on proof that the

certification bodies are competent and

use standards that are equivalent to the

EU standard. A certification body can be

approved for certifying several equivalent

standards. It is thus possible for those

approved in the first round to submit a

renewed application based on EAOPS.

Representatives of the two projects and

the organic movements in East Africa

held a meeting with the European Com-

mission in Brussels in June. At the same

has been widely adopted by producers

in the region and it is now time to seek

recognition of the standard by trading

partners further afield, particularly in the

European Union (EU). Following changes

to the EU import rules in 2008 (Regulation

(EC) 1235/2008), it is now easier to get

such recognition, even though there is no

specific option in the Regulation for the

approval of a foreign standard. Standards

are only recognized as part of the process

of approving a country or certification

body. In East Africa, the approval of cer-

tification bodies is the most appropriate

avenue, as Diane Bowen from the GOMA

project explains below.

In search of EU recognition

Two international projects, Global Organic

Market Access (GOMA - directed by a

partnership of FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD)

East Africa is leading the deve-

lopment of organic agriculture

in Africa. In total, half a million

farmers and some 150 companies are

involved in certified organic production.

There are almost certainly even more

organic farmers who are uncertified and

outside the organic market place. Organic

exports have been growing rapidly in the

last decade. For instance, Ugandan orga-

nic exports have risen from $4.6 million in

2002 to $36 million in 2010, a growth of

more than 700%. Domestic markets are

also growing fast in most of the countries,

albeit from a very low level, and there are

an increasing number of organic outlets.

A regional standard

The East African Organic Products

Standard (EAOPS) was developed bet-

ween 2005 and 2007 by public and pri-

vate stakeholders from Uganda, Tanzania,

Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda. It was

ultimately approved by the East African

Community, the region’s intergovernmen-

tal organization. It is adapted to the con-

ditions of East Africa and is intended to

provide a platform for the development of

local and regional markets. Producers fol-

lowing the standard can use the East Afri-

can Organic Mark, if they are certified by

a third-party certification body or a Parti-

cipatory Guarantee System. The standard

Organic agriculture has developed rapidly in East Africa and can now claim around half a million certified farmers. The sector is now pressing ahead for the European Union to approve the Organic Standard of the East African Community. Two projects involving IFOAM, FAO, UNCTAD and the region’s national organic movements are providing much needed support for this process.

gunnar rundgren


EAOPS for admission to the IFOAM Fami-

ly of Standards, which was verified at the

IFOAM General Assembly in Korea.

Diane Bowen says “The IOAS assessment

shows that, by and large, EAOPS is equi-

valent to the EU regulation, but there are a

few problem issues. None of these issues

are at a level that would imply any imme-

diate change to the standard. Instead, the

stakeholders plan to issue certification

guidance to strengthen the implementation

of the standard”. Once the guidance and

the response to the IOAS are ready, one or

more certification bodies will submit their

applications for approval to the EU, based

on EAOPS. Three certification bodies

operating in East Africa have expressed

interest in being among this first round of

time a workshop on organic agriculture

in Africa was organised involving repre-

sentatives from the European and the

African Unions. These events provided

a further opportunity for GOMA’s repre-

sentatives and other advocates from East

Africa to explain the standard and call

for its recognition for imports into the

EU. Moses Muwanga, from the National

Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda

and an IFOAM Board member, outlined

the standard. GOMA’s Project Manager,

Diane Bowen, made a presentation on the

role of international equivalence and how

EOAPS complies with these requirements.

Sophia Twarog, from UNCTAD and a

member of GOMA’s Steering Committee,

appealed to the workshop participants to

find a way forward for EAOPS.

Internationally recognised

GOMA has commissioned International

Organic Accreditation Services Inc. (IOAS)

to assess the equivalence of EAOPS with

the EU regulation. EAOPS has also been

assessed against COROS (Common

Objectives and Requirements of Orga-

nic Standards, also known as IFOAM’s

Standards Requirements). The COROS

assessment concluded that the EAOPS

fulfils the requirements, with some minor

variations. On the basis of this assess-

ment IFOAM evaluated the eligibility of

applicants. The OSEA project is also provi-

ding financial support to local organic cer-

tification bodies in Tanzania and Uganda

to assist them to maintain their accredita-

tion status, a prerequisite for EU approval.

Training of local certification bodies has

been conducted and will continue. Simple

guides and explanations of the standards

have been developed to facilitate the

uptake of EAOPS in the region. “We see

these efforts as something that can lift the

organic sector to a new level” says Gama

Jordan, head of the Tanzania Organic Agri-

culture Movements. He continues: “these

practical efforts are important components

in the implementation of the National

Organic Agriculture Action Plan, which

was approved last year.”

-Information about OSEA and the East African Organic Products Standard is available at: http://www.ifoam.org/partners/projects/osea.html -Information about the GOMA project can be found at: http://www.goma-organic.org/

seekiNG iNTerNaTiONal reCOGNiTiON fOr easT afriCa’s reGiONal OrGaNiCsTaNdard



a Need fOr harMONiZaTiON aCrOss eurOpe?

Certification of organic catering


any future harmonization process. It was

conceived as an explorative pilot study, to

analyze and give an oversight of the cur-

rent situation.

Prospects of harmonization

A further web based questionnaire of

experts in the field was undertaken which

received a response rate of 25%, with

replies coming from experts from fourteen

EU member states and one non-member

country. These countries have developed

very different approaches to certifying

mass organic catering. When asked about

the satisfaction level with the present situ-

ation in Europe for organic mass catering

certification, the majority of respondents

was ‘unsatisfied’ or ‘a little bit unsatisfied’

(Figure 1).

Furthermore, respondents would very

much welcome a harmonized certification

scheme for the organic mass catering

sector (Figure 2). A large majority con-

sidered that the EU-wide harmonization

of organic certification in mass catering

would have mainly positive impacts. Only

five respondents feared negative impacts.

When asked to consider the most impor-

tant drivers of such a harmonization

food in serving outlets. The procedures

for the certification of organic food served

in out-of-home settings were reviewed

and analyzed in the first four of these

countries. Germany was included as a

reference country since it has legally regu-

lated this area. The study provides first

insights into how certification procedures

for the organic out-of-home market might

be harmonized and adapted to general

European conditions. Another aim was to

find out if certification body officials and

other professionals working in this field

are satisfied with the current situation, and

their experientially-based viewpoints about

the issues that should be considered in

The catering sector is attracting increa-

sing attention at the pan-European level

and one emerging question is that of the

certification of organic establishments.

The European (EU) Council Regulation

No. 834/2007 on organic production and

labelling of organic products obliges the

European Commission to report to the EU

Council on the scope of the Regulation

before the end of 2011, and to make clear

reference to ‘organic food prepared by

mass caterers’. The council Regulation,

which came into effect on January 1st

2009, governs these topics in all member

states. However, member states are still

allowed to adopt national rules or private

standards for the out-of-home market,

since the regulation does not cover such

operations.

The study into ‘innovative Public Orga-

nic food Procurement for Youth’ (iPOPY,

2007-2010) was one of eight research

projects conducted as part of the CORE

Organic I programme. This investigated

the strategies and instruments used within

a number of European countries (Italy,

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Germany),

to increase the consumption of organic

The consumption of organic food is increasing and people often pay significant premium prices for organic products. Between 1995 and 2007, another remarkable trend occurred: while the average European Union household expenditure on food consumption (adjusted for inflation) was 15%, the spending on catering services increased by 25%. From 2008 onwards total household expenditure and expenditure on catering services stayed more or less in line with general economic developments.

melanie lukas, carola strassner & anne-kristin løes



Further details of this pilot study and other results of the iPOPY project can be accessed in the orga-nic eprints database using the search term ipopy.

AcknowledgementsThe authors thank the CORE Organic Funding Body Network for funding of the pilot research project, iPOPY (2007-2010) was one of eight projects initiated by the CORE Organic I Funding Body Network

Melanie Lukas and Carola Strassner work at the Department of Home Economics and Nutritional Science, University of Applied Science Muenster, Germany.Anne-Kristin Løes works for Bioforsk Organic Food and Farming, Norway.

[email protected],

cially between the certifiers, even if a

change of regulation for organic certifi-

cation of mass catering is not an imme-

diate consequence.

•Involveimportantstakeholders,such

as certifiers and organic associations,

in any harmonization process from the

outset, to create a scheme which best

fits all individual conditions but provides

more transparency than the current situ-

ation.

•Establishapan-Europeanworkinggroup

consisting of all the important stakehol-

ders representing the current status quo

and can provide objective input into the

consultation.

The eu-reGulaTiON dOes NOT COver The OuT-Of-hOMe MarkeT

process, 64% of respondents thought

that organic associations will be the most

important, followed by certifiers, political

authorities and caterers who were all men-

tioned as important drivers by more than

50% of respondents.

Considerations for the future

The pilot study shows that any initiative

from the European Commission to create

the conditions for the future harmonization

of organic certification of mass catering

will very likely be welcomed. Any such

process should be conducted in close

cooperation with certification bodies and

Figure 1.

Satisfaction levels about the present regulation of organic certification in the out-of-home sector in Europe Source:

Figure 2.

Respondents’ opinions on a possible EU-wide harmonized organic certification scheme for mass catering (n=25) Source:

organic associations, even if this will incre-

ase the length of time required to develop

and implement the regulation and will

require resources to carry out the neces-

sary consultations. Networking across

borders will provide a good opportunity to

create a scheme which is generally bin-

ding but has the scope to allow regional

and individual country variations. Such an

endeavour would be especially suppor-

tive of the positive impacts and strengths

expected by our respondents, such as

“more traceability”, “more transparency”

or “better consumer understanding”.

Further recommendations for next steps

in Europe gained from this pilot research

include:

•Intensifynetworkinginthissector,espe-

REDUCINGTRADEBARRIERS

ecology AND

nr 5 // November 2011

farming

NIGERIA THE SLEEPING ORGANIC GIANT

THE STORY

OF THE GLOBAL

ORGANIC MARKET ACCESS

NIGERIA THE SLEEPING ORGANIC GIANTSOUTH KOREA: COUNTRY REPORT / ORGANIC WORLD CONGRESSSOUTH KOREA: COUNTRY REPORT / ORGANIC WORLD CONGRESS

COWS ARE THE CLIMATE KILLERS?

TWO WEEKS FROM NEW YORK TO WASHINGTON DC BY FOOT

On the way to mandatory labelling of genetically manipulated foods

ecology

COWS ARE THE COWS ARE THE

ecology AND

nr 4 // Augustus 2011

farming

IFO

AM

ecology farming

AND

Subscribe Now!

Ecology and Farming is published by Van Westering Groep bv, the Netherlands, under the auspices of IFOAM

www.ecologyandfarming.comAnnual subscription fee: €44,-

The quarterly worldwide magazine on organic farming, for decision makers in the organic industry,

farming, trade, processing, retail, governments and non-governmental organizati ons.

ecology farming

IFOAM

AND

Yes, Organic can feed the world!

SEEDS FROM INDIA

nr 1 // February 2011

Yes, Organic Yes, Organic

BUY DIFFERENT

BUY 7IN1

But how?

210x297_IFOAM_in_Action.indd 1 11.11.10 06:43

ecology farming

IFOAM

AND

nr 2 // April 2011

1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009

CURRENT STATUS of organic farming

worldwide

Growth of organic agricultural land 1999-2009 in million hectares

0

10

20

30

40

ORGANIC INTEGRITY

It started with rumours CLIMATECHANGEOrganic agriculture can play a major role to combat climate change

Bi-monthly magazine on organic agriculture.

With readers

in more than

165 countriesWith authors

from around

the globe


let the good products grow and flow

Business as usual is not an option



The world needs a fundamental shift towards sustainable ecologically based agriculture and food systems. The drive for high productivity and profitability through agro-industrial models has had serious environmental and social downsides. Business as usual is not an option. This has been highlighted by an increasing number of United Nations studies including the IAASTD report, many UNCTAD reports including its Trade and Environment Review, UNEP’s Green Economy Report, the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, and the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food.

sophia twarog

Organic agriculture has a very impor-

tant role to play within the larger

family of environmentally friendly agricul-

ture. Organic agriculture is, in many ways,

the gold standard, leading the way. It is

also clearly defined and therefore verifi-

able. There are standards for production

and processing and these can be used to

guide operators and to assess if a system

is organic or not. Such clarity also opens

the doors to producers for making, and

being able to back up organic claims, and

to be economically rewarded for produ-

cing crops sustainably. Self claim, perso-

nal trust relationships, participatory gua-

rantee systems and third party certifica-

tion can all work well at local and national

levels. For exchanges across distances,

third party certification is usually needed.

Formal organic guarantee systems (OGS)

can get complicated. There is the pro-

duction and processing standard and the

conformity assessment system—usually

a certification body and, in countries that

regulate their markets, also accredita-

tion or supervision. Worldwide there is a

proliferation of public and private OGS

systems. Often these systems have been

set up as islands unto themselves, alt-

hough in the man markets these are all,

more or less, based on the IFOAM basic

standards. Products sold as organic must

usually comply 100% with all the details

of of a system, usually set up with local

or national circumstances in mind. Little

thought has been given to the flow of pro-

ducts across systems, particularly inward

flows. Small details in OGS can become

big barriers to trade. This lack of harmo-

nization and equivalency across systems

can be a major obstacle to the develop-

ment of the organic sector.

We all pay a high price for this.

Farmers struggle to meet all the rules and

requirements in all the different markets

where they wish to sell. This could even

be two different stores on the same street.

Processors and traders struggle to source

ingredients. Certification bodies ask high

costs for multiple accreditations.(I have

the impression that certification costs for

EU, JAS and NOP, the 3 main markets

EU, Japan and USA is not so much more

than for one single xport market) Con-

sumers pay higher prices and have many

less products to choose from. (I don’t

have the impression that there are less

organic products available on the market

because of certification costs).The planet

suffers because there is less organic pro-

duction. Why do we allow this to happen?

The real winners of this self-shackling

exercise are those who profit from agro-

industrial forms of agriculture. Their

products flow with relative ease and lower

transaction costs. The five companies that

sell 70% of the world’s agrochemicals are

no doubt delighted.

To stand a chance, we in the organic

sector have to stand together. We cannot

afford to be divided in principle or in prac-

tice. We must not allow the existing OGS

to keep us down or to keep us apart. We

need strong vibrant local food systems

with local markets and local relationships.

These should be actively supported by

local consumers, retailers and govern-

ments alike.

We also need trade in organic products.

Organic products currently account for

a very small share of overall sales of

food and agricultural products. There is

great potential for this share to increase.

Imports can play an important role in

growing domestic organic markets. The

greater the range of products on offer the

greater the consumer interest. In gene-

ral, the benefits from increasing the size


of the organic pie will greatly outweigh

the possible disadvantages to domestic

producers who are sometimes worried

about facing competition in their home

markets. Organic consumers will prefer

local products and this can be clearly

communicated.

Openness to trade in organic products

also shows solidarity with the rest of the

organic world, especially with the South.

In developing countries, domestic organic

markets are particularly small. Organic

exports can be an important incentive for

adopting sustainable agricultural prac-

tices, thereby improving the livelihoods

of the world’s poor. Smallholder farms

in developing countries, generally only

produce one or two export crops but

produce dozens of others in an organic

manner that are consumed locally. This

improves the food security and health of

local populations.

Where countries and regions have simi-

lar agro-ecological and socio-economic

conditions, the harmonization of organic

standards and OGS can stimulate the

regional markets and help develop a

sense of common identity. There can be

many positive spillover effects from such

regional cooperation. This has already

been seen in East Africa, the Pacific, Cen-

tral America and Asia.

Equivalency plays a key role in exchange

across systems. The Common Objectives

and Requirements of Organic Agriculture

Systems (COROS) and the International

Requirements for Organic Certification

Bodies (IROCB) were developed through

highly consultative processes facilita-

ted by FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD in the

Global Organic Market Access project

(GOMA). They can be used to systemati-

cally and rigorously assess the equivalen-

ce of organic standards and the confor-

mity of assessment systems, while at the

same time leaving space to tailor local

organic systems to local conditions.

Besides the achievements of the GOMA

project (highlighted elsewhere in this edi-

tion) there have been some other recent

landmark events worth recognizing.

IFOAM is now using COROS to evaluate

standards for inclusion in the IFOAM

Family of Standards. Public and private

sector regulators worldwide should make

use of these assessments. There is no

need to reinvent the wheel each time the

subject of equivalency comes up. COROS

can reduce the workload burden involved

in establishing equivalency.

The EU regulation has fully incorporated

equivalency into its system for approving

organic imports.

The United States and Canada have sig-

ned an equivalency agreement with full

system recognition including imports. The

latter point is important for developing

the organic market in North America,

including in the fast-growing processed

products area. It also shares the benefits

with the rest of the world. May the rest of

the world take note and follow suit.

Let us all stand strong together to let the

organic products grow and flow!

Dr. Sophia Twarog is Economic Affairs Officer, UNCTAD


ORGANiC&hEALTh

peter Brul

Pacific Islands Community are also expec-

ted also contribute to the presentations

and discussions.

Program information and registrationA detailed program and registration information will be available on the GOMA website. Inquiries can be sent to [email protected].

The following eminent keynote speakers

are featured in the Conference:

Harsha Singh, Deputy Director-General,

World Trade Organization (confirmed)

Kathleen Merrigan, Deputy Secretary,

United States Department of Agriculture

(confirmed)

Franz Fischler, President, Eco-Social

Forum and former Commissioner of

Agicultur, Rural Development and Fis-

heries, European Union (confirmed)

Tumusiime Rhoda Peace, Commissio-

ner for Rural Economy and Agriculture

African Union Commission (invited)

In addition to the keynote speakers, par-

ticipants are afforded an opportunity to

discuss key issues with distinguished

government and private-sector speakers

from Bhutan, Brazil, Canada, Costa Rica,

China, Great Britain, France, India, the

Netherlands, Sri Lanka and United States.

Representatives of intergovernmental and

international organizations such as The

European Commission, International Fede-

ration of Organic Agriculture Movements,

International Trade Commission, Interna-

tional Organic Accreditation Service and

For ten years, FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD

have worked in partnership to address

and reduce barriers to trade of organic

products resulting from the global prolife-

ration of organic standards and technical

regulations.

At this high-level International Conference,

scheduled for 13 and 14 February 2012 at

Nuremberg Messe (just prior to BioFach)

the partners draw together a distinguished

group of public and private sector leaders

to examine the past, present and future of

organic market access relative to systems

of organic standards and conformity

assessment.

The conference looks at emerging

issues, such as the potential for orga-

nic standards to promote the growth of

organic agriculture vis-à-vis their poten-

tial to stifle growth. Developments and

challenges for dominant and emerging

exporting/importing economies and for

still-developing countries are highlighted

and discussed. Models of public-private

and regional cooperation are considered

as potential pathways for global solutions

to the challenges.

“leT The GOOd prOduCTs flOW!” says GOMa, aNNOuNCiNG iTs 2012 CONfereNCe

Kathleen Merrigan

Tumusiime Rhoda Peace

Franz Fischler

Harsha Singh


10,000+ organic farms

The recent Organic World Congress in Korea marked 30 years of organic developments in Korea. Organic agriculture in Korea was initiated by individual farmers in the 1970s and the movement began to organize itself in the 1980s.

The OrGaNiC seCTOr

GrOWs iN kOrea

gunnar rungren


90% Of lOCal auThOriTies NOW prOvide eCO-frieNdly sChOOl Meals

Formal certification can be traced back

to the 1997 Act on the Promotion of

Environmental Agriculture which took

effect in 1998. The act allowed only

governmental agencies to verify organic

production; through a declaration system

managed by the National Agricultural

Products Quality Management Service.

The Environmentally Friendly Agriculture

Fosterage Act in 2001 allowed private

agencies to be designated and work as

certification bodies (known as authori-

ties in Korea). A mandatory certification

system was put in place for those who

want to use a mark designating an orga-

nic agricultural product. Heuksalim was

the first certification body, approved

The total volume of Korean organic farm

produce, at the farm level, is estimated to

be worth 150 billion Korean Won (approxi-

mately US$ 125 million) and is increasing

by 30% per annum. The organic market

is growing even faster, by around 40% a

year, and so imports play a considerable

role in the Korean market. In 2009, 21

billion Korean Won (about US$ 17 million)

worth of organic food was imported.

COuNTRY pROFiLE

A special feature of the Korean situation

is that organic is one of three official

schemes for environmentally-friendly (also

called eco-friendly) agriculture; organic

farming, pesticide-free and low-pesticide.

The output of the environmentally-friendly

sector grew from 27,000 tons in 1999

(0.1% of total farm produce) to 2,358,000

tons in 2009 (12.2% of total farm pro-

duce). In 2009, there were 199,000 recog-

nized environmental-friendly farms. Of

these, around 10,000 were organic. Many

Korean information sources mix the figu-

res for the three schemes and there also

appears to be some confusion in market

communications, although there is a dis-

tinct organic mark.


cipalities took the decision to provide

environmentally-friendly school meals.

By 2009, 90% of local municipalities had

taken such decisions. Some have gone

further; Gayang elementary school in

Seoul started to provide all its 866 stu-

dents with 100% organic school meals in

March, 2008. There are many other forms

of government support schemes and

payments. In conjunction with the Organic

World Congress an organic museum was

established, with an investment of about

US$ 40 million, and the congress itself

had a US$ 2 million budget.

Foreign certification bodies report that

it is enormously frustrating to work with

Korean authorities.

The host of the Organic World Congress,

Namyangju City, is piloting a certification

scheme for organic restaurants under

which five organic restaurants are cur-

rently certified. Two public servants, res-

ponsible for public health and agriculture

respectively, make field inspections and

a certification committee of 10 members

takes a certification decision. Public sup-

port for the organic sector has taken

many forms. In 2004, two local muni-

in 2002 and since then 70 certification

bodies have been designated, 68 of which

still maintain their approval status. The

Association of Eco-friendly Certification

Authorities was established in Septem-

ber 2006 and is currently in charge of

management and professional training of

inspectors. Imports of organic food are

also regulated. The Korean Regulation

for Food Industry Promotion Act doesn’t

allow equivalence mechanisms and all

organic food imports have to be certi-

fied by Korean authorities. As a result of

complaints to the WTO this measure has

been postponed until 31 December 2012.

The Netherlands

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The IFOAM General Assembly

IFOAM’s General Assembly (October 3-5) had the participation of 49% of the IFOAM membership, represented in person and by proxy.

E&F’s Denise Godinho with IFOAM director Markus Arbenz, exiting president Katherine DiMatteo and the new president André Leu.

Organic World Congress


EvENTS

denise godinho

to support organic farming projects and

agro-ecological approaches that provide

vulnerable populations with a real solution

for climate change and provide organic

farmers with a fair compensation for their

contribution to climate mitigation and

adaptation strategies.

Further areas of focus were the need to

encourage and participate in research

around family farms and the granting of

voting rights to IFOAM’s regional and sec-

toral groups (also called IFOAM ‘action

groups’) giving them more influence over

IFOAM’s decision-making.

The closing remarks of the retiring pre-

sident, Katherine DiMatteo were a high

appropriate level of soil organic matter

and is rooted in the soil and sub-soil. It

was stressed that the living soil nourishes

the plant and must not, in any situation,

be simply an inert substrate and medium

of support. Cultural practices in green-

house production must preserve or incre-

ase soil fertility and improve soil ecology

and biodiversity.

IFOAM’s membership further decided in

favour of advocating against the inclu-

sion of organic agriculture in speculative

carbon market schemes (especially those

controlled by the international finance

system). The membership supports the

promotion of alternative financing systems

Among the strategically important

decisions taken during this Assem-

bly was the passing of the ‘Sustai-

nability in Agriculture’ motion, which

determined that IFOAM is to position

organic agriculture as a holistic, sustaina-

ble farming system that is committed to

further develop its practices to meet long-

standing and newly emerging challenges.

Organic greenhouse production was

another topic addressed and the mem-

bership ruled that standards for organic

production in greenhouses must encou-

rage an agriculture that is consistent with

preserving the natural balance in living

soils and plants, seeks to maintain the


The 17th IFOAM World Congress

The GA was preceded by the 17th Orga-

nic World Congress (OWC) which attrac-

ted close to 2000 participants from 76

countries. 737 papers were presented

during various conference sessions and

these addressed topics ranging from pest

and disease management to data col-

lection and information technology for

the organic sector. The keynote speakers’

papers (see the July edition of Ecology

& Farming), delivered during the five ple-

nary sessions, were well received by the

audience. The various side events and

festival drew in some 250,000 visitors,

making this the best attended OWC ever.

The OWC also marked the start of a

project to recognise innovative organic

research - the Organic Farming Innovation

Award (OFIA). On the occasion of each

OWC (every three years), IFOAM and the

Rural Development Administration of the

Republic of Korea will award the distinc-

tion to:

•honourachievementsinthedeve-

lopment and dissemination of organic

agricultural technology based on the four

principles of organic agriculture;

•promoteresearchanddevelopmentin

organic agriculture around the world;

•provideassistancetoagriculturalsci-

entists for their research into organic

agriculture;

•fosterinternationalco-operationamong

researchers in organic agriculture.

The first OFIA saw two awards presented.

Dr. Shaikh Hossain from Bangladesh won

the Grand Prize in the Systems Value

Track for his paper ‘Organic sack garden

ensuring nutrition and improving food

security on small scale households’, while

the prize for the Research Track went

to Dr. Soonbae Kwon from Korea for his

paper ‘Inhibitory effects of the extract

from Quercus dentata gallnut against

plant virus infection’.

The next OFIA will be awarded during the 18th Organic World Congress in Istanbul, Turkey, 4-14 October 2014.

President. The newcomers to the board

are Gabi Soto (Costa Rica), who took

office as Vice-President, Eva Torremocha

(Spain), Frank Eyhorn (Switzerland), James

B. Cole (Ghana), Manjo Smith (Namibia),

Mathew John (India), Matthew Holmes

(Canada) and Volkert Engelsman (Nether-

lands).

A full report on the IFOAM General

Assembly will be published in IFOAM in

Action (including complete motion texts).

The General Assembly was rounded off by

a visit to organic farmers in the Paldang

region, the venue of the Organic World

Congress and General Assembly. The Pal-

dang farmers have in the past two years

seen their livelihoods threatened by the

looming ‘Restoration of the 4 Rivers Pro-

ject’ under which the government wants

to turn the farmland into a public park with

cycle lanes by 2012. This proposal has

been accompanied by claims that organic

farming was having a negative impact on

water quality in the region. IFOAM sup-

ports the determined efforts to maintain

organic management of the land in Pal-

dang region and supports the farmers’

claims that organic farming is the best

land use for the Paldang region in order to

ensure that the water quality is suitable for

drinking.

point of the GA. Reflecting on her six

years on the IFOAM World Board, three

of which were spent as IFOAM president,

she emphasised that “our focus should be

on helping to define, describe and build

the resilient and eco-intensive agricultural

systems that support a true green or rege-

nerative economy”. IFOAM’s advocacy

efforts have already borne fruit, which

is apparent when one reads documents

published by the UN’s Food and Agricultu-

re Organization (FAO) which echo IFOAM’s

advocacy campaigns.

DiMatteo provided a thought provoking

conclusion: “We know there is a need for

organic systems to move toward incre-

ased sustainability by applying the con-

cept of continuous improvement. Howe-

ver, does this imply additional or higher

organic standards and regulations? And if

we chose that path, how does the organic

sector avoid becoming the reductionist

and prescriptive system that we originally

opposed? I believe we must persevere in

our conviction that each farm and location

is unique and that beyond the basic dos

and don’ts, there is diversity of decisi-

ons and practices that respect organic

principles. The organic farmer, harvester,

pastoralist and fisher apply both heart and

science to their task of achieving harmony

with nature. More guidance, training and

building capacity are needed to facilitate

the adoption of ecologically, socially and

economically sound organic systems”.

New World Board elected

A new President and New World Board

elected by the membership. André Leu

(Australia) was elected to remain on the

World Board and became President, while

Roberto Ugas (Peru) will continue as Vice-

ifOaM’s advOCaCy has had aN iNflueNCe ON The faO.

The Dutch nurseries and traders produce organic propagating material including the following crops:Vegetables (covered and open cultivation): Leaf vegetables, tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots, beetroots, cabbage crops, cucumbers, pumpkins; Arable crops: potatoes, sowing onions, set onions, shallots, garlic, cereals, grasses; Medicinal herbs; Fodder crops; Green manuring crops; Fruits: Apples, pears; Soft fruit; Parkland trees and avenue trees; Shrubs; Ornamental plants: Tulip bulbs, flowers, garden plants.

Workshops:We would like to invite you to join the workshops. Especially since both days of the BioVak workshops are scheduled to form new visions in which your participation and input are important. For example on how to get in the future the right varieties at the right farms. In order to obtain the highest yields in balance with nature we need more diversity, possibly even for each farmer his own selection of plant varieties. Plant varieties which are well adapted to the local circumstances and give the best food for the local people. Organicseeds.nl is working on an approach in this field.

On an attractive and convenient Breeding Square with a large number of companies, many Dutch nurseries and traders in the plant sector show their varieties, which are of great importance to the national and international organic market.

ICEM ’s Gravenweg 442911 CG Nieuwerkerk aan den IJsselThe NetherlandsMike and/or Joop de LoozeT. +31(0)180-31.46.62E. [email protected]

BREEDING SQUARE ORGANICSEEDS.NL AT BIOVAK 2012,


WEDNESDAY 18 AND THURSDAY 19, JANUARY, 2012IJSSELHALLEN - ZWOLLE

THE NETHERLANDS - 30 MINUTES FROM AIRPORT AMSTERDAMwww.biovak.nl

You are cordially invited!

Trade Fair for Sustainable Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Organicseeds.nlDe Welle 488939 AT LeeuwardenThe NetherlandsBertus BuizerT. +31 (0) 582990530E. [email protected]

TRADE FAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, NATURE AND FOOD QUALITYTRADE FAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, NATURE AND FOOD QUALITY

The Dutch nurseries and traders produce organic propagating material including the following crops:Vegetables (covered and open cultivation): Leaf vegetables, tomatoes, sweet peppers, carrots, beetroots, cabbage crops, cucumbers, pumpkins; Arable crops: potatoes, sowing onions, set onions, shallots, garlic, cereals, grasses; Medicinal herbs; Fodder crops; Green manuring crops; Fruits: Apples, pears; Soft fruit; Parkland trees and avenue trees; Shrubs; Ornamental plants: Tulip bulbs, flowers, garden plants.

Workshops:We would like to invite you to join the workshops. Especially since both days of the BioVak workshops are scheduled to form new visions in which your participation and input are important. For example on how to get in the future the right varieties at the right farms. In order to obtain the highest yields in balance with nature we need more diversity, possibly even for each farmer his own selection of plant varieties. Plant varieties which are well adapted to the local circumstances and give the best food for the local people. Organicseeds.nl is working on an approach in this field.

On an attractive and convenient Breeding Square with a large number of companies, many Dutch nurseries and traders in the plant sector show their varieties, which are of great importance to the national and international organic market.

ICEM ’s Gravenweg 442911 CG Nieuwerkerk aan den IJsselThe NetherlandsMike and/or Joop de LoozeT. +31(0)180-31.46.62E. [email protected]



WEDNESDAY 18 AND THURSDAY 19, JANUARY, 2012IJSSELHALLEN - ZWOLLE

THE NETHERLANDS - 30 MINUTES FROM AIRPORT AMSTERDAMwww.biovak.nl

You are cordially invited!

Trade Fair for Sustainable Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality.

Organicseeds.nlDe Welle 488939 AT LeeuwardenThe NetherlandsBertus BuizerT. +31 (0) 582990530E. [email protected]

TRADE FAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, NATURE AND FOOD QUALITYTRADE FAIR FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, NATURE AND FOOD QUALITY


Fortunately in recent years, a few com-

plete or partial unilateral and bilateral

equivalence recognitions have taken place

between governmental organic technical

regulations.

The main unilateral

equivalence recognitions are:

the inclusion of 9 countries on the “third

country list” of the European Union;

recognition of the standards of 5 coun-

tries + the EU in the Japanese Grading

System (which does not go all the way

to equivalence recognition since crucial

differences in standards still have to be

addressed in order to export to Japan);

recognition of the equivalence of

standards of 4 countries + the EU by

Taiwan.

As explained in the article written by Diane Bowen in this issue, more and more countries are developing their own organic regulations and very few countries recognize each others’ organic regulatory systems. This means that organic products sold in different regions or countries have to be certified several times in order to access these markets. While conventional products can be traded more or less freely between countries, organic products face a comparative disadvantage when it comes to international trade.

A GLOBAL TOOL FOR MULTI-LATERAL EQUIVALENCE

The ifOaM faMily Of sTaNdards

MarkeTaCCess

Joëlle katto-andrighetto


Joëlle katto-andrighetto

The bilateral equivalence agreements

concluded so far are:

the EU-Switzerland general trade

agreement, which includes the orga-

nic sector;

the US-Canada bilateral equivalence

agreement;

the recently concluded EU-Canada

bilateral equivalence agreement.

Together these represent about 20

cases of unilateral and 3 cases of bila-

teral equivalence decisions. In the view

of the proliferation of governmental

organic regulations, these successes

are very small steps towards the goal

of achieving a global “regulated but

streamlined” market access for organic

products. Indeed, there are already 35

different governmental organic regula-

tions in place. To achieve global equi-

valence through unilateral equivalence

assessments would require nearly

1200 equivalence assessments. Bilate-

ral equivalence assessment processes

would reduce this number to about

600. However, if the approach taken

by the European Union, of conducting

equivalence assessments of private

standards against its own regulation,

were generally adopted this could

easily triple the first figure.



ring that all standards and regulations

approved by IFOAM are equivalent to

their own production rules.

Make use of IFOAM’s equivalence

assessment reports and conclusions to

fast-track their decisions on granting

equivalence to other standards and

regulations. In this case, governments

would retain their role of making a final

and unilateral decision on each equi-

valence, but would not need to spend

resources on the assessment itself.

Come together with other governments

to negotiate bilateral or multi-lateral

equivalence agreements on the basis

of approval of their regulations in the

IFOAM Family of Standards or on the

basis of the assessments conducted by

IFOAM.

Australia and Saudi Arabia have already

adopted the first recommendation and it

is expected that other countries will soon

follow. Private certification bodies, espe-

cially in unregulated markets, may also

want to set criteria for the re-certification

of imported products: these opportunities

can also be taken up by them.

The Family of Standards includes all the

standards and regulations that have suc-

cessfully passed a COROS equivalence

assessment. All equivalence assessments

are conducted or validated by IFOAM,

in accordance with codified equivalence

assessment procedures. COROS enables

an objective approach to equivalence, as

opposed to making tedious line-by-line

comparisons. The assessments done by

IFOAM show the strengths and weaknes-

ses of assessing a standard by comparing

it to common requirements. The assess-

ment looks at the justification (or absence

thereof) for variations with COROS and

whether or not these are acceptable,

individually or collectively (looking at the

standard as a whole). Standards that are

approved within the Family are published

on the IFOAM website.

Use of the Family of Standards by govern-

ments and private certification bodies

This tool allows governments to abandon

the existing cumbersome and administra-

tive approaches and make use of new

ways of assessing equivalence. This can

be done in one of several ways.

Officially endorse the IFOAM Family of

Standards by automatically conside-

These iNiTiaTives Will sTreaMliNe The reGulaTOry prOCess aNd iMprOve MarkeT aCCess.

The situation will soon be worsened since

other countries are in the process of deve-

loping their own organic regulations. This

will exponentially increase the number of

assessments needed, a problem that will

be further multiplied since such assess-

ments require periodic reviews to ensure

that continued equivalence as each of the

regulations/standards evolves over time.

It seems therefore that, although unilateral

and bilateral equivalence may seem the

most realistic approach to certain govern-

ments in the short term, it is unrealistic to

upscale this approach at the global level.

Multi-lateral equivalence is the only realis-

tic scenario to alleviate unnecessary barri-

ers to organic trade and achieved a global

“regulated but streamlined” market access

for organic products.

IFOAM is now promoting the multilate-

ral equivalence approach through the

IFOAM Family of Standards. The princi-

ple underlying this Family of Standards

is to conduct equivalence assessments

of each standard/regulation against

one single international reference, the

IFOAM Standards Requirements, also

called COROS (Common Objectives and

Requirements of Organic Standards).

This approach means that the number of

assessments needed is only equal to the

number of organic regulations / standards

in the world. On a regulatory level (the

baseline condition for market access), this

means only 35 assessments would be

needed in the current situation.

COROS is a new norm that has been

approved by IFOAM membership, as

well as by IFOAM, FAO and UNCTAD

representatives under the GOMA project.

dECEMBER 2011 - SEpTEMBER 2012 //

february 15-18th, 2012 BioFach Nuremberg Nuremberg, Germany http://www.biofach.de

auGusT 23-25th, 2012Natural Products Asia Expo 2012, Hong Kong, Chinawww.naturalproductsasia.com

sepTeMber 12-14th, 2012 IFOAM Organic Animal Husbandry Conference Hamburg, Germanywww.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_conferences/Animal_Husbandry_2012.html

Calendar

items

NOveMber 30th - deCeMber 2nd, 2011 AgriPro Asia (APA) & Agri-Conference Asia (ACA) Hong Kong, Chinawww.agriproasia.com

deCeMber 5-7th, 2011 Middle East Natural & Organic Products Expo 2011 Dubai, United Arab Emirateswww.naturalproductme.com

deCeMber 8-10, 2011ACRES USA – Columbus, Ohio Interesting show with approximately 85 booths. Many of the people who attend are into biodynamic farming.www.acresusa.com/events/events.htm

deCeMber 14-16th, 2011 BioFach India 2011 Mumbai, Indiawww.biofach-india.com

february 1-4, 2012Eco-Farm Conference Pacific Grove, California www.eco-farm.org/programs/efc/

february 1-4, 2012 PASA – 21st Farming for the Future Conference, State College, Pennsylvaniawww.pasafarming.org/our-work/farming-for-the-future-conference

february 13-14th, 2012 GOMA ConferenceNuremberg, Germanywww.goma-organic.org

Publisher

jaap van Westering

Editorial staff

peter brul (editor in chief)denise GodinhoNick parrott

Contributors to this issue

authors & photos:Names

Editorial office

p.O.box 696, 3740 ap baarn, The NetherlandsT +31 35 88 735 31f +31 35 54 241 19e [email protected] www.ecologyandfarming.com

CONTACT

Ecology and Farming is published by Van Westering Groep bv, Netherlands, under the auspices of IFOAM

Ecology & Farming is a magazine for all elements of the organic movement - from organic farmers’ associations to organizations from the organic food industry and fair Trade; from research institutions to certifiers; from or-ganic consumers to organic advocates. eco-logy & farm-ing provides information on key issues in the organic sector and offers the space for discussions on the topics of the day. The articles published in ecology & farm-ing reflect the opinions of their respective authors and should not be interpreted as an official ifOaM position.

IFOAM The international federation of Organic agriculture Movements is the umbrella organization for the organic movement. estab-lished in 1972, ifOaM has over 800 affiliates in more than 100 countries. and represents the common inter-ests of the organic movement based on the principles of organic agriculture (ecology, health, fairness, care). ifOaM’s mission is to lead, assist and unite the organic movement in its full diversity.

Peter Brul has been working in the organic sector as afarmer, researcher and consultant for more than 35 years. he combines the role of Chief-editor of ecology & farming with his own consultancy.

The Van Westering Groep B.V. have been publishing maga-zines since 1988. vWG also maintains a focus on ecol-ogy through ekoland, the professional magazine for organic farming in the Netherlands and belgium and Ge-zond bouwen & Wonen, a professional magazine about sustainable building and living.

Lay-out

vilarrica bv, baarn, The NetherlandsMaurice spithoven (design)annemieke praamstra

Advert acquisition

van Westering Groep bv baarn, The NetherlandsT +31 35 88 735 31

Subscriber administration

p.O.box 6963740 ap baarn, The Netherlandse [email protected] www.ecologyandfarming.com

Subscription

annual fee (2011), frequency of 6 x per year:Companies € 120NGO’s € 90ifOaM members can get a reduction of 50%

Print er

veldhuis Media, raalte The Netherlands fsC certified

Our organic seeds grow your success

Rijk Zwaan is a world-leading specialist in

creating high-quality vegetable varieties; also for the organic

market. We do this through innovative research & development,

led by the needs of our customers. It is our aim to be a

knowledgeable, collaborative partner, with infinite respect for

the environment. Rijk Zwaan. www.rijkzwaan.com

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BCS - the Number 1 - for worldwide certification of organic products according to different standards.

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BCS Spread def.indd 2-3 24-08-11 17:01

✂

210x285_Ecology_a_Farming_BF.indd 1 07.12.11 15:57

ecology and farming no 5/2011

Documents

organic labels

organic sector

organic practices

organic farms

organic certifier number

peter grosch

market leaders

economy market