Title: FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
1Congress on Organic Agriculture in Turkey,
Istanbul, 19-20 October 2007 Presented by
Ulrich HOFFMANN (PhD) UNCTAD
secretariat
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements
UNCTAD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT
STANDARDS AND TRADE IN ORGANIC PRODUCTS BY
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THE IMPORTANCE OF THE WORK
OF THE INTERNATIONAL TASK FORCE ON HARMONIZATION
AND EQIVALENCY IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE (ITF)
2Why an ITF?
- Rapid expansion of the organic trade (15-20 per
year) in the last decade, worldwide - Over 100 countries exporting certified organic
products - Presence of many governmental and private
standards and technical regulations governing
organic production and certification. Two
international standards (Codex Organic Guidelines
and IFOAM Basic Standards). - Proliferation of certification bodies (over 400
in 2007), both private and public
UNCTAD
3Why an ITF? (continued)
- Lack of harmonization of standards, technical
regulations and certification requirements - Few equivalence agreements
- Burden on producers and traders that need
multiple certifications to access different
markets - Burden on certification bodies that need multiple
accreditations (in service of producers and
traders) to access different markets - Trade barriers, especially to smallholders
UNCTAD
4What is the ITF?
- Created in 2003, following a conference in 2002
on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic
Agriculture, convened by IFOAM, FAO and UNCTAD
(210 participants from 52 countries, including 42
government representatives) -
- An open-ended forum for dialogue between
governmental and private sector institutions,
seeking to reduce obstacles to organic trade - Since 2003, ITF members, acting in their personal
capacity, have come from - 25 governments (ministries of agriculture and
commerce dealing with organic agriculture) - 7 intergovernmental bodies (FAO, UNCTAD, UNEP,
UNECE, WTO, OECD, EC) - 15 private sector actors (certification and
accreditation bodies, traders, NGOs)
UNCTAD
5The ITF mandate
- Review organic standards, regulations and
conformity assessment systems - Formulate proposals for harmonization
opportunities and mechanisms for establishing
equivalence and mutual recognition, for
consideration by - Governments
- Codex Alimentarius Commission
- Relevant bodies of FAO, UNCTAD and IFOAM
- Other relevant institutions (e.g. WTO)
- Advise stakeholders and provide information
UNCTAD
6 The ITF Long-term Strategy
- Without creating new institutional structures,
move organic guarantee systems towards - One international organic standard for reference
- currently Codex Guidelines (governments) and
IFOAM Basic Standards (private sector) - A mechanism for the judgement of equivalence to
the reference standard - One set of international requirements for organic
certification bodies (reference for equivalency
and recognition) - Common international procedures for
accreditation/approval of certification bodies - Other forms of cooperation in and among
- government and private sectors to
streamline trade -
UNCTAD
7Recognition of Certification
Networking and Cooperation
Standards Equivalence
I T F
8The ITF work phases
- 2003-05 Review and Analysis
- 2005-07 Formulation of Proposals and
- Tools for Solutions
- 2007-08 Commitment on Solutions
-
UNCTAD
9Recommendations
- General
- Countries make every effort to utillize ITF
results.
UNCTAD
10Recommendations
- Production Standards
- ITF has agreed that for production standards
equivalence is a more workable approach than
harmonization, i.e. that the standards used in
various countries will be different, but should
follow a basic framework. - It was agreed to use the results of the revision
process for the IFOAM Basic Standards to feed
into the next revision of the Codex Standard
(CAC/GL 32). - The ITF recognizes that a single reference for
organic standards is not yet a feasible
proposition. The ITF however realizes that having
two international reference standards, from the
public and private sector respectively, is
valuable, provided that there is effective
linkage between the two sectors. - The ITF recommends that for import approvals
governments use the Codex and IFOAM Basic
Standards as the basis.
UNCTAD
11Recommendations
- Conformity assessment
- The International Requirements for Organic
Certification Bodies (IROCB) currently under
development by ITF serve as - A benchmark for equivalence
- A catalyst for convergence of requirements
- Direct accreditation as possible
- Consultative development process
-
- Ownership Question
UNCTAD
12Recommendations
- Conformity assessment (continued)
- Governments and private accreditation systems
develop mutual recognition based on IROCB - Consideration is given to emerging alternatives
to third-party certification - (such as Participatory Guarantee Systems).
UNCTAD
13Recommendations
- Equivalence
- ITF has agreed to develop a guidance document for
judging equivalence of standards based on the
IFOAM criteria for variations and the CAC/GL34
Guidelines for development of equivalence
agreements. - The ITF recommends that equivalence of organic
standards and technical regulations will be based
on one set of criteria, which is being developed
by the ITF.
UNCTAD
14Third phase of ITF (2007-08)
- Dissemination and advocacy of results, and
seeking stakeholders endorsement - Communiqué
- Presentations to EU Commission and USDA NOP
- Communications Plan in preparation
-
UNCTAD
15Third phase of ITF (2007-08)
- 7th Meeting of the ITF, 26-30 November, 2007,
hosted by Indonesian government in Bali -
- Approve IROCB
-
- Further develop ITF Guideline for Equivalency
-
- Agree on plan for dissemination and
advocacy of - results
UNCTAD
16FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements
UNCTAD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT
ITF website www.unctad.org/trade_env/itf-organic
17FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED
NATIONS
International Federation of Organic Agriculture
Movements
UNCTAD UNITED NATIONS CONFERENCE ON TRADE AND
DEVELOPMENT
International Requirements for Organic
Certification Bodies (IROCB)
18IROCB Objectives
- For Certifiers One Evaluation, Many
Approvals/Accreditations - For Import Approvals Tool for easier
recognition of foreign certifiers - For Accreditation Potential norm to use for
direct accreditation instead of developing ones
own.
UNCTAD
19IROCB Objectives
- From the IROCB Foreword
- Application of these requirements is intended
to ensure that certification bodies operate third
party certification of organic operators in a
consistent and reliable manner. If an evaluation
reveals that a certification body is performing
organic certification in line with these
requirements it should be considered competent to
conduct organic certification, and its service
should be considered as equivalent to services
provided under any other organic system.
UNCTAD
20IROCB User Guide
Approved Foreign CBs
Government
Foreign Certification body
IROCB
Gov Certification Requirements
Direct use
Oversight body
or equivalent
Domestic Certification body
Oversight bodys Certification Requirements
21New Marketing Requirements
Where is organic being sold? 1991 7 at
supermarkets, 93 at green stores, farmers
markets and direct markets 2003 50 (and more)
at supermarkets
Implication? Organic farmers need GlobalGAP
(formerly EurepGAP) or Davis Fresh Technologies
(i.e. USGAP equivalent) certification for
supermarket access, in addition to organic
certification
UNCTAD-UNEP CBTF has decided Will develop
interface (i.e. technical equivalence agreement)
between GlobalGAP and Codex Standard (CAC/GL 32)
as well as IFOAM Basic Standards.
22The East African organic product standard- EAS
4562007Use and content
23Why?
- Harmonized standard facilitates regional organic
trade - Negotiations with other governments for
equivalence/recognition (in particular with EU) - Coordinating input into international fora -
Codex Alimentarius and IFOAM. - Better resource use development, revision and
implementation
24Use?
- A unified standard is a basis for
- Export market access
- EA market development
- Cross border trade
- EA organic mark
- Consumer awareness raising
- Extension, education and research
- Policy dialogue
- Increase respectability of organic
- Cooperation within the sector in general
25In the Market Place
- Is used to define the organic claim
- The vision is that it is used as voluntary
standard - Guarantee verification, backing of claim
- Third Party Certification exists today
- Participatory Guarantee Systems under
development - Together with the East African Organic Mark
26Standards Topics
- General requirements for all organic production
- Crop production
- Animal husbandry
- Bee-keeping
- Wild collection
- Handling, storage and processing
- Labelling
- Lists for inputs in agriculture and food
processing
27Labelling
- 100 organic
- 95 100 organic
- 70 - 95 organic
- Below 70
- Produced according to the East African Organic
Standard
28The East African Organic Mark
Thank You for Your Attention