FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANISATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS

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Congress 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)
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Why 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
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Why 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
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What 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)

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The 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
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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
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Recognition of Certification
Networking and Cooperation
Standards Equivalence
I T F
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The ITF work phases

• 2003-05 Review and Analysis
• 2005-07 Formulation of Proposals and
• Tools for Solutions
• 2007-08 Commitment on Solutions

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Recommendations

• General
• Countries make every effort to utillize ITF
  results.

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Recommendations

• 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.

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Recommendations

• 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

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Recommendations

• 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).

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Recommendations

• 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.

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Third 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

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Third 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
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FOOD 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
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FOOD 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)
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IROCB 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
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IROCB 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
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IROCB 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
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New 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.
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The East African organic product standard- EAS
4562007Use and content
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Why?

• 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

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Use?

• 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

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In 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

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Standards 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

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Labelling

• 100 organic
• 95 100 organic
• 70 - 95 organic
• Below 70
• Produced according to the East African Organic
  Standard

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The East African Organic Mark
Thank You for Your Attention