Organic certification


Organic certification is a certification process for producers of organic food and other organic agricultural products. In general, any business directly involved in food production can be certified, including seed suppliers, farmers, food processors, retailers and restaurants. A lesser known counterpart is certification for organic textiles that includes certification of textile products made from organically grown fibres.
Requirements vary from country to country, and generally involve a set of production standards for growing, storage, processing, packaging and shipping that include:
  • avoidance of synthetic chemical inputs, irradiation, and the use of sewage sludge;
  • avoidance of genetically modified seed;
  • use of farmland that has been free from prohibited chemical inputs for a number of years ;
  • for livestock, adhering to specific requirements for feed, housing, and breeding;
  • keeping detailed written production and sales records ;
  • maintaining strict physical separation of organic products from non-certified products;
  • undergoing periodic on-site inspections.
In some countries, certification is overseen by the government, and commercial use of the term organic is legally restricted. Certified organic producers are also subject to the same agricultural, food safety and other government regulations that apply to non-certified producers.
Certified organic foods are not necessarily pesticide-free, as certain pesticides are allowed.

Purpose

Organic certification addresses a growing worldwide demand for organic food. It is intended to assure quality, prevent fraud, and to promote commerce. While such certification was not necessary in the early days of the organic movement, when small farmers would sell their produce directly at farmers' markets, as organics have grown in popularity, more and more consumers are purchasing organic food through traditional channels, such as supermarkets. As such, consumers must rely on third-party regulatory certification.
For organic producers, certification identifies suppliers of products approved for use in certified operations. For consumers, "certified organic" serves as a product assurance, similar to "low fat", "100% whole wheat", or "no artificial preservatives".
Certification is essentially aimed at regulating and facilitating the sale of organic products to consumers. Individual certification bodies have their own service marks, which can act as branding to consumers—a certifier may promote the high consumer recognition value of its logo as a marketing advantage to producers.

Methods

Third-party

In third party certification, the farm or the processing of the agriculture produce is certified in accordance with national or international organic standards by an accredited organic certification agency. To certify a farm, the farmer is typically required to engage in a number of new activities, in addition to normal farming operations:
  • Study the organic standards, which cover in specific detail what is and is not allowed for every aspect of farming, including storage, transport and sale.
  • Compliance — farm facilities and production methods must comply with the standards, which may involve modifying facilities, sourcing and changing suppliers, etc.
  • Documentation — extensive paperwork is required, detailing farm history and current set-up, and usually including results of soil and water tests.
  • Planning — a written annual production plan must be submitted, detailing everything from seed to sale: seed sources, field and crop locations, fertilization and pest control activities, harvest methods, storage locations, etc.
  • Inspection — annual on-farm inspections are required, with a physical tour, examination of records, and an oral interview. The vast majority of the inspections are pre-scheduled visits.
  • Fee — an annual inspection/certification fee. There are financial assistance programs for qualifying certified operations.
  • Record-keeping — written, day-to-day farming and marketing records, covering all activities, must be available for inspection at any time.
In addition, short-notice or surprise inspections can be made, and specific tests may be requested.
For first-time farm certification, the soil must meet basic requirements of being free from use of prohibited substances for a number of years. A conventional farm must adhere to organic standards for this period, often two to three years. This is known as being in transition. Transitional crops are not considered fully organic.
Certification for operations other than farms follows a similar process. The focus is on the quality of ingredients and other inputs, and processing and handling conditions. A transport company would be required to detail the use and maintenance of its vehicles, storage facilities, containers, and so forth. A restaurant would have its premises inspected and its suppliers verified as certified organic.

Participatory

represent an alternative to third party certification, especially adapted to local markets and short supply chains. They can also complement third party certification with a private label that brings additional guarantees and transparency. PGS enable the direct participation of producers, consumers and other stakeholders in:
  • the choice and definition of the standards
  • the development and implementation of certification procedures
  • the certification decisions
Participatory Guarantee Systems are also referred to as "participatory certification".

Alternative certification options

The word organic is central to the certification process, and this is also questioned by some. Where organic laws exist, producers cannot use the term legally without certification. To bypass this legal requirement for certification, various alternative certification approaches, using currently undefined terms like "authentic" and "natural", are emerging. In the US, motivated by the cost and legal requirements of certification, the private farmer-to-farmer association, Certified Naturally Grown, offers a "non-profit alternative eco-labelling program for small farms that grow using USDA Organic methods but are not a part of the USDA Certified Organic program."
In the UK, the interests of smaller-scale growers who use "natural" growing methods are represented by the Wholesome Food Association, which issues a symbol based largely on trust and peer-to-peer inspection.

Organic certification and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

Organic certification, as well as fair trade certification, has the potential to directly and indirectly contribute to the achievement of some of the Millennium Development Goals, which are the eight international development goals that were established following the Millennium Summit of the United Nations in 2000, with all United Nations member states committed to help achieve the MDGs by 2015. With the growth of ethical consumerism in developed countries, imports of eco-friendly and socially certified produce from the poor in developing countries have increased, which could contribute towards the achievement of the MDGs. A study by Setboonsarng reveals that organic certification substantially contributes to MDG1 and MDG7 by way of premium prices and better market access, among others. This study concludes that for this market-based development scheme to broaden its poverty impacts, public sector support in harmonizing standards, building up the capacity of certifiers, developing infrastructure development, and innovating alternative certification systems will be required.

International food standards

The body Codex Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations was established in November 1961. The Commission's main goals are to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the international food trade. The Codex Alimentarius is recognized by the World Trade Organization as an international reference point for the resolution of disputes concerning food safety and consumer protection. One of their goals is to provide proper food labelling.

National variations

In some countries, organic standards are formulated and overseen by the government. The United States, the European Union, Canada and Japan have comprehensive organic legislation, and the term "organic" may be used only by certified producers. Being able to put the word "organic" on a food product is a valuable marketing advantage in today's consumer market, but does not guarantee the product is legitimately organic. Certification is intended to protect consumers from misuse of the term, and make buying organics easy. However, the organic labeling made possible by certification itself usually requires explanation. In countries without organic laws, government guidelines may or may not exist, while certification is handled by non-profit organizations and private companies.
Internationally, equivalency negotiations are underway, and some agreements are already in place, to harmonize certification between countries, facilitating international trade. There are also international certification bodies, including members of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements working on harmonization efforts. Where formal agreements do not exist between countries, organic product for export is often certified by agencies from the importing countries, who may establish permanent foreign offices for this purpose. In 2011 IFOAM introduced a new program—the IFOAM Family of Standards—that attempts to simplify harmonization. The vision is to establish the use of one single global reference to access the quality of standards rather than focusing on bilateral agreements.
The Certcost was a research project that conducted research and prepared reports about the certification of organic food. The project was supported by the European Commission and was active from 2008 to 2011. The website will be available until 2016.