GOMA - Global Organic Market Access

UgoCert Applies for European Commission Approval to Use East African Organic Standard

Zhenye Zhang — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 17:07:22 +0000

UgoCert in Uganda is among the first 30 certification bodies approved to work in equivalence with the EU Organic Regulation (see related article in this issue). UgoCert’s application to the Commission was made two years ago with the scope of…

GOMA Conference Agenda is Now Available

Zhenye Zhang — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 14:21:24 +0000

The provisional GOMA Conference Agenda and Timetable includes keynote addresses, thematic presentations and panels, and group discussions. Speakers on the theme of regional cooperation will related the value received from joining forces to develop harmonized regional standards and…

Philippines and Indonesia use EquiTools for Equivalence

Zhenye Zhang — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 17:30:12 +0000

Initial meeting on equivalence between the Philippines and Indonesia on equivalence of their respective organic systems held in 28-29th July in Bogor, Indonesia. The meeting was first mooted at the Global Organic Market Access (GOMA) Project meeting in Shanghai, in…

BLE Germany Launched Database for Organic Standards

Zhenye Zhang — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 18:03:01 +0000

The federal office for Agriculture and Food in Germany (Bundesanstalt für Landwirtschaft und Ernährung–BLE) has launched a database that aims to allow users to search and compare different organic standards and regulations. The first three standards entered on the database…

Thirty Certification Bodies Are Approved to Work in Equivalence to EU Regulation

Zhenye Zhang — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:49:34 +0000

At its meeting on 25-26 October, the EU Standing Committee on Organic Farming (SCOF) voted to accept the procedures and a list of approved certification bodies (CBs). The list includes thirty CBs that have standards and certification deemed equivalent with…

What is the Rightful Role of Organic Standards?

Zhenye Zhang — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:47:19 +0000

What is driving the development of organic standards?

Consumers and markets demand products that fulfill other requirements than the traditional core organic topics. Pressure also comes from inside the organic community, where activists work for their special interest topics to…

NOP Converges with Other Organic Regulations on Animal Welfare

Zhenye Zhang — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:17:39 +0000

At its December meeting the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) passed several recommendations to amend the National Organic Program regulation, 7 CFR 205 to add animal welfare requirements in livestock production. The requirements would be subject to the US rule…

GOMA Asia Working Group Decides to Aim for Multilateral Agreement

Zhenye Zhang — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:15:21 +0000

At the GOMA-Asia Working Group meeting in Seoul on 26-27 September, 33 members from 15 countries in East, South-East and South Asia decided to lay groundwork for a multilateral recognition and cooperation agreement on regional organic trade and labeling. …

Canada and EU Achieve Full Bilateral Equivalence (but unlevel playing field?)

Zhenye Zhang — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 13:12:21 +0000

The Canadian Government and European Commission have exchanged letters acknowledging that their organic regulations are considered equivalent. Unlike the Canada-US agreements, there are no additional requirements on either side. Organic products certified according to the regulations of one country and…

China Market Access Update

Zhenye Zhang — Fri, 05 Aug 2011 12:42:08 +0000

Chinese organic agriculture began in the late 1980s, driven initially by environmental concerns and later by export opportunities. The latest estimate, from 2009, was that there is 2 million hectares of certified organic farmland, while total organic production was valued…