IFOAM

Click here to view a video that explains international standards of organic farming by IFOAM.

Our world’s food and farming systems currently face multiple challenges ranging from increasing hunger, climate change, and biodiversity loss to farmers and food workers not earning a decent income. The way we produce and consume food can either alleviate or exacerbate these conditions.

IFOAM Organics International wants to be a part of the solution. Through their work, they build capacity to facilitate the transition of farmers to organic agriculture, raise awareness of the need for sustainable production and consumption, and advocate for a policy environment conducive to agro-ecological farming practices and sustainable development.

Together with their members in over 100 countries and territories as well as regional bodies and sector platforms, they are leading change, organically!

Evaluation matrix for the equivalence assessment of the IFOAM Standard against the Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standards:

• Does the standard respect the Principles of Organic Agriculture?
• Does the standard sufficiently cover all 10 COROS objectives? If no, which objectives are not covered or not sufficiently covered?
• Does the entire standard clearly distinguish organic systems from conventional systems?
• Are the lists of approved substances in the standard equivalent to the lists in the reference international standard?
• Are variations acceptable?
• Does acceptance of the standard prejudice consumer trust in organic or the reputation of the body accepting the standard?
• What are the main areas of important positive variations in the standard?
• What are the main areas of important unjustified negative variations in the standard?
• Is the standard equivalent to the COROS?

For more information on the IFOAM Family of Standards, visit: https://www.ifoam.bio/

Because accreditation of certification bodies in developing countries is difficult and therefore rare in practice, local bodies tend to develop partnerships with international certification agencies. In general, the local body carries out the bulk of the activities leading to certification, while the international body periodically evaluates the implementation of certification procedures and sometimes issues the certificates. This may reduce costs for the producers and exporters while providing access to an international certification mark. It can also strengthen local inspection and certification capacity in a developing country.

Other Requirements for Exporting Organic Fruit and Vegetables

In addition to the above requirements, which are specific to organic products, organic fruit and vegetables destined for export should meet the usual requirements concerning all fresh fruit and vegetables, whether organic or conventional. It is beyond the scope of this study to deal with these requirements, as several publications explain them and provide much detailed and practical information. The following is just a brief summary of the most frequent categories of requirements. This list is not comprehensive, for more detailed information contact importers and customs services in the importing country.

Phytosanitary Certification: Import requirements depend on both the product and the country of origin. In general, a phytosanitary certificate issued by an official of the exporting country must accompany all fruit and vegetable shipments. This official will be able to determine if the particular fruit or vegetable can be exported to the country of destination and what phytosanitary requirements must be met.

Click here to view a video that explains PHYTOSANITARY certification.

Grade and quality standards: Fruits and vegetables exported to the EC, Japan or the United States must meet import requirements relating to size, grade, quality and maturity. A certificate-based on an inspection must be issued by the country’s relevant authority to indicate compliance with standards.

Pesticide and other contaminants: Most developed countries have established standards for tolerances for pesticides, herbicides and fungicides used in the production and treatment (e.g., fumigation) of agricultural products. These countries have established Maximum Residues Levels, often referred to as MRLs. As organic agriculture prohibits the use of most synthetic pesticides, producers of fresh organic fruit and vegetables are very unlikely to exceed these MRLs. However, those producers who use some of the few synthetic inputs permitted by organic standards should be aware of these requirements (for more information on this topic see: www.coleacp.org).

Import clearance: In general, the customs services of the importing country are responsible for the final approval and authorization for the importing of all products. Customs services review all documentation for the shipment against requirements and will not release goods from the port of entry until all requirements are met. They are also responsible for the collection of any import duties.

Click here to download a handout that explains the basic concepts of organic certification.