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<< Please explore the links on the left side for information on a specific organic standard <<
Types of Organic Standards
There is at present no regulation on organic products applicable world-wide and a confusing number of organic standards make orientation of organic operators, especially in developing countries, quite difficult. The main organic standard types can be summarised as follows:
A) Baseline Regulatory Standards and Regulations such as the EU Regulation (EC) N° 834/2007 and (EC) N° 889/2008 (former: (EEC) N° 2092/91), the American USDA National Organic Program (NOP), the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS), the Swiss Organic Regulation.
These governmental standards regulate certain organic markets, i.e. contribute a legal basis of the minimum requirements that a product and its production process has to fulfil in order to label and market it as "organic". Most organic regulatory standards define the requirements for organic production and labelling within the applicable market but also define certain import requirements.
As a result of the requirements of the European legislation IMO compiled the EU Regulations into an own IMO Organic Standard which serves as the baseline for certification in non-EU countries.
B) Private Organic Label Standards, such as e.g. Naturland, Bio Suisse, KRAV or Soil Association.
These standard usually existed before the regulatory framework standards came into force. Basically these private standards nowadays mainly serve marketing purposes, i.e. according to the country of sale a certain private standard may further facilitate the marketing of the organic produce since consumers associate organic quality with this particular label. These private standards include all requirements of the underlying regulatory standard and sometimes exceed these regulations in certain aspects
C) International private or intergovernmental framework standards, such as IFOAM International Basic Standard or the Codex Alimentarius:
These aim to harmonise different certification programmes by providing a uniform framework for organic standards world-wide. They cannot be used directly a basis for certification and as such are for organic operators in tropical countries not directly applicable. However they may be helpful to understand the underlying principles and issues in all organic certification programmes world-wide.
According to which standard you will need to be certified mainly depends on your market, i.e. in which countries you wish to market ORGANIC products and which requirements you clients will have. If you are e.g. selling to the different countries of the EU, you will certainly need certification according to EU Regulation (EC) N° 834/2007 and (EC) N° 889/2008 (former (EEC) N° 9292/91). If a particularly important market is Switzerland, you may also need Bio Suisse approval.
<< Please explore our service section for more information about the requirements of the different organic standards and the procedures to become certified <<
A) Baseline Regulatory Standards and Regulations such as the EU Regulation (EC) N° 834/2007 and (EC) N° 889/2008 (former: (EEC) N° 2092/91), the American USDA National Organic Program (NOP), the Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS), the Swiss Organic Regulation.
These governmental standards regulate certain organic markets, i.e. contribute a legal basis of the minimum requirements that a product and its production process has to fulfil in order to label and market it as "organic". Most organic regulatory standards define the requirements for organic production and labelling within the applicable market but also define certain import requirements.
As a result of the requirements of the European legislation IMO compiled the EU Regulations into an own IMO Organic Standard which serves as the baseline for certification in non-EU countries.
B) Private Organic Label Standards, such as e.g. Naturland, Bio Suisse, KRAV or Soil Association.
These standard usually existed before the regulatory framework standards came into force. Basically these private standards nowadays mainly serve marketing purposes, i.e. according to the country of sale a certain private standard may further facilitate the marketing of the organic produce since consumers associate organic quality with this particular label. These private standards include all requirements of the underlying regulatory standard and sometimes exceed these regulations in certain aspects
C) International private or intergovernmental framework standards, such as IFOAM International Basic Standard or the Codex Alimentarius:
These aim to harmonise different certification programmes by providing a uniform framework for organic standards world-wide. They cannot be used directly a basis for certification and as such are for organic operators in tropical countries not directly applicable. However they may be helpful to understand the underlying principles and issues in all organic certification programmes world-wide.
According to which standard you will need to be certified mainly depends on your market, i.e. in which countries you wish to market ORGANIC products and which requirements you clients will have. If you are e.g. selling to the different countries of the EU, you will certainly need certification according to EU Regulation (EC) N° 834/2007 and (EC) N° 889/2008 (former (EEC) N° 9292/91). If a particularly important market is Switzerland, you may also need Bio Suisse approval.
<< Please explore our service section for more information about the requirements of the different organic standards and the procedures to become certified <<
