Annual General Meeting - 2024

Membership

Overall financial position

We returned a loss last year of $518, compared with a profit of $4,525 in the previous year. Cash assets were $20,232 and membership fees receivable were $620. In comparison, liabilities were only $123. This leaves net equity of $20,728.

Revenue

Revenue has been maintained at around $20k per annum, despite the substantial increase in membership fees two years ago and subseqent drop off in memberships. Revenue for 2022-23 also included a donation of $3,000 from NASAA to assist with membership promotion.

Expense

Expenses were in line with the previous year.

Name change and logo

Directors agreed on a change in trading name to Organic Operators Australia. Since then:

• a trading name was registered
• the domain (email and website address) has been updated
• the website has been updated
• members have been advised
• the industry has been advised via two newsletters

The company name can only be changed by a special meeting of members with a 75% vote in favour. This can be done at a later date. Until then, the legal name of the company will remain Organic Industries of Australia Ltd.

Membership fees

For 2024-25, Directors introduced a free supporter membership category to increase total memberships in an environment where many organic operators are under severe financial pressure. The new supporter member category is only be available to small and medium organic operators who self-declare as being in financial hardship. As they are organic operators, they are regarded under the Constitution as full members regardless of the levels of fees paid.

Other membership fees were unchanged.

One Organic Standard

The Australian Government has decided not to implement domestic regulation of the organic industry.

Subsequently, Directors agreed an industry-led strategy to improve organic regulation. The strategy envisions that many of the building blocks can be put in place by August 2025. Directors consider that it is a matter of survival that we do this!

There are three simple steps:

1. adopt One Organic Standard that can be recognised by Australian courts and internationally
2. implement integrity and conduct measures: for certifiers, auditors, operators, traders
3. eliminate non-genuine organic practices from our industry and promote organic farming principles

Biosecurity

Fire ants

It is compulsory for all property owners to allow authorised persons to apply treatment for fire ants or comply with directions issued to apply treatment. This includes certified organic or bio-dynamic operators.

As this is a significant issue especially for Queensland organic operators, your Directors have been lobbying the federal Department of Agriculture. This issue is emblematic of a tension between chemical use, biosecurity and organic operations.

Eradication programs are in contravention to organic standards on use of prohibited substances and GE ingredients in mandated treatments. OOA has a critical role in identifying deficiencies in disclosure by substance manufacturers and off-label use of APVMA approved substances.

OOA has engaged with National Fire Ant Eradication Program (NFAEP) to help organic operators within the treatment zone, and to assist NFAEP & DAFF to develop better consultation with the organic ag industry. 

APVMA

OOA has suggested new interpretation of  ‘user pays”:

• MOVE AWAY FROM ag industry pays via levies on substance sales.
• MOVE TOWARD chemical manufacturers / distributers directly paying for APVMA assessments and independent research.

Substance research must transition to independent research organisations, not APVMA (govt funded).

We are currently investigating APVMA approvals of Agvet chem which include non-licensed GE (in Australia) ingredients such as the Cargill fire ant baits. (GE corn & soy)

National Standrad - Livestock amendments

OOA has responded to DAFF on changes to the standard:

• Veterinary bias toward medicinal interventions
• Explicit inclusion of Biosecurity mandates within the standard

Genetic engineering

OOA has responded on behalf of industry on FSANZ proposed reforms to not label GE. We have contributed to consultations by Office of Gene technology Regulator (OGTR) on Gene Tech applications and licencing.

We have promoted “Polluter pays” and True cost accounting aligning with IFOAM principles. We have advocated for correlation as a trigger for manufacturer funded research to determine NIL causal correlation (as against victim funded proof of causation). 

Organic World Congress 2027

We are leading an Oceania-Pasifika bid to host the Organic World Congress (OWC) in Brisbane in 2027! The Phillipines is the only other bidder.

Every three years, the OWC is held in conjunction with the IFOAM General Assembly, bringing together thousands of organic farmers, producers, researchers, advocates, and policy experts from around the world.

The successful bidder to host OWC27 will be decided at OWC24 in Taiwan in December.

Industry update

Organic agriculture disproportionately suffers from increased labour costs, compared with non-organic agriculture. Labour and the cost of labour is a significant talking point for organic operators.

OOA has engaged in strategic discussions with leading robotics companies in Australia to understand how automation may offer benefits for organic operators. 

Chemical trespass & biosecurity mandate treatments were key issues through the year. Legal defence was insufficient.

OOA provided guidance on how to declare organic status for agricultural land such that perpetrators cannot claim non-disclosure. This has been strengthened through the fire ant experience.

Sustainability & biodiversity

Government ignorant to sustainability and biodiversity credentials of organic agriculture.

Organic agriculture presides over, and funds, the preservation of 2.5m ha (5% as required under the standard of 55m ha) of biodiversity preservation in Australia. We believe this is the largest privately funded biodiversity preservation in the world.

Organic agriculture is a net builder of carbon in soil, a key tenet of sustainable transition and a powerful climate mitigation mechanism. OOA is working with innovative agricultural carbon measurement methods that benefit organic agriculture.

Regulation

Australia is curious for its lack of a regulated domestic organic standard. There is confusion about standards, and multiple certifications, 5 standards (ACOS, NCOS, National, AS6000, Demeter) + numerous competing standards (regen / sustainable / chem free etc).

The National Standard is actually an export standard. Some export markets require both private/foreign standards and export standard for market entry compliance.

OOA presented the state of organic certification to DAFF this week. 

Industry unification

Organic Development Group (ODG)

The Organic Development Group (ODG) is an industry forum convened since 3 May 2023 to facilitate discussion, and has been particulaly focussed on how best to secure better government regulation. Directors had been participating actively in ODG and, for much of this time, one of our Directors (Ian James) comprised the Secretariat with the CEO of AOL and the General Manager of NASAA.

Directors refused to execute a confidentiality agreement, and OIA was subsequently expelled from the ODG on 12 September.

OOA has continued to develop proposals for integration of best practice standards management and compatibility with legislation, and unification of One Organic Standard.

‘Peak Body’

OOA has engaged in discussions for unification of organic industry bodies. OOA has proposed merger of organic industry bodies repeatedly, over the last 7 years, and again in 2024. We will continue to propose for an effective industry body.

Industry data

OOA initiated several Certifying Body forums focussed on the aggregation of industry data. This was derailed by the formation of the ODG and has not yet been a focus of the ODG.

During the year, Jacky Williams resigned as a Director.

The term of the following Directors expired at the AGM, and they were eligible to stand again for election:

• Andrew Cowan
• Tim Marshall

The term of the following Director expired at the AGM, and they were not eligible to stand again for election:

• Janie McClure

There are 3 continuing directors:

• Anthony Walsgott
• Peter Hislop Speers
• Ian James

Members previously set the number of Director positions at seven (7). As there are three (3) continuing Directors, the remaining four (4) Director positions were declared vacant.

There was a general discussion on strategic planning led by the Chair of the Board, including the following topics:

• increase stakeholder engagement:
  • 80% of operators are not engaged
  • the Indigenous community is not engaged
  • the environmental community is not engaged
  • the scientific community is not engaged
  • KPI: increase membership to 300 financial members this year
• consolidate organic industry bodies
  • the industry is too small to support multiple organisations - we need to reduce duplication of effort
  • KPI: agree arrangements with NASAA & AOL
• give effect to the One Organic Standard strategy
• establish a technical committee to provide legal, technical and scientific capabilities for engagement with legislative and regulatory change
• bid to host the Organic World Congress in Brisbane in 2027
• embrace the Pasifika region and form a regional chapter of IFOAM
• to embolden our industry to existential threats, principally chemical use and GMOs
• reform certification and audit of organic standards