Organic certification

If it is not Certified Organic, you can’t be sure it is organic.

Formal organic certification of organic products is the producer’s guarantee to consumers that along the entire supply chain, a Certified Organic product has been produced strictly in line with Organic and Biodynamic Standards.

• Exported organic and biodynamic products MUST by law be certified by an accredited certifier that the product was produced in compliance with the Australian Government's National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce (further information: Department of Agriculture).
• For domestic organic certification, certification is optional. The AS6000 is administered by Standards Australia and defendable under Australian Consumer Law. It is the best choice and is supported by the organic industry and the ACCC (further information: Department of Agriculture).

In Australia, the term ‘organic’ is not regulated as it is in the United States, Japan and China. It is legal to produce a product and call it ‘organic’ without providing the consumer with any proof that it is actually organic.

What makes a product Certified Organic?

If a product claims to be ‘certified organic’ the owner and the seller of that product must be able to prove the validity of the certification.

If the vendor is claiming it to be certified, and a consumer questions the validity of the certification, the vendor must by law (administered by the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission) be able to show the certificate of registration that confirms the product’s integrity. Otherwise, the term ‘organic’ can be used on a product anywhere, anytime, largely without any legal consequences.

The term ‘certified organic’ can only be used on a product when the producer, processor and in some cases, the vendor, are certified by an independent third party certifier.

Organic standards

Unlike most other countries, the Australian Government does not regulate the use of the term 'organic' except for exports. Consequently, Australian organic standards are confusing:

• For domestic organic certification, the AS6000 is administered by Standards Australia (link) and defendable under Australian Consumer Law. It provides a framework for growing, processing, distributing, marketing, and labeling organic products to ensure domestic consumers and producers are protected from misleading organic claims. It is the best choice that is supported by the organic industry and the ACCC. Only one certifier currently certifies organic product to AS6000:

Southern Cross Certified Australia Pty Ltd (link)

 

• The National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce (link) is owned by the Australian Government and applies ONLY to exported organic and biodynamic products. The exporter may also require certification of organic status by the importing country. Four certifiers are accredited by the Department of Agriculture to certify that organic products are produced in compliance with the export standard (further information: Department of Agriculture):

ACO Certification Ltd (link)

Bio-Dynamic Research Institute (link)

Organic Food Chain Pty Ltd (link)

Southern Cross Certified Australia Pty Ltd (link)

 

• Participartory guarrantee systems (PGS) involve grower groups who peer review the organic production processes of others in the group. It is a low cost method of organic certification for the domestic market. PGS actively promoted social policing (everyone keeps an eye on each other), and participation in all aspects of organisation, inspection, decision making and marketing of the PGS scheme. PGS is very popular overseas but we have only one long-term functioning example of an Australian PGS, operated by the South East Coast Producers Association (link), based around the Bega Valley and including producers from Braidwood, Batemans Bay and Eden. It supplies markets as far away as Canberra. There are several more Organic PGS that have formed in the last few years, in NSW and Queensland, and some farmers markets are establishing PGS for the purpose of guaranteeing that produce sold is genuinely produced by the seller (these may include non-organic members).

 

• Some certifiers also certify to privately owned standards. Many organic operators have their products certified in this way. We strongly recommend that organic operators who only market domestically urge their certifiers to use the AS6000 instead. Certifiers' private standards include the ACOS, NCOS and the National Standard (the export standard) when used for the domestic market. We are aware of the following organisations offerring domestic certification to a private standard:

ACO Certification Ltd (link)

Bio-Dynamic Research Institute (link)

Organic Food Chain Pty Ltd (link)

Southern Cross Certified Australia Pty Ltd (link)

Accreditation

Accreditation of certifiers provides assurance to consumers about the integrity of certification processes used by the certifiers. We strongly encourage certifiers to be accredited to provide assurance in the organic certification process for organic producers and consumers.

The Department of Agriculture ensures that approved certifying bodies are third-party accredited for export only: some approved certifying bodies are also accredited by IOAS (International Organic Accreditation Service) using certification standard ISO/IEC 17065 to assess against Australia’s export organic standard. Some approved certification bodies also hold IFOAM accreditation. IFOAM is a global organic organisation working towards international requirements for organic standards.

Labelling

Product labelling is what differentiates certified organic consumer products. All certified organic products are traceable back to the producer or processor.

The operator’s certification number, written in conjunction with the certified organic label within the product label, can be looked up on the website of the certifying organisation.

Look for these certifier labels.

 

 

 

 

 

Principles of organic agriculture

The Principles of Health, Ecology, Fairness and Care (IFOAM) are the roots from which organic agriculture grows and develops.

They express the contribution that organic agriculture can make to the world, and a vision to improve all agriculture in a global context.