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Regulating organic
agriculture
Although organic agriculture uses concepts and management
systems that might be considered 'traditional', organic agriculture as we
know it today has only really been described and defined since the
1970s. In the early days inspection and certification
were solely in the hands of farmer and consumer interest groups. IFOAM
published their first Basic Standards in 1980 and these have greatly
influenced both private and public sector standards ever since. Some
governments started to become interested in organic claims later in that
decade and in the 1980s. The publication of the European Union legislation
in 1991 was a major event which triggered many other countries to follow
suit. Today organic inspection and certification involves
both private and public sector to a greater or lesser extent depending upon
the country systems. Although there is much agreement
between the various organic standards and requirements for certification,
there is also still a good deal of disharmony which is an obstacle to trade. The
International Task Force on Harmonisation and Equivalency in Organic
Agriculture was launched in Feburary 2003 and serves as an open-ended
platform for dialogue between private and public institutions dealing with
trade and regulatory activities in the organic agriculture sector. It was
established jointly by FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD and has produced a number of
useful ideas on improving regulation of organic agriculture. Go to ITF
web site
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