Standard, certification and labels

An organic standard – and subsequently a certification process and an organic label – are essential requirements for the development of an organic agriculture market in a country. Only if organic products are proven and visibly labelled to be in conformity with common requirements, can trust and reliability for buyers and consumers be established.

Government can support the development of a domestic organic standard, but early stage farmer involvement has been shown to be very important, and good cooperation between the private sector and governmental institutions is essential. More than 70 countries and another 100 private actors have enacted such standards. Within one country or region a unified standard, public or private, for all organic products is crucial.
The importance of standards for organic products is apparent in the Austrian example. As early as 1983, Austria enacted the first guidelines for organic agriculture. Today, the share of organic agricultural land in Austria is 19.5% - by far the highest figure of larger countries worldwide.
IFOAM has observed that regulations which are constructed in order to apply to all the main international standards are a problem, since they are not adapted to the local situation and may cause difficulties for operators, in particular in developing countries. To this end, governments must carefully assess how appropriate standards can be initiated and harmonized with international reference standards, based on the recommendations of the International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture. There are currently two international standards for organic agriculture: The Codex Alimentarius (1999), a joint FAO/WHO project, and the IFOAM Basic Standards (IBS). It is essential to distinguish whether the standard is intended for the domestic market or for export purposes. For export markets, the simplest solution is to follow the standards of those markets, but standards in export markets may be too demanding for the domestic situation.

A unified standard should be accompanied by a certification system. A certification proves that a certain product or producer is in conformity with the relevant organic standard. It is recommended to establish a locally based certification body, in contrast to the use of foreign bodies, because it has shown to play a big role in the local development of the sector and the formulation of locally adapted standards. As an alternative, small countries can establish a common regional certification body. For example the certifiers, CENIPAE (Nicaragua), Inkacert (Peru), Biomuisca (Colombia), and Biopacha (Bolivia), established a co-operation in 1995. Amidst concerns of loss of identity, they decided to merge into Bio Latina in December 1996 and received ISO 65 accreditation from DAP, a German-based accreditation body, in 2001. Typically, government agencies do not certify individual organic farms, but accredit private certification authorities.

For small producers selling in local markets with the aim of involving less administration and lower costs than third-party certification, IFOAM recommends a Participatory Guarantee System (PGS). This system is based on the assumed integrity of the farmer, the peer review within an association of farmers, and some additional safeguards. PGS is created by the farmers and consumers it serves, encouraging or even requiring direct participation of consumers. The standards used are often the same as for the third-party certified production.
 Another way to lower the certification costs are free certifications or compensation payments. In Denmark, Thailand and Malaysia, government certification is free for farmers, and in Tunisia the Government covers up to 70 per cent of certification costs.

Labels are an instrument to make this rather technical standard and certification process understandable for the consumer.