Why an IFOAM Organic Guarantee System?

T he organic sector, backed by strongly

developed organic standards and certification

systems, is one of the fastest growing sectors

of the food market. There are now over 100

countries exporting certified organic products.

Around 500 public and private certification

bodies now operate on the global organic marketplace

and there are already about 100 countries with an organic

regulation in place or under development. There are

more than 100 different standards used to certify organic

products across the world.

These impressive numbers reflect the growth and diversity

of the organic sector. However, they also represent the

increasing challenge of trade barriers. For consumers,

governments and supporting organizations it is difficult

to understand the value of all these different standards,

labels and systems.

Historically, the organic movement has been the driving

force behind Organic Agriculture development. Organic

farmers, consumers and other stakeholders have invested

passion, knowledge and energy in developing the organic

standards and certification systems that have enabled

Organic Agriculture to grow. Under the umbrella of

IFOAM - Organics International, the international organic

movement has developed international references such

as the IFOAM Basic Standards for Organic Production

and Processing, and the Principles of Organic Agriculture.

In the past few years, the movement has increasingly

succeeded in generating interest and support from

governments, many of which have very committedly

started organic programs.

Yet, government regulations have also increasingly taken

over the monopoly of defining what organic is and how

it should be verified. Governments are now faced with

the daunting task of working out bilateral equivalence

agreements with one another. Unfortunately, there is no

internationally recognized governmental mechanism for

establishing multilateral equivalence of national organic

regulations. Hence, frequently, what is recognized as

‘organic’ in one country, may not be recognized as

organic in another.

IFOAM believes that there is one common vision of what

organic is, regardless of the slight differences in the details

of standards and regulations. The organic movement has

proven itself strong enough to define what deserves to be

called organic and lead the fight against ‘green-washers’.

IFOAM’s Organic Guarantee System (OGS) draws the

line between what is organic and what is not. IFOAM will

promote those who are admitted into the system as truly

organic and encourage their mutual recognition through

multilateral equivalence.

Being admitted to or accredited within the IFOAM OGS is,

for organic standards and certification bodies, the most

globally recognized organic credibility endorsement.

The IFOAMOrganic GuaranteeSystem

| ogs@ifoam.bio | www.ifoam.bio/ogs |

| Guaranteeing Organic

Bio Suisse Standards, Switzerland

Biocyclic Standards, Cyprus

Nature & Progrès Standards, France

Gäa Private Standards, Germany

The EcoWellness Standard, Germany

CCPB Global Standard, Italy

Italian Organic Standard, Italy

Krav Standards, Sweden

contains all

by the Organic Movement, based on their equivalence with the Common

Standards. Both private standards and admissible.

That’s Organic - Worldwide.

www.ifoam.bio/ogs

Uganda Organic Standard, Uganda

Zimbabwe

Bolicert Private Standards, Bolivia

IBD Organic Guidelines, Brazil

DOAM Organic Standards, Dominica

CCOF International Standard, USA

Sunshine Earth Organic Standard, China

Biocert India Standards, India

Organic Standard, Japan

MASIPAG Organic Standards, The Philippines

CONU Organic Standard, South Korea

ACT Basic Standard, Thailand

Vietnam PGS Standards, Vietnam

Australia

Australia

NASAA Organic Standard, Australia

GLOBAL

IFOAM Standard

Products (FGP)

Note: Applicant standards are marked in grey. Family Standards Frame: May 23, 2014. Click on each standard to see more details.

AsureQuality Organic Standard, New Zealand

BioGro Organic Standards, New Zealand

IFOAM STANDARDSREQUIREMENTS(COMMON OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS OFORGANIC STANDARDS)

IFOAM ACCREDITATION

IFOAM ACCREDITATIONREQUIREMENTS

IFOAM STANDARD

THAT’S ORGANIC - WORLDWIDE.

IFOAM Normative Documents IFOAM OGS Services

1 2 3 4 5The IFOAM Family of Standards......empowers the international organic movement to define what organic is.

... is the only universal framework to approve standards as being equivalent for import/export.

... is the fundament of and provides access to all other IFOAM OGS Services.

... is a promotion opportunity for organic standards and regulations.

The IFOAM Organic Guarantee System: Background

The IFOAM Organic Guarantee SystemThe IFOAM Organic Guarantee System (OGS) is a package of activities and services developed by IFOAM in order to assist, unite and lead the world of organic standards and verification systems.

Established in 1972, IFOAM - Organics International has been working in the area of organic standards and certifi-cation requirements for close to 40 years. In 1997, IFOAM created its daughter company, the International Organic Accreditation Services (IOAS), which has since offered accreditation services to its clients - the IFOAM Accredited Certification Bodies. Today, IFOAM cooperates with FAO, UNCTAD and other inter-governmental organizations to implement projects that complement and support its OGS, e.g. in the field of harmonization and equivalence, but also in the development of regional standards.

1

Our OGS Services: The right match for you.

The IFOAM Family of Standards‘That’s Organic’ is the slogan of the Family of Standards, expressing its function of drawing the line between organic and not organic. The Fam-ily contains all standards and regulations that have passed an equivalence assessment against a normative reference approved by IFOAM’s membership, namely the COROS (Common Ob-jectives and Requirements of Organic Standards.) Approval of a standard in the IFOAM Family of Standards also grants market access benefits for operators certified to the standard, since a number of programs require products to be certi-fied to a standard approved in the IFOAM Family of Standards (see list of such programs on the IFOAM website).

For Standard Owners 2 For Certifiers and Organic Associations

The IFOAM StandardThe IFOAM Standard is a convenient good prac-tice off-the-shelf organic certification standard maintained by IFOAM and is part of the IFOAM Family of Standards. The clients of this service, certification bodies, national organic associa-tions, or other organizations in need of an organic standard, outsource the constant development of their standard and obtain a widely accepted product, that is endorsed by the Organic Move-ment. Clients of this service can participate in the standard development decisions.

Bio Suisse Standards, Switzerland

Biocyclic Standards, Cyprus

Nature & Progrès Standards, France

Gäa Private Standards, Germany

The EcoWellness Standard, Germany

CCPB Global Standard, Italy

Italian Organic Standard, Italy

Krav Standards, Sweden

contains all

by the Organic Movement, based on their equivalence with the Common

Standards. Both private standards and admissible.

That’s Organic - Worldwide.

www.ifoam.bio/ogs

Uganda Organic Standard, Uganda

Zimbabwe

Bolicert Private Standards, Bolivia

IBD Organic Guidelines, Brazil

DOAM Organic Standards, Dominica

CCOF International Standard, USA

Sunshine Earth Organic Standard, China

Biocert India Standards, India

Organic Standard, Japan

MASIPAG Organic Standards, The Philippines

CONU Organic Standard, South Korea

ACT Basic Standard, Thailand

Vietnam PGS Standards, Vietnam

Australia

Australia

NASAA Organic Standard, Australia

GLOBAL

IFOAM Standard

Products (FGP)

Note: Applicant standards are marked in grey. Family Standards Frame: May 23, 2014. Click on each standard to see more details.

AsureQuality Organic Standard, New Zealand

BioGro Organic Standards, New Zealand

IFOAM STANDARDSREQUIREMENTS(COMMON OBJECTIVES AND REQUIREMENTS OFORGANIC STANDARDS)

IFOAM ACCREDITATION

IFOAM ACCREDITATIONREQUIREMENTS

IFOAM STANDARD

THAT’S ORGANIC - WORLDWIDE.

IFOAM Normative Documents IFOAM OGS Services

1 2 3 4 5

For Certifiers

The IFOAM Accreditation

The IOAS implements this accreditation program for IFOAM. The IFOAM Accreditation can be ob-tained based on compliance with the IFOAM Ac-creditation Requirements and on using a stand-ard approved in the IFOAM Family of Standards. An option is also available for certifiers who want to use a standard compliant with the IFOAM Standard to make such additional claim, verified by the IOAS.

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