Organic Certification Standards In U.S. And Europe Will Soon Gain Mutual Acceptance

Right now, the U.S. government only officially recognizes two standards for organic foods: the USDA's Organic Seal and the equivalent certificate from Canada. That's made it hard for producers of organic foods from overseas to get recognized for their sustainable practices and charge accordingly. But NPR reported today that a landmark agreement between officials in the U.S. and European Union will allow European organic certification to be marketed with impunity in the United States, and vice versa.

The agreement, which will take effect June 1st, marks the end of years of negotiation between agricultural regulations across the Atlantic, in which each side has accused the other of not being rigorous enough. They now both concur that the organic standards in each market are more or less equivalent.

In general, organic agricultural methods are those which do not employ synthetic or petroleum-derived chemicals in the production of foodstuffs. In practice, the exact terms of those standards are tricky; you can read the full American regulations on the USDA's website and the EU's regulations on the website for the European Commission on Agriculture. One key idea -- taken from the European regulations -- is that "external resources should be limited to organic resources from other organic farms, natural or naturally obtained materials and low soluble mineral fertilisers."

Some allege that organic producer is healthier for people than so-called "conventional" agriculture, and most agree that organic agriculture is better for the long-term health of the environment.

The National Organic Program has been monitoring the "organic" label throughout the U.S. since 1990. Before that, a panoply of other agencies offered different standards of organic certification with varying degrees of authority.

Farmers sometimes complain about the cost of USDA certification, and organic purists gripe that it's easy to meet the USDA's organic standards without being truly sustainable -- but it's also been a major force for mandating a clear standard for agricultural practices. The negative counterpoint to the rigor of the organic standards has, in recent years, been the label "natural," which is almost unregulated, and so subject to massive abuse on the part of food producers.

Comments

[HazelPethigFan]

02:30 PM on 12/05/2012

Really?

The EU allows antibiotics to be used in organic food, but just to treat sick animals. The U.S. does not allow ANY use of antibiotics for food with an organic label, even for treating illness.

. What about all the screaming the organic zealots do in the U.S. about antibiotics? I would pay good money to see the discussion on this one. What is Ronnie Cummins (HPost blooger) going to say? He is on record as opposing medical use of antibiotics for treating sick organic animals and have them remain organic.

This will be fun to watch the organic zealots screaming at each other. Can't wait.

Why don't you zealots start now? Scream at each other about antibiotic use.

And.......start:
.

[mothergrace]

05:09 PM on 12/05/2012

Why do you keep repeating this lie? If you have to lie, you have no case.

Organic animals can be treated with antibiotics if they are sick in the US although they can no longer be considered organic.

If you think antibiotics are so great, why do you want to persist in actions that render them useless, such as sub-therapeutic use? That makes no sense at all.

[reveur M]

07:13 PM on 10/22/2012

That's agood deal for all of us, in the US and Europe!!

[Sara from Store Hours]

05:49 AM on 02/20/2012

Karl Wilder why so, Why you trust food from Europe more than from the US?. Any specific reason.
Store Hours

[Karl Wilder]

12:05 PM on 02/18/2012

I would trust food from Europe more than from the US.

[Louise Aloft]

08:12 AM on 02/18/2012

doesn't the word 'impunity' imply some sort of a crime going on?

i wouldn't trust even side of the pond's certifications seeing as a german bottled water managed to get 'organic' on its label and the USDA think that pizza is a vegetable on school trays. who are these people and what credentials do they have to perpetrate such nonsense?