Access to the US
market through the USA/Canada Equivalency agreement
Since the landmark equivalence agreement between the
Canadian and US authorities that came into effect in June 2009 there has
been some lack of clarity as to the geographical scope of the agreement.
In particular both certifiers and traders have been
unsure whether product certified to the agreement by a certification
body which is accredited under the Canada Organic Regime and not by the
National Organic Program (NOP) can enter the US market.
We can confirm definitively that this is so and
this has been confirmed in public meetings during 2010 in Europe and the USA
by Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator of the NOP and confirmed in writing by
the Canada Organic Office.
What this means for the IOAS and our clients is
that access to the US market is available through the Canada Organic Regime
assessments performed by the IOAS even if the certifier is not NOP
accredited.
In practice the following requirements must be met:
- any product destined to the US market
certified by a Canada accredited certifier must be inspected and
certified to the US/Canada equivalence arrangement.
- the product label may include the USDA organic
seal and of course must comply with all other general labelling
requirements for the US market.
-
any product exported under the terms of this arrangement
must be supported by a certificate or other document which includes the
following attestation 'certified to the terms of the US-Canada Organic
equivalence arrangement'
So the US/Canada equivalence arrangement has brought an
unexpected benefit. Now certification bodies anywhere in the world have a
choice between NOP accreditation and COR accreditation (via IOAS assessment) to gain access to
the two major markets of the USA and Canada.
With our increasing range of services and our undisputed
commitment to organic integrity, we believe the choice is clear.
Please contact us if you have any
questions.
