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Organic trade
Certification and accreditation are 'market instruments'.
That is they assist in building trust between trade partners. Without
standards and without mechanisms to verify adherence to those standards, the
market would fall apart. This is particularly true when the
marketable attribute of a product cannot be seen or measured. This is
certainly the case of organic products in which their 'organic' property is
derived from the farming and handling techniques that produced them.
Organic
certification verifies production systems. Accreditation verifies that this
quite complicated process is implemented in line with agreed standards and
rules of procedure agreed nationally and internationally.
Importers,
brokers, handlers, contracted processors, warehouse managers, port facility
managers, transport service companies, wholesalers and retailers all play a
role in maintaining organic integrity. The wider the understanding of this
and the greater collaboration of all parties in adhering to organic rules,
the more confidence consumers will have in the products and the stronger the
market will become. For general guidance all handlers of
organic produce must be registered with a certification body if they
process, repack or relabel the product. Any activity that removes the
product from its original packaging must be supervised by a certification
body. We invite all traders and
handlers to select a certification body from amongst IOAS accredited
organisations and be assured of the service provided.
View lists of
certification organisations and their countries of activity.
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