New Zealand’s leading organic certifier BioGro has recently been approved by the European Commission as one of only 30 certification agencies worldwide to work under equivalence with the EU regulations (under the new EU import rules for organic products).
The system will come into force on the 1 July 2012 and means that BioGro-certified producers covered by its listing will be able to export products through BioGro rather than the current Import Authorization Process where the import member state issues the documentation.
The Organic Standard recently published the list* of first 30 certifiers to be given this status.
BioGro had to demonstrate that its organic standards and certification process is equivalent to the EU Regulation.
“We started this process over 2 years ago. Of the 73 certifiers that applied, only 30 certifiers made it onto the first published list. For a small certifier this is a huge achievement as many of the large international certifiers didn’t make it on to the list” say Dr Michelle Glogau, BioGro’s CEO.
The European Union is an important market for produce from the Asia-Pacific region. Having a local certifier like BioGro able to provide certification under equivalence to EU will be a huge advantage for producers looking for export opportunities. Particularly as they can also be certified to an equivalent standard that has practices which are more appropriate for local organic production.
Approval is granted for activities in an individual country, and by scope. At this stage, BioGro is approved for certification in Vanuatu for unprocessed plant products. BioGro will be applying to add additional countries and scopes at the next opportunity (applications are accepted annually in October).
Dr Glogau confirms that the new certification status is significant for BioGro. “Now that we have equivalence with the EU, we can provide producers with market access in non-NZ countries (e.g. in the Asia-Pacific region) and to all the key markets of US, Canada, and the EU. As we look to increase our client base, this is a great advantage”.
* to view the listing please go to:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:324:0009:0022:EN:PDF
