Organic Insights - Spring 2022

SHOW US YOUR(ETHICAL) CREDENTIALS 12 20 THEAUSTRALIAN ORGANIC CONFERENCE

6 17 CARBONAND ENVIRONMENTAL MARKETS

FAIRFARMS- THEAUSTRALIANCHOICE FOR HORTICULTURE ORGANICGROWERS 14

CELEBRATING 30YEARS!

MES SAGE FROM THE CHA IR

AGRICULTURE AND DEVELOPMENT Fair Trade and organic certification developed at about the same time

by establishing a public-private partnership with government to manage the standard and provide accreditation for export, and by effective communication of the benefits of organic to consumers. Social networks and surveillance of the market has allowed us to avoid significant fraud, which has also maintained confidence in our systems. Despite this success, we need to be alert to rapid change and associated threats to organic claims, certification, and regulation. Regenerative agriculture is now an important part of the zeitgeist around improving agricultural sustainability and addressing climate change, and NASAA is developing a Regenerative Organic Certification with associated policies. The organic industry also expects a domestic regulatory system to be agreed sometime in 2023 or early 2024, but negotiations with government still have a long way to go, as we have a new parliament and a new set of relevant Federal Ministers that must become familiar with the industry and public consultation so far. Many things are yet to be decided, including whether regulation will mandate certification, or if small uncertified growers will still be able to claim organic and biodynamic on farm gate sales, at farmers markets, in local shops and

and were the first of the current plethora of certifications that primary producers can apply to

their produce, but organic quickly became the market leader, in the value of sales, and for design and governance of voluntary label schemes. The comprehensive, strict, but also practical aspects of organic standards, the quick development and sophistication of inspection, the early development of accreditation systems, and the transparency of all these operations encouraged trust from consumers. Also important was the effort and commitment of certified operators to an ethically driven system. The organic industry achieved this on its own account, with little assistance from government, but ready adherence to accepted norms such as the International Standards Organisation (ISO) guidelines for standard writing and management of certification systems. I now count something like 200 voluntary labels that Australian farmers and fishers can apply to their product, but organic remains the most significant choice in terms of the value of output sold with an organic label, and consumer trust. We have sustained this trust by conformity with the ISO protocols,

/ Continued on page 2

Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker