Organic Agriculture

Organic agriculture accreditation refers to the process of evaluating and certifying that an organization is competent to produce, process, or sell organic products in accordance with relevant organic standards. Organic agriculture is a type of farming that aims to produce products in a way that is environmentally and socially responsible, and that minimizes the use of synthetic inputs such as pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers.

To obtain accreditation as an organic agriculture organization, an organization must typically demonstrate that it has the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to produce, process, or sell organic products in a competent and reliable manner. It may also be required to have a quality management system in place that meets the requirements of the relevant accreditation standards.

There are several different types of accreditation standards that may be applicable to organic agriculture organizations, depending on the specific types of products being produced, processed, or sold and the country or region in which the organization operates. Other standards, such as ISO/IEC 17065 (for certification bodies) or ISO/IEC 17020 (for inspection bodies), may also be applicable.

Please note that the USDA and the Canadian Organic Regime (COR) have an organic standards equivalency agreement. Products from anywhere in the world certified to the USDA organic regulations or Canada Organic Regime may be labeled and sold as organic in both countries.

As long as organic operations are certified by a National Organic Program-accredited certifying agent, this arrangement eliminates the need for USDA certified organic operations to have a separate certification to the Canada Organic Regime standards.

IFOAM Accreditation

IFOAM Organics International is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Bonn, Germany. Founded in 1972 as the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) a membership organisation to represent the global organic movement promoting and lobbying for wider adoption of organic production, it remains true to that mission today.

Canada Organic Regime

The Canada Organic Regime is implemented by the Canada Organic Office (COO), part of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The framework for the COR is the Organic Products Regulations of 2009 (OPR 2009) which set out requirements for organic product labeling and the various actors and infrastructure for implementation.

All products which are sold in Canada labeled as organic and which bear the Canada organic logo must have either been certified by an accredited certification body or by one which works under a country system which the CFIA has deemed equivalent.