Australia’s organic certification rules have been fine tuned with a release of a new standard on Friday, covering production, preparation, transportation, marketing and labelling.
The new Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Produce, released by Standards Australia, is intended to compliment rather than replace existing regulations, according to organic industry group Biological Farmers of Australia (BFA)
“The new national standard will assist in plugging the now fairly small gaps in the marketplace where uncertified product, or product with questionable organic integrity claims, have eluded industry and the courts to date,” explained BFA director Dr Andrew Monk.
“Consumers will not see any changes in the marketplace. Under current law they can be assured if they purchase certified organic product they will be protected – as they have been for many years.”
The standard will be voluntary, but may be used by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in mislabelling and false advertising cases.
Australian organic farmers already adhere to a number of different standards supported by bodies like BFA, the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia, or the Organic Federation of Australia, which are not substantially different from the new model.
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