Comment from The Organic Food and Produce Company
There is certainly confusion amongst some organic customers about what exactly is certified organic, and how they can be sure that what they are buying is organic. Whilst shopping at trusted, specialist sites like ours is one way of being certain, we agree that a single (recognisable) logo would help consumers, and therefore the organic industry as a whole.

Uncertainly Organic

Source: The Bulletin
Date: December 1, 2006
Author: Margaret Merten

With seven certifying bodies and some well-publicised failures, Australia's organic industry is crying out for a single standard. But which one? Margaret Merten reports.

Walk through any major supermarket today and you'll see entire aisles devoted to organic food. From fresh fruit and veggies to staples such as Weetbix and pasta, the choice of products is expanding all the time. But it wasn't always so.

In fact, Australia's appetite for organic foods is a recent phenomenon. Not that long ago, it was the province of small, often slightly dusty shops with a decidedly hippie-ish vibe. They were often called "natural food stores", and were much more peace, love and mung beans than the gleaming, well-lit aisles of your local Coles or Woolies. Gentle sales staff, usually wearing T-shirts made from environmentally friendly hemp, would serve you, reaching into the cane basket of organic potatoes that may have seen better days and popping it all into a paper bag to take home. You paid more, but were part of an exclusive club: People Who Cared About What They Put Into Their Bodies.

Fast forward to 2006, and it's more likely you'll be reaching for a Green & Black's gourmet organic chocolate bar whose quality wouldn't be out of place in a top-notch restaurant. Local organic farmers' markets are springing up all over the suburbs, in parks and shopping malls. In the space of about five years organic food has gone mainstream, and it seems Australians can't get enough of it.

As consumers, we think it's healthier (although the jury is out on that issue), tastes better (ditto) and is better for the environment. A recent Choice study showed that organic food in Australia is virtually pesticide free, since it is a given that organic food not use pesticides in its production. Who wouldn't reach for the organic Weetbix when buying food for the kids?
 
It's a trend that's increasingly profitable. In 2006 organic is one of the fastest--growing sectors in the global food industry and is worth about $50bn a year, according to the UK's Organic Monitor. The industry is in a huge growth phase in Australia. A spokesperson for Coles confirms that they now carry "over 400 organic lines, and will continue to add more to give our customers the best organic range available in supermarkets".

A recent report from the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation claims that the Australian domestic retail market value was estimated in 2005 to be worth $400m. In the same RIRDC report, it's noted that organic demand in Australia is outstripping supply. Production has been increasing by 6-15%, while consumption is growing at 25-40% a year.

But hype and demand aside, how do we know that what we're buying is truly organic? It's a simple question, but not one the organic industry in Australia can answer with a unified voice. Only the export trade of organic food in Australia is regulated to government-run uniform standards. The domestic industry has seven different bodies that can certify whether food is organic, and recent developments have seen some of these bodies in violent disagreement with each other over the issue of who should police them. While this situation could be seen as the teething problems of a fledging industry, a lot is at stake when it comes to consumers who want to know that what they are buying is the real deal.
 
Signs of trouble included the "egg-gate" controversy in July and, more recently, a row over whether or not organic chickens met "organic" export requirements.

Into the breach has stepped Standards Australia, who decided on November 23 that they would develop a single national standard for organic food. It has begun a 12-month development process and is putting together a committee that will include government and industry bodies. Drafts of the standard are expected be released in the second quarter of 2007.

Problem solved? Not quite, because Standards Australia aren't flavour of the month. Opinion particularly differs between the two largest certifying bodies in Australia, the Biological Farmers Association (BFA) and the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA), who have opposing views about which organisation should run the national standard.

NASAA's chairman George Devrell says that Standards Australia should establish the benchmarks by which the industry meets organic requirements. "The right decision would be a standard covering both domestic and export sales," Devrell explains.

The BFA sees the impending changes as an opportunity to finally get the government to regulate the words organic and biodynamic. "What the US, Japanese and Europeans did was legislate domestically, so they've got a standard their respective industries agree upon. What we still don't have in Australia is a legislated control for the word organic," says Dr Andrew Monk, chairman of the BFA Organic Standards Committee.

But the BFA thinks Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) should be the one regulating the words organic and biodynamic and that until this happens, the organic sector in Australia should take over ownership and management of the organic standard, possibly through the Organic Certifiers of Australia.

Of the Standards Australia decision, Monk's complaint is the lack of consultation. "The only regret so far is that the consultation process got off to such an atrocious start and that the industry itself hasn't been engaged properly to drive the debate forward."

But he's looking to the future, adding: "The industry will probably go down that track with Standards Australia and will probably have a good outcome if there's enough consultation and engagement with the industry."

However, Monk is at pains to point out that while Standards Australia will develop new standards, until there is legislation to make them legally enforceable, not a great deal will change.

"Standards Australia are saying to us that they have never, ever put in a standard reference to the requirement for mandatory certification. In every other organic regulation and standard around the world, implicitly embedded in the standard is the requirement for certification. It's a bedrock of how organics are regulated."

Pierce Cody, the man behind the growing Macro chain of organic and health food stores, has revolutionised the way we shop for organic food with his sleek stores. He is also working within the industry to have a universal sign that makes it easier for the consumer to know that they are buying certified organic. "The stupid thing is there are seven certifying bodies," he says.

"It's crazy, there should be one. Make it simple. There's all these certifiers who are all government-certified themselves. A lot of them have grown out of state-based organisations. It all harks back to the past, which is a classic thing for an emerging industry.

"It should all be merged into one, so people see one logo and know that's it. It should be like the Heart Foundation tick or the Woolmark logo." What does all this mean for the consumer?

"I'd say to consumers, look for certification logos and marks. If they're not there, demand that of the retailer," says Monk. Cody, agrees, adding: "If in doubt, ask. Always ask for the certification. If it's not there, don't buy it."