U.S. AND CANADA SIGN ORGANIC STANDARDS EQUIVALENCY AGREEMENT

News Date June 22, 2009

At the "All Things Organic Trade Show and Conference" in Chicago last week, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced that USDA has reached an equivalency agreement with Canada on trade of organic produce. Under a determination of equivalence, producers and processors that are certified to the National Organic Program (NOP) standards by a U.S. Department of Agriculture accredited certifying agent do not have to become certified to the Canada Organic Product Regulation (COPR) standards in order for their products to be represented as organic in Canada (and vice versa).

The agreement is seen as a success for the efforts the Tri-National Agricultural Accord, a longstanding collaboration among the senior state and provincial agricultural officials of Canada, the United States, and Mexico to work together collaboratively on agricultural trade and development issues. During the 2008 annual meeting of the Tri-National Agriculture Accord in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, the NASDA delegation requested the two countries seek an equivalency agreement in order to offset the potential impact on trade that might occur with the implementation of Canada’s new organic regulations. The rules were initially expected to become effective in December but were delayed in order to address harmonization issues between the two nations.

The two letters determining equivalence and Q & A's discussing the details of the US-Canada agreement can be found on the National Organic Program website, under Today's News at www.ams.usda.gov/nop.

Consumer demand for organic food has risen quickly over the past ten years, triggered in part by the development and success of USDA's organic regulatory program and label, according to a recent study by USDA's Economic Research Service. As consumer demand for organic products has widened, organic retail sales have spread far beyond the 'natural products' market niche in urban areas and college towns and into big-box stores across the country. Since the late 1990's, U.S. organic production has more than doubled, but the consumer market has grown even faster. Organic food sales have more than quintupled, increasing from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $24.6 billion in 2008. More than two-thirds of U.S. consumers buy organic products at least occasionally, and 28 percent buy organic products weekly, according to the Organic Trade Association. (Contact: Amy Mann)