Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
History of the deelopment of organic standards and
certification
Organic agriculture developed as an alternative form of farming system compatible with
natural systems whose origins can be traced back to the work of Rudolf Steiner and Sir Albert
Howard in the 1920s (Geier 1997). As organic agriculture grew into the 1950s and 1960s, the
first informal regulatory tools were developed including loosely developed codes of conduct
and informal inspections (Swedish National Board of Trade 2003). At that time, organic agri-
culture was very much outside the mainstream of agrifood business, when according to one
prominent organic trader, 'nobody took us very seriously' (Segger 1997). This brought the
various stakeholders in the organic movement together, leading to the development of the
IFOAM in 1972. During the 1960s and 1970s, pioneering farmers' organisations actively
involved in organic farming and extension work began to feel the need to define more precisely
what organic farming meant in order to give guidance to new groups who had recently joined
(Bowen 2002). Processes to develop organic standards ensued, leading to the first
IFOAM
Basic
Standards
for
Organic
Agriculture
in 1980 (IFOAM 1980). These standards have since under-
gone many revisions.
Parallel to the formalisation of organic principles and practices into standards, the regula-
tory mechanisms by which the organic movement verifies that farmers and processors comply
with organic standards have also become much more concretised. As organic markets devel-
oped beyond local communities in which farmers and consumers knew each other, consumers
began to ask for an independent guarantee of compliance to organic principles and methods.
To meet this need, the organic movement grew to encompass private certification bodies, the
first of which developed from organic farmers' associations (Courville 2001, Bowen 2002).
Over time, more certification bodies developed to meet market demand.
In the mid 1980s, members concerned about the future development of organic trade began
asking IFOAM to evaluate the performance of these certification bodies as a vehicle for enhanc-
ing mutual trust, leading to cooperation (Commins 2002). In 1992, the development of the
IFOAM Accreditation program was approved by the General Assembly. This program began
accepting applications for accreditations by organic certification bodies in 1993. In 1997, after
years of discussion about the need to establish a separate legal entity to operate the IFOAM
Accreditation program, the International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) was estab-
lished (Commins 2002). By December 2004, there were 32 IFOAM accredited certification
bodies operating in over 70 countries, with another two applications under consideration
(IOAS 2004b).
The private system in place to regulate organic agriculture represents one of the largest and
most established global, non-government systems of regulation of industry production,
processing and commodity trading. However, as the worldwide volume and value of organic
production has increased, governments have increasingly taken an interest in regulating the
organic industry. Although not the first government entity to regulate the organic industry as
the United States of America (USA) States Oregon and California adopted organic legislation
by the 1970s, with governments in France, Spain and Denmark adopting regulations prior to
the EEC 2092/91 regulation (Bowen 2002; 3), the European Economic Community Council
Regulation 2092/91 introduced in 1991 had a major role in shaping the future of organic regu-
latory regimes. This was followed by the development of regulations in the USA, Canada and
Japan among other countries. Governments worldwide have now developed, or are in the
process of developing, organic regulations that outline definitions of organic agriculture and
processing, as well as establishing processes by which organic certification bodies are approved
to operate within their jurisdiction. Unfortunately, this has created significant problems for
