EU-US agreement creates opportunities for organic farmers

Exports of organic products to the United States and the European Union are expected to grow following the signing of an “organic-equivalency” agreement following a conference on opening markets to organic products. The Asian market could also open up following the adoption of an Asian Regional Organic Standard by a group of government officials and representatives of organic farmers and marketers. The agreements, timed to coincide with the tenth anniversary meeting on Global Organic Market Access (Goma), should help farmers in poor countries participate more fully in the organic food sector, which rings up worldwide sales of $60 billion annually. The EU-United States agreement, signed on February 15, covers products exported from and certified in the United States or EU – for example, organic noodle soup exported from Thailand and accepted in the EU does not automatically qualify for direct export from Thailand and sale as organic in the United States. But, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, (Unctad), the pact “should help developing-country organic farmers, since much of their produce sent to the EU or United States is in the form of ingredients or bulk organic goods. “Once packaged or processed either in the European Union or the United States, such goods do qualify for automatic acceptance in the partner market. “Under this arrangement, for example, coffee from Ethiopia certified as organic under EU regulations could be sent to a trade partner in Europe and packaged for sale in both markets”. The Asian Regional Organic Standard (Aros) was approved on February 12 by Goma’s Asia Working Group, which consists of government officials and farmers and other representatives of the region’s private sector in organic agriculture. Of an estimated 2 million certified organic farmers worldwide, some 80% are in developing countries: 34% in Africa, 29% in Asia, and 17% in Latin America, according to Unctad.