Podcast Transcription: Organic Certification Part 2

2.1 Obtaining EU Organic Certification

In this podcast we will be covering topics related to obtaining EU organic certification, EU
regulations and organic certification in practice.
In a related podcast, also available on this platform, we covered the organic certification
overview, while we briefly examined the background and origins of organic certification,
what organic agriculture is all about and the implications of organic farming from both the
perspectives of the farmer and the consumer. We also examined topics related to the impact
of the COVID-19 pandemic on the organic markets and how to convert to organic
agriculture. We encourage you to access and listen to these podcasts if you have not done so
already.

We will now be starting off by discussing the steps involved in obtaining EU organic
certification.

There are 5 basic steps for first-time certification. These include:

1. Learn, plan and apply. You need to understand the requirements for certification,
develop a detailed plan of production practices and submit your application to an
authorized certification body.
2. Transition. This entails the certification body review of your application and practices.
If found compliant, you will proceed to final inspection. If not, you'll be required to
adjust your practices and observe a waiting period of several months as needed.
3. Final inspection. Physical food inspection of the intended organic farming land is
undertaken by the certification body.
4. Inspection review. Application is reviewed and the inspection report is also reviewed
by the certification body.
5. Certified organic. If all is okay and your application and inspection reports meet the
standard requirements an organic certificate is issued.

The key message from the slide is that any farmer or group of farmers who intend to go
organic and get certified must be prepared to follow the above laid down processes,
especially understanding the requirements and practices.

The next slide features ECOCERT, an organic certification body, which works in over 130
countries globally. Ecocert is one of the organic certification bodies in the world. It was
founded in France in 1991. Although it is based in Europe, it conducts inspections in about
130 countries, making it one of the largest organic certification organizations in the world.
Ecocert primarily certifies food and food products, but also certifies cosmetics, detergents,
perfumes, and textiles. Ecocert inspects about 70 % of the organic food industry in France
and about 30 % worldwide. Provision of Ecocert's certification services is based on an annual
cycle.
If all certification requirements are met, the process will lead to organic certificate issuance
or renewal, enabling you to market products with a reference to the certification by Ecocert
SA. The main stages of the Ecocert certification process are outlined in the diagram.
At the bottom of the slide are equivalents to those explained on the previous slide and are
quite straightforward.

The next slide discusses group certification and its benefits.

Given their small scale of operations, smallholder farmers can collectively gather resources
and align their operations and practices to obtain group organic certification. Smallholder
farmers comprise the majority of farmers, producing food globally and are also important
organic food producers. However, many of them lack individual resources to obtain the
organic certification on their own. But group certification provides a way out of this
challenge.
Group certification means that a certain number of small farmers can get organized and be
certified as a single entity. One certificate will cover all of the farmers, who cannot sell their
certified products or their dung to the group itself. Specific criteria are also established to
define what categories of farmers can join the group. The farmers are able to hold each
other accountable for complying with the required standards and practices.

The key message from this slide is that smallholder farmers can undertake group
certification, if they are organized in cooperatives. This comes with some benefits,
including access to the global organic market and higher prices for their products.

We will now proceed to examine EU organic regulations.

2.2 EU Organic Regulations – Since January 2022: New EU Regulation

In this section we will briefly examine the key EU organic regulations applicable to organic
products. Regarding the new EU regulation, EU 2018/848 was intended to replace regulation
from January 2021, but it was postponed by one year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
EU regulation 2018/848, now effective from 1st January 2022, has some new or additional
areas of coverage or allowance.

We have organized these into 4 key areas. Namely:

1. Scope, objectives, and principles. The encouragement of local production and short
distribution channels from production to end-consumer is new. Also, among the
principles, the concept of production connected to the soil is reinforced and
references to contribution to a non-toxic environment, long-term fertility and
biodiversity are new and positive.
2. Production rules for farmers. Group certification was only allowed in developing
countries. With the new regulation it will now be allowed everywhere in the world,
including the EU. Derogations or exemptions that are currently permanent will be
transitional under the new regulation. Therefore, farmers have continued to access
non-organic seed or young animals, when those are not available as organic for a
certain period only. The transition of derogations will be supported by national
databases, that will make the quantity of organic seed and young animals publicly
 available. It is stated clearly that these derogations can only be used when organic
seed and organic young animals are not available on the market.

With the new regulation it will also be possible for organic farmers to access
heterogenous material. That is, mostly seed for arable crops. This seed previously
was not legally available to farmers because it is characterized by a high level of
genetic and phenotypic diversity. This diversity is very good for organic farming.
As opposed to the general seed law that requires a high level of seed homogeneity.

Also, under the new regulation the use of natural flavors will be strongly restricted.
Initially, all natural flavors were allowed, but from 2022 only natural flavors in
emergent form that mentioned ingredients can be used in organic processing. For
instance, only natural lemon flavoring will be allowed. Which means in this instance,
that the flavoring is at least 95 % obtained from lemon. The same applies to flavoring
from other products. Rules for obtaining organic flavors will also be detailed.
Also, a restricted list for cleaning and disaffection products for user processing will be
established. Initially, such a restricted list did not exist.
3. Control on certification process. An official inspection will not be mandatory for
everyone. Today, this applies to all certified farms and facilities. An exemption for
low-risk farms and facilities implies that those farms and facilities are inspected every
24 months rather than every year.
Also, member states can decide to exempt farmers from certification, who sell small
quantities of organic products directly to final consumers.
4. Imports. Under the new regulation there will be two systems to import organic
products from outside the EU:
1) Through trade agreements, whereby authored countries that were initially
recognized as equivalents will have to renegotiate the terms for trade
agreements under the new EU procedure.
2) Where there is no trade agreement, the commission will establish at least
recognized control bodies and authorities that will be authorized to perform
controls on certification.

In third countries the EU regulation will be implemented identically within the EU and
outside the EU. Some flexibility will be allowed for the use of plant protection products and
or fertilizers traditionally used in third countries.

The key message from this slide is that the EU regulations on organic farming are designed
to provide a clear structure for the production and consumption of organic goods across
the whole of the EU. This is to satisfy consumer demand for trustworthy organic products,
while providing a fair marketplace for producers, distributors, and marketers.
2.3 Organic Certification in Practice
Having discussed EU organic regulations as a key topic, we now move to organic certification
in practice.
In terms of requirements, various organic authorities have general guidelines for organic
producers, guiding the use of natural processes and materials when developing farming
systems. This contributes to soil, crop and livestock nutrition, pest and weed management,
attainment of production goals and conservation of biological diversity.
1) For organic crop production the requirements generally relate to improve in soil
fertility, accessing seed and planting stock, implementing crop rotation and pest,
weed and disease management.
2) For organic livestock production, practices requirements mainly focus on a ensuring
high quality of livestock living conditions and facilities, grazing methods, animal
health, organic feed and animal origin.
3) For organic processing practices, requirements generally relate to processing of
organic ingredients, co-mingling and contact and use of synthetic substances.

The key message from this slide is that intending organic farmers must be prepared to
comply with best practice requirements across all areas of their operations, relating to any
of organic crop or livestock production and organic processing.

Next, we will discuss the case study of a successful organic papaya farm in Ghana.

Consumption of organic farming products have been on the rise in Ghana. As food safety is
becoming more of a priority with more and more consumers on the African continent, but
also globally.
All of the organic papaya grown at M.G. farms, Ghana, are intended for exports to Germany
and sold at a 20 % premium. M.G. farms however, experienced various challenges related to
obtain an organic certification and also related to its general operations.
These challenges and M.G. farm strategies to address or manage them are discussed here:
1. There is no national standard and body for organic certification in Ghana. To
surmount this difficulty M.G. farms partnered with Agro Eco-Louis Bolk institutes, a
Netherlands-based organization, to obtain organic certification and also to find
buyers in Europe.
2. Establishing international partnerships for the organic papaya was difficult as entry
farms needed to market its brand and establish its credibility. M.G. farms navigated
this problem by attending key organic trade fairs in Europe like Biofach.
3. Third, inadequate water supply. As rain is the sole source of water supply and soil
erosion were another big challenge for the production of M.G. farms. The company
has been setting up its own dam as a sustainable means of water supply to irrigate
cover crops that can help address soil erosion.
4. The fourth challenge eased by M.G. farms was the lack of public or community
electricity supply. Pending their installation of solar power facilities, M.G. farms is
currently managing this deficient power supply by running diesel generators when
power is needed.
5. Finally, stable and affordable access to organic fertilizer was another challenge that
M.G. farms faced. The company is currently addressing this by making its own
compost, including production of "compost tea", which is water in which compost
has been soaked.
The key message from this slide is that there will be challenges with the implementation of
organic agriculture, but with the right strategies success can be achieved.

The next slide takes a look at summary steps to obtain and retain organic certification.

As you decide to obtain organic certification some actional points should be considered at all
times. In terms of preparation for certification you need to undertake organic practices at
least 24 months before you start planting to enable all synthetic chemicals to dissipate fully
from the soil. Also, you need to abide by the special list of fertilizers for organic farming. As
well you need to develop and implement a conversion plan.

In terms of pre-inspection, you need to undertake a self-assessment or audit to ensure that

all your operations and facilities are of the required standards to obtain the organic
certification. You also need to ensure that you have all necessary and supporting documents
at hand. For instance, soil analysis and the conversion plan.
Closer to when your inspection is due, you also need to ensure that you re-check all your
operations and facilities, so you can make any needed adjustments to acquire the
certificates.

After you have attained the certificate, it is important to maintain your operations and
facilities because they will be inspected annually or as required. So, it is important to
continue implementing integrated pest management practices like crop rotation, mulching
and others. It is also important to market your products on social media platforms and
physically in global or regional events like organic-focused trade fairs.
As well, you need to ensure that you have sustainable access to compost by starting to
produce your own.

The key message from this slide is that the issuance of an organic certificate is not the end
of the process. There should be continuity of best practices in order to retain the
certificate.

With this we will come to the end of this podcast section on obtaining EU organic
certification, EU organic regulations and organic certification in practice.

Please listen to other related podcasts in this series. They include organic certification
overview, the impact of COVID-19 on the organic market and converting to organic. This
podcast is also available on this platform.

This podcast was prepared by Euromonitor International, a global leader in market research.
Please feel free to contact the GIZ with your feedback, questions or comments as well as for
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