US, JAPAN SIGN ORGANIC EQUIVALENCE AGREEMENT
Posted in News, International, Organic, Economics, US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Healthy,Healthy Foods, Retail, Consumer Preference, Food Safety, Regulatory
BALTIMORE—Japan and the United States signed an organic equivalence arrangement at the Natural Products Expo East, making it the first U.S. organic arrangement in Asia.
The agreement will reopen the Japanese consumer market for U.S. organic producers of all sizes and will create jobs and opportunity for the U.S. organic food and farming sector. It will allow for certified organic products to move freely between the two countries as of Jan. 1, 2014.
“This monumental agreement will further create jobs in the already growing U.S. organic sector, spark additional market growth, and be mutually beneficial to producers both in the United States and Japan and to consumers who choose organic products," said Laura Batcha, executive vice president of the U.S.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA).
Management, accreditation, certification and enforcement programs are in place in both countries and conform to each other's respective programs. The first two-way trade agreement in Asia marks the first organic equivalency agreement without organic standards exceptions. Under the agreement, MAFF will recognize USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) as equivalent to the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) and the MAFF Organic Program, and will allow products produced and certified as meeting USDA’s NOP standards to be marketed as organic in Japan. Likewise, the United States will allow Japanese products produced and certified under the JAS Organic Program to be marketed as organic in the United States. Both countries will require that the accredited certifier must be identified on the product label.
“On behalf of the U.S. organic industry, OTA extends its sincere thanks and congratulations to the U.S. government and MAFF Japan teams that brought equivalency between our nations after a decade of rigorous and thoughtful negotiations," said Batcha. She noted that OTA and the U.S. organic industry advised, advocated for, and facilitated progress towards this historic arrangement.
In 2009, Canada and the U.S. signed the first in the world equivalency agreement in the organic industry.
The agreement will reopen the Japanese consumer market for U.S. organic producers of all sizes and will create jobs and opportunity for the U.S. organic food and farming sector. It will allow for certified organic products to move freely between the two countries as of Jan. 1, 2014.
“This monumental agreement will further create jobs in the already growing U.S. organic sector, spark additional market growth, and be mutually beneficial to producers both in the United States and Japan and to consumers who choose organic products," said Laura Batcha, executive vice president of the U.S.-based Organic Trade Association (OTA).
Management, accreditation, certification and enforcement programs are in place in both countries and conform to each other's respective programs. The first two-way trade agreement in Asia marks the first organic equivalency agreement without organic standards exceptions. Under the agreement, MAFF will recognize USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) as equivalent to the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS) and the MAFF Organic Program, and will allow products produced and certified as meeting USDA’s NOP standards to be marketed as organic in Japan. Likewise, the United States will allow Japanese products produced and certified under the JAS Organic Program to be marketed as organic in the United States. Both countries will require that the accredited certifier must be identified on the product label.
“On behalf of the U.S. organic industry, OTA extends its sincere thanks and congratulations to the U.S. government and MAFF Japan teams that brought equivalency between our nations after a decade of rigorous and thoughtful negotiations," said Batcha. She noted that OTA and the U.S. organic industry advised, advocated for, and facilitated progress towards this historic arrangement.
In 2009, Canada and the U.S. signed the first in the world equivalency agreement in the organic industry.
Sources:
- Organic Trade Association: United States and Japan today sign organic equivalence arrangement
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