the world of organic agriculture - Organic Eprints

10 Certification and Accreditation
Table 21: Number of certification bodies per country (the 10 main countries)
country number of certification
Japan 69
USA 60
Germany 31
China P.R. 26
Spain 25
Canada 24
Brazil 18
Italy 16
United Kingdom
Source: Grolink Survey 2005
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Of those 256 certification bodies that responded to the question concerning the starting date
of their operation, only seven started before 1985, while 52 percent started after 2000. The
Biodynamic Agricultural Association in the UK started to offer organic certification services in
1970, while the better-known Soil Association started in 1973.
Table 22: Starting year of certification bodies
starting year of certification share of certification bodies
surveyed (total 256)
Before 1985 3 %
1985 – 1989 10 %
1990 – 1994 16 %
1996 – 1999 19 %
200 – 2005
Source: Grolink Survey 2005
52 %
The statistics on what kind of approvals individual bodies have offers interesting information.
Approval for the USA has attracted 115 certification bodies, of which 60 are based outside the
USA. The EU has 157 approved bodies, with only 14 non-EU based bodies recognized within
its system. It should be kept in mind that the majority of imports into the EU come through
certification granted under article 11.6 (i.e. the importer’s derogation). Under that system import
authorizations were granted from 108 countries in 2005.
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