Best Practices for Organic Policy - What developing country - UNEP

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Best Practices for Organic Policy Recommendation 5. One Government ministry or agency should be assigned a leading role and organic desks should be established in other relevant ministries and agencies. Involving and organizing the stakeholders The countries that have developed their organic sector the most have had a participatory policy development with close interaction between the Government and the sector. In both Denmark and Costa Rica, the Government has actively supported the sector’s organization and its participation in the policy formation process. In several of the other cases, there appears to be little collaboration, which often also leads to failure of policies. For example, the voluntary official standards for organic in Chile, Thailand and Malaysia do not seem to have been in any direct use. The organic sector develops by the actions of individuals and entrepreneurs. Initially, they often challenge official policy. Once there is openness and an interest from Government to support organic farming, it is essential that this support is developed in close dialogue with the organic sector. Not all countries have a unified organic sector or movement, and in some countries there are apparent conflicts between organic groups. This reduces the sector’s own ability to work towards joint objectives, and it also makes it difficult for the Government to consult with the private sector. Chile, Costa Rica and Denmark report one organic sector body which in the case of Denmark and Costa Rica has gotten substantial support from the Government. To get the sector well organized and unified is of course mainly its own responsibility, but Governments can stimulate this and in particular not stimulate the opposite (by favouritism or just ignorance). A government policy process should ensure that all aspects of organic farming are addressed, and are inclusive. Consideration should also be taken for the different abilities of stakeholders to participate in consultations, e.g. distance to the capital, economic resources to travel and participate in meetings, and limits in communication infrastructure. Gender aspect and the situation of indigenous people should also be considered. In some of the countries, e.g. Denmark, the organic sector implements many of the public programmes, strengthening cooperation. In some countries, e.g. Chile, Denmark and Costa Rica, permanent structures for the consultations between Government and stakeholders are established. They have proven to be very useful. Recommendation 6. Governments should recognize the diverse interests represented in the organic sector and ensure that all of them are considered properly as well as direct special attention to disadvantaged groups. Recommendation 7. A permanent body should be established for the consultations between the Government and the private sector. Awareness raising Apart from regulations, plans and programmes, Government and especially its highest representatives play a big role in forming public opinion and in raising awareness of organic farming on all levels. In Costa Rica and Denmark, substantial efforts have been undertaken by Government and the private sector in cooperation to promote organic farming to farmers, consumers and the trade. When the minister of agriculture, environment or trade speaks up in favour of organic farming, this sends a strong message which will encourage those who want to move the organic agenda ahead, within and outside the Government. These kinds of statements are also the normal precursors to a real policy development. Recommendation 8. Governments should actively contribute to awareness raising for organic agriculture on all levels. 16
What developing country Governments can do to promote the organic agriculture sector Data The demand for data about the organic sector is high for marketers, researchers, extension services and ultimately Governments. In most countries, including developed countries such as the United States, there is no central collection even of basic data such as the number of farmers and what they grow 20 . A country with only one certification body (e.g. Denmark or Norway) will more or less automatically get a lot of relevant data collected in one place, but it is not always the case that the data is made available. Costa Rica collects data for production, but market figures are based on estimates from an NGO. Export market data is often easier to collect, especially as the certification bodies normally issue transaction certificates for each lot, and therefore all trade is documented. Egypt and Chile can produce fairly accurate data for exports, but not for the domestic market. In unregulated markets, or markets where there is no common definition of organic, such as Thailand and Malaysia, an additional complication for data collection is the question “Who is really organic?” FAO collects data in the Organic Agriculture Information Management System (Organic-AIMS) available at www.fao.org/organicag, and IFOAM annually publishes the World of Organic Agriculture, both of which are dependent on submissions by individuals from the countries. A consortium of institutions is attempting to develop a European Information System for Organic Markets. Ultimately, any Government that wants to develop the sector needs to assure baseline data and a system to monitor the development of the sector. Initially, this is likely to be best achieved through the organic movement in the country, and Governments should consider supporting them in their data collections. When the sector is more developed, measures to include “organic” data in public agriculture statistics should be considered. Recommendation 9. Data about organic production and markets needs to be collected over the years, analysed and made available to the sector and policymakers. Organic regulations, standards and certification Standards There are currently two international standards for organic agriculture, the Codex Alimentarius Guidelines for the production, processing, labelling and marketing of organically produced foods (GL 32 – 1999, Rev. 1 – 2001) - CAC/ GL32 21 - and the IFOAM Basic Standards (published as part of the IFOAM Norms, latest revision July 2005 22 ). There are perhaps 70 countries with some kind of official standards and another 100 private sector standards. Most of the standards are quite similar. Some of them clearly reference the mentioned international standards (e.g. the Indian regulation is basically identical to the IFOAM standards of 2002, the Brazilian regulation uses the list of inputs from Codex, Malaysia’s standards reference both), but a number of them also reference other foreign standards, in particular the EU regulation (e.g. South Africa). Of the case studies, Costa Rica, Chile and Denmark have mandatory organic standards, i.e. standards that have to be followed by anyone who markets organic foods. In Costa Rica, private bodies also have their own standards. Chile has had a voluntary official standard since 1999, which became mandatory in 2006. In Thailand, there are both private standards and voluntary governmental standards. In Malaysia there is a voluntary official standard, but most certified products are imported and certified to the standards of the exporting country. There is no indication that the voluntary official standards are in much use. At the same time, the South African standard for organic agriculture has been drafted since 2001 but was never approved by the Government; nevertheless, the standard is actively used in the domestic market in South Africa. In Egypt, products are certified to the EU regulation, and to various private sector standards in the European Union – a few also to local standards. In all the countries, producers for exports normally follow and are certified for conformity to the export market standard. Even in Denmark, producers wanting to export to the United States have to follow the NOP rather than the EU regulation. The cases highlight the fact that standards 20 For United States organic acreage, in February 2006 it was only possible to get data from 1997 and 2003. 21 Available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/standards/360/CXG_032e.pdf. 22 Available at http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/norms.html 17
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Best Practices for Organic Policy - What developing country - UNEP

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