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ITF Steering Committee (2008) Summary Report International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture 2003–2008

Report,
International Task Force on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture FAO/IFOAM/UNCTAD

Document:
ITF_Summary_Report.pdf

Abstract
The International Task Force (ITF) on Harmonization and Equivalence in Organic
Agriculture, convened from 2003 to 2008 by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)
of the United Nations, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), served as an open-ended platform for dialogue between public and private institutions
(intergovernmental, governmental, and civil society) involved in trade and regulatory activities in the organic agriculture sector. The objective was to facilitate international trade and the access of countries to international markets.
8 International Meetings took place. n the first phase, the ITF reviewed and analyzed the situation, including the impact of
established organic regulations on trade, current models and mechanisms that enable organic
trade, experiences of cooperation, recognition and equivalence in the organic sector, and
potential models and mechanisms for harmonization, equivalence and mutual recognition.

In the second phase, the ITF developed solutions in three areas: standards for organic
production and processing, conformity assessment, and new ways of public and private
cooperation.

The ITF also studied established and potential forms of cooperation that can increase access to organic trade, e.g., expert private evaluation services for governments, services by certification bodies to provide inspections (and perhaps even make decisions) for another certification body, and participation and cooperation among more private-sector accreditation bodies in organic accreditation. For this purpose, several discussion and briefing papers were developed.
This reports summarizes the agreements and recommendations of the taskforce 2003 to 2008.

Keywords: Harmonisation, Equivalence, Organic Standards

Relevance to our study:
International harmonisation efforts and analyses of costs of non-harmonsisation of the organic sector are highly relevant for the Cert Cost Analysis. This summary report summarizes the agreements and recommendations of the Harmonisation Task Force after many meetings and extensive reasearch and discussions and thus gives a much more agreed & harmonised recommended way forward to harmonise and streamline organic certification systems than individual task force study papers alone.

Relevancy on a scale from 1 to 5 = 4

Review status: Suggested
Review started on 2009–08–11
Reviewed by Florentine Meinshausen ?

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