The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry is currently seeking industry feedback on proposed amendments to the National Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce. More information is available on the Department's website at https://haveyoursay.agriculture.gov.au/organic-exports-produce.

If it is not Certified Organic, you can’t be sure it is organic

Formal organic certification of organic products is the producer’s guarantee to consumers that along the entire supply chain, a Certified Organic product has been produced in line with the strict national and industry Organic and Biodynamic Standards.

In Australia, the term ‘organic’ is not regulated as it is in the United States, Japan and China. It is legal to produce a product and call it ‘organic’ without providing the consumer with any proof that it is actually organic.

 Product labelling is what differentiates certified organic consumer products. All certified organic products are traceable back to the producer or processor. The operator’s certification number, written in conjunction with the certified organic label within the product label, can be looked up on the website of the certifying organisation. Look for these certifier labels:

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OIA has lodged a submission to FSANZ on a proposal to change the definitions for gene technology and new breeding techniques.

The FSANZ assessment promotes a false equivalence that new breeding technique (NBT) food is produced with an outcome that might occur using natural selection techniques. That is clearly not the case, and the onus should be on the proponent to prove the safety of every instance of GM manipulation.

We are most concerned that this acceptance of GM food, if adopted, will then be used as a base from which will come further proposals to exempt genetic modifications from safety assessment. Once some GM food is exempt, there will be a lower hurdle to a future proposal to exempt GM food just a little more.

Overwhelmingly, overseas markets do not want GM foods, and are worried by the environmental contamination of our organic foods with GM breeds.

The Government has announced consultations on domestic regulation. So, we asked you for your opinions. And now the results are in, they confirm the messages we have been telling Government.

• 91% support regulation of the term 'organic'
• 85% reported that the lack of regulation affects their business
• an overwhelming majority consider the lack of regulation is
  • bad for organic producers
  • bad for consumers
  • bad for exporters
• legislation that requires certification is strongly preferred to other types of regulation

Organic Industries of Australia and NASAA rated highly (3.5 out of 5.0) for representing the interests of Australia's organic sector.

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AB Phillips, one of our foundation members, have extensive knowledge and understanding of insulated panels and have been able to obtain significant premium reductions for buildings considered ‘low risk’.

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Organic Trust Australia was set up to manage funds received from private and public sources for research and education in organic agriculture in Australia.

Improving the Measurement of the Value of Organic Production in Australia
Organic Agricultural Production in Australia: 2010-11 and 2015-16
Priorities for Research and Extension in Organic Agriculture in Australia
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