Organic Food and Farming Certification

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In December 2006 the Canadian government published the Organic Products Regulation to regulate organic certification in Canada for organic products. Details on this new regulation are available on the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Canadian Organic Office website. The new regulation allows for a 2-year implementation period.

The Canadian Standard for Organic Agriculture was first approved by the Standards Council of Canada (SCC) in 1999. The 2006 revised Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards for Canada (PDF 631k) and the revised Permitted Substances List (PDF 644k) are also now available and are referenced by the new organic regulation.

In Ontario there are several certification bodies (CB) that conduct certification of organic farms and processing enterprises. Growers or processors wanting to be certified should contact one of the appropriate certification bodies and obtain a copy of the certification standards before they start the transition to organic production. For farms this may be 3-4 years before the production of certified organic products.

Certification bodies require an inspection on farms in the year prior to achieving certification status. In the year of anticipated certification, application should be made to the certification body in the early spring to allow for timely review of the applications and to allow the CB to arrange for inspections during the growing season.

Inspectors for organic certifications are independent from the certification bodies and most are members of the Independent Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) (http://www.ioia.net/)

Each CB has it's own standard to which farmers and processors are certified. These standards, while not identical, have many similarities and are based on a similar set of principles. The Canadian standard is intended as the minimum requirement for all organic certification agencies in Canada. The Canadian organic standard is voluntary and only those certification bodies accredited by the Standards Council of Canada have been audited for compliance with the Canadian standard.

Each standard also includes a Substances List (terminology varies, may also be known as a Permitted or Prohibited Materials) which will indicate which inputs can be used to produce organic products to that standard. The Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) is used by some CB's to advise on inputs that qualify for use in organic systems. OMRI has a comprehensive list of substances and products on their website http://www.omri.org The Atlantic Canadian Organic Regional Network (ACORN) also has a database of organic inputs on their website Directory of Allowable Organic Inputs. Always check with your certification body on the appropriateness of inputs in your system. Using non-permitted materials will jeopardize your ability to certify your product.

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Certification Bodies in Ontario

OCPP | Ecocert | OCIA | QAI | CSI | Demeter | QMI |

OCPP/Pro-Cert Canada Inc. ,

CEO: Wallace Hamm
2311 Elm Tree Road, P.O. Box 74, Cambray, ON K0M 1E0
Phone: (705) 374-5602,
Fax: (705) 374-5604
E-mail: Infoebo@pro-cert.org
Web site: http://www.ocpro.ca/

OCPP/Pro-Cert Canada Inc. (OCPRO) provides organic certification and verification services beyond the farm gate for client producers and processors in Eastern Canada, USA, Caribbean, EU and Japan. They use the Verified Organic TM mark for organic certification/verification. OCPRO’s production standards and certification procedures are available on their website.

Ecocert Canada

Contact: Simon Jacques
Ecocert Canada, Ontario Office
42-C Glasgow Street North,
Guelph, Ontario, N1H 4V7
phone: 519-820-0826
e-mail: sjacques@ecocertcanada.com

Contact: France Gravel
71, St-Onésime
Lévis, QC
G6V 6W8
Tel: (418) 838-6941, Fax: (418) 838-9823
E-mail: info@ecocertcanada.com

Website: http://www.ecocertcanada.com/eng/index_eng.html

GarantieBio and Ecocert are trademarks for the Ecocert Canada organic certification program. Our goal is to offer organic producers, processors and distributors an independent and private certification service.

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QAI - Quality Assurance International

9191 Towne Centre Drive
Suite 510, San Diego, CA 92122 USA
Tel: 858-792-3531, Fax: 858-792-8665
E-mail: qai@qai-inc.com
Web site: www.qai-inc.com/

Quality Assurance International (QAI, Inc.) offers certification services in Canada, U.S., Japan and the European Union. Clients include agricultural producers, food processing facilities, integrated manufacturing operations and contract packing operations, traders, distributors, retailers, and other unique food operations. For further information about QAI, visit the company’s website at: www.qai-inc.com.

OCIA - Organic Crop Improvement Association Canada

Annie Houde, Ontario Co-ordinator
25 Bryden Avenue
Cornwall, Ontario K6H 5M4
Phone: 613-933-6093
Email: ahoude@ocia.org

OCIA Canada
Debbie Miller, Manager
Box 3429, 637 6th Street
Humboldt, Saskatchewan S0K 2A0
Phone: 306-682-3126, Fax: 306-682-3127
Email: Canada@ocia.org

Website (Canadian Chapters): http://www.ocia.org/Contact%20Us/Chapters_Canada.html

OCIA is a non-profit membership organization providing 3rd party certification of all stages of organic production, processing and distribution to members throughout North, Central and South America and Asia. There are 10 chapters in Canada. Back issues of their Newsletter as well as the OCIA Certification Standards are on their website at www.ocia.org/.

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Centre for Systems Integration

Jennifer Scott
37 Teresa Street, London, ON N6C 3K9
Phone: 1-800-979-9015, Fax: 519-675-9958
Email: csi-east@storm.ca
Website: www.csi-ics.com

CSI, the Centre for Systems Integration, a division of the Canadian Seed Institute, provides organic certification services to farmers and processors across Canada. CSI certifies to the NOP. We offer JAS certification for export to Japan, and conformity recognition to the CAAQ standard for operations outside of Quebec. CSI is also accredited to certify operations to EEC Regulation No. 2092/91, the European organic legislation.

Demeter Canada

Ontario administrator: Ulrich Hack,
Phone: (519) 396-8098
E-mail: uhackbd@bmts.com
Website: http://www.demetercanada.ca/

Demeter Canada administers the Demeter certification program for the Society for Bio-Dynamic Farmingand Gardening in Ontario. They certify growers according to biodynamic standards and use the certification mark "Demeter" on their products. Standards and certification procedures are available on their website.

QMI Organic

Corinne Fletcher
4167 97th Street, Edmonton, Alberta T6E 6E9
Phone: 1-800-268-7321
E-mail: cfletcher@qmi.com

John Kukoly
20 Carlson Court, Suite 100, Toronto, Ontario, M9W 7K6
Phone: 416-401-8694
E-mail: jkukoly@qmi.com

Website: www.qmi.com

QMI Organic, a division of the Canadian Standards Association, provides organic certification with an emphasis on customer service and a fixed fee pricing schedule. Serving producers, processors, trade and retail, QMI has offices worldwide to ensure local, knowledgeable service.

Québec Vrai

188 Radisson, suite 111
Trois-Rivières, Qc
G9A 2C3
Phone : (819) 693-4646
Fax : (819) 693-1472
E-mail: info@quebecvrai.org
Website: http://www.quebecvrai.org/content/presentation.asp

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Current Accreditations of Ontario Certification Bodies

For export trade and general recognition purposes many of the certification bodies have applied to and been reviewed by various agencies.

• SCC - Standards Council of Canada
• CARTV - Le Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV)
• NOP - National Organic Program of USA (USDA),
• IFOAM - International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements

ISO-65 status is normally attained by being accreditated by an accrediting body such as SCC, CAAQ, IFOAM or NOP which use ISO-65 as their minimum accreditation criteria.

For information on the certification of organic products in Quebec, see CARTV - Le Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV). http://www.cartvquebec.com/index.asp

There are many international standards. Many countries have their own standards and negotiate equivalency agreements between countries. Two additional standards of note are International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) and CODEX Alimentarius.

For more links to Canadian and International standards and regulations see the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada website at http://www.agr.gc.ca/misb/hort/index_e.cfm?s1=org-bio&page=intro and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) Organic Production System Task Force website at http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/fssa/orgbio/otfgtspbe.shtml

There are also links to Organic certification bodies in the USA on the following websites:

• Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
  • http://www.attra.org/organic.html#overview
• Guide to US Organic Certifiers http://www.newfarm.org/ocdbt/
• USA National Organic Program (NOP) http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/

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