Organic Certification

The Certification Bodies

ACOS - Advisory Committee on Organic Standards
Largely funded by DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), ACOS is the government authority responsible for the approval and supervision of the other certification bodies. Any produce bearing the ACOS label will have been produced to ACOS standards. Producers registered with the following certification bodies may also use the ACOS logo if they wish to.

Soil Association Certification (SA Cert)-
The country's leading certification body, certifying approximately 70% of organic food produced in the UK. It operates its own set of standards, which are more specific and generally stricter than those laid down by ACOS. These standards are decided by seven Standards Committees, each concentrating on a different area. These Committees meet regularly to review any amendments or new additions to the standards and any concerns that Soil Association members or supporters have raised.

Other UK certification bodies:

• The Organic Food Federation (OFF)
  
• Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd (OF&G)
  
• Demeter (BDAA)
  
• The Irish Organic Farmers and Growers (IOFGA)
  
• The Scottish Organic Producers Association (SOPA)

The easiest way to tell if a UK manufactured or packed product is organic is to look for the European Certifying Authority code number, listed below, on the packaging. Labelling regulations are strict and all organic food sold in shops must be clearly marked as such. Regulations are the same for all organic certification bodies, are governed by the EU standards and also apply to imported EU and other pre-packaged organic foods. A large number of manufacturers also use the equivalent certification body logo, as mentioned above, as a marketing tool.

The UK code numbers are:

UK1 ACOS
UK2 Organic Farmers and Growers (OF&G)
UK3 Scottish Organic Producers Association (SOPA)
UK4 Organic Food Federation (OFF)
UK5 Soil Association Certification (SA Cert)
UK6 Demeter / Bio-Dynamic Agriculture Association (BDAA)
UK7 Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA)

For further information on organic standards and certification bodies in the UK, please visit the Soil Association website: www.soilassociation.org.uk

Imported Organic Produce
Each EU country has its own national organic certification authority which conforms to EU standards, much like ACOS, and within each there are various certification bodies. As in the UK, each certification body may apply additional specifications on top of the EU standards. EU standards, in turn, are subject to those laid down by the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) www.ifoam.org

Food:
For food imported from outside Europe into the EU, the situation is slightly more complicated, but is still subject to the same rigorous checks and guarantees. Imported produce must come from countries recognised as applying equivalent standards and inspection procedures, or where national standards do not exist, importers may apply on behalf of specific organic producers. They are then inspected by one of the EU recognised certification bodies and thereafter subjected to annual inspections in the usual way. Storage facilities for imported produce must be open to inspection at all times.

Cotton:
All organic cotton items are imported into this country, as the UK does not grow cotton. Although raw organic cotton is typically from outside the EU, in order to sell the finished article in the UK EU regulations must be met and adhered to. Details on the standards for the growing of organic cotton can be found on the EU website (www.europa.eu.int), document number 20/92, year 1991, document ID 391R. If the cotton is grown or processed abroad then the cotton must meet also meet the Organic Certification standards of that country - for instance KRAV (www.krav.se) in Sweden or the OCIA (www.ocia.org) in America, or SKAL (www.skal.com), who operate in several European countries. In practice these bodies are often stricter than IFOAM (International Federation of Agricultural Movement) legislation requires.
If in doubt...

To avoid any confusion with non-organic produce, most organic food is sold pre-packaged. Always check for the symbol and/or number of recognised certification bodies. Where produce is sold loose, proof of certification must be available to consumers. If the retailer cannot prove certification of the produce being sold, then find out who their supplier is and contact them to find out about their certification.
All manufacturers of organic products must be registered with a certification body. Some shops pay a certification fee to register as organic in their own right. This gives an added assurance to customers. Any shop that repackages goods out of sight of customers, or cooks its own food and labels it 'organic', must also have its own license to do so.

Here are all the symbols that you might come across on products you can buy in the UK: 

 

The Soil Association logo is found on about 70% of organic food produced in the UK.
Organic Farmers and Growers Ltd is the second-largest UK certifying body after the Soil Association.
The Organic Food Federation is an organisation of producers, manufacturers and importers.
Demeter (Germany)
Bioland (Germany)
Naturland (Germany)
Skal's 'eko' logo is the leading organic logo in the Netherlands. Skal, the leading certifier, is active throughout Europe with this logo used on products across several markets.
The Scottish Organic Producers Association. UKROFS standards.
The Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA) has higher standards than those of UKROFS.
UKROFS is the government authority responsible for the approval and supervision of the other certification bodies. However, it also has it's own label:
Germany's 'umbrella' organisation for the organic industry has recently introduced the 'Oko' logo, which may replace the other German labels.
The Institut für Marktökologie (IMO) is another German label.
The French Government runs the 'AB' logo:
And EcoCert is another French label:
KRAV's certification logo is the leading organic logo in Sweden.
The 'bud' or 'knopse' logo is the leading logo in Switzerland.
Italian organic products often have this label:
In Denmark, the Stats-kontrolleret okologisk is the main logo:
Products from the Czech Republic bear this symbol:
Farm Verified Organic (USA)
Organic Crop Improvement Association (USA)
Organic Growers and Buyers Association (OGBA)
Quality Assurance International (QAI)
USDA Organic Seal. Aiming to become the US national standard, this government logo shows that produce has been grown in accordance with the National Organic Program, but will not be on products until June 2002.
The EU recently introduced a Europe-wide logo. This logo has not proved popular so far.
The International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) groups together 750 organic institutions worldwide and ensures some equivalency of standards in 103 countries. IFOAM does not certify organic foods but its standards form the basis for many national organic requirements.