European Union: Regulation No. 2092/91. The European Union, the biggest organic marketplace in the world, was the first to enact governmental legislation regarding organic production and marketing. The original regulation was drafted in 1991 and went into effect in 1992. As a result, this groundbreaking legislation, known as Regulation No. 2092/91, is now the legislative model for the regulation of organic producers and traders in most other countries. The European Union has since modified, clarified, and amended the regulation, so that it is now ninety-five pages long and quite comprehensive.
Regulation No. 2092/91 is the legal basis for the production, processing, and trade of all organic products in the twenty-seven countries of the European Union, as of publication. Products labeled “organic” must be certified according to these guidelines and are then allowed to be identified with the official label of the European Union. Only two categories of “certified organic” are allowed: one for products that contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients, and one for products containing 70 to 95 percent organic ingredients. For a comparison of this regulation and the USDA legislation, see the Organic Trade Association’s comparison of standards in this chapter.
One example of the complexity involved in including its diverse membership is that all common terms for “organic” in the different member states are equally protected in their use (for example, biologisch in German, écologico in Spanish, and biologique in French). There are instances in which individual countries within the European Union have standards that differ from those of Regulation No. 2092/91. This is acceptable as long as they are stricter than the basic standards. For complete information regarding Regulation No. 2092/91, visit the website of the Institute for Marketecology at www.imo.ch.
United States: USDA National Organic Program (NOP). During the 1990s the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) developed a set of national organic standards, and activated them in 2002 under the legislation known as the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). This legislation requires that all organic products be certified by an independent agency approved by the USDA. Products labeled “organic” must be certified according to the guidelines of this legislation. Four categories of organic content were established: 100 percent organic, 95 percent or more organic, 70 to 95 percent organic, and less than 70 percent organic. Products are required to be identified with the appropriate official label of the USDA.
For a comparison of the USDA legislation and that of the European Union, see the Organic Trade Association’s comparison of standards in this chapter. For more information on the USDA’s NOP, visit http://agriculture
.senate.gov/Legislation/Compilations/AgMisc/OGFP90.pdf.
Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS). The certification of organic products sold in the Japanese market is regulated by the JAS. All certified products are identified with the official JAS organic seal of the Japanese government. The JAS law regulates all labeling of agricultural products and is managed by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF). The JAS organic standard is presented in various Japanese regulations and notifications (for example, Law No. 175).
JAS certification requires a unique certification procedure, although its requirements can be evaluated during the same inspection as that for another international agency. An example of both international cooperation and peer pressure is that the EU Regulation’s Concentration Standard of Residual Agricultural Chemicals (perhaps the strictest in the world) is stricter than Japan’s. For many years green tea harvested in Japan could not be exported to the EU. Because of the efforts of the Kyoto Green Tea Cooperative Society and the whole-tea industry in Kyoto (where the premier tea-producing region Uji is located), leaf green tea produced in Kyoto now meets this EU standard. Since 2003, green tea produced in Kyoto may be imported into EU member countries. More information about the JAS can be found at the IMO website (www.imo.ch).
England: The Soil Association. This private agency located in Bristol was founded in 1946 by a group of farmers, scientists, and nutritionists. It is a charity funded solely by members and donations from institutions such as charitable trusts. Today the Soil Association is the primary organic organization in the United Kingdom, and its symbol is the UK’s most recognizable and trusted organic mark. Soil Association Certification Ltd. (known as “SA Certification” and established in 1973) is the auxiliary of the Soil Association that supervises organic certification to the Soil Association standards. It is the UK’s largest organic certification body, now certifying 80 percent of all organic products sold in the UK.
COMPARISON OF EUROPEAN UNION AND U.S. ORGANIC STANDARDS
This information comes from the Organic Trade Association.
Cultural and political differences are substantial:
Cultural. While states in the United States use one language and have similar cultures, EU member states have different languages and cultures.
Political. Federal laws supersede state laws in the United States, while the EU consists of twenty-five sovereign state governments, each of which can grant exceptions to established Regulation No. 2092/91 rules and regulations.
Some cropping standards differ.
Agriculture conversion period. Conversion (transition) periods as written in the EU regulations may be interpreted as being shorter than the three-year, no-exceptions rule found in the United States. The European Union generally requires two years for annuals and three years for perennials, with some exceptions.
Labeling requirements are similar.
“Organic.” Both agree that at least 95 percent of the ingredients must be organic.
“Made with.” Both agree that 70 percent of the ingredients must be organic.
In the EU the remaining 30 percent must be on published lists of “not commercially available ingredients.” This list is subject to interpretation by the certifier or member state.
“Below 70 percent.” The EU does not allow “organic” to appear anywhere on the label. The USDA allows identification of organic ingredients on the information panel in products containing 50 percent or more organic ingredients.
Percent organic declarations in the United States are not mandatory, but in some EU situations declaration may be required.
Under EU regulations, “transition to organic” labeling is allowed. In the United States such labeling is not allowed.
SA Certification covers both the EU Regulation No. 2092/91 and the Advisory Committee on Organic Standards’ (ACOS) compendium (these represent modifications made by the Department for the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs, the government agency that advocates internal UK organic standards). Since the mid-1970s, however, the Soil Association has been developing its own standards; in some areas the Soil Association standards exceed other international requirements, particularly in the area of animal welfare. SA Certification works with consumers, farmers, growers, processors, retailers, and policy makers. The complete Soil Association standards must be ordered from the Soil Association (there is a fee).
Germany: Demeter-International e. V. Located in Darmstadt, Demeter is the international trademark for products certified from Biodynamic Agriculture worldwide, with principal offices in Germany, Belgium, and Singapore. Demeter-International e. V. is a nonprofit organization whose members work together as an international confederation. Membership is contractual, based on adherence to the Biodynamic Agriculture method originated by Dr. Rudolf Steiner in his “agriculture course” in 1924. Biodynamic is the oldest codified form of organic agricultural renewal, as it incorporates the whole farm, including all processing and handling. In 1994, Biodynamic was the first organic system to establish standards for processing. For more information, visit www.demeter.net.
Other national agricultural-control agencies. Many other national agricultural-control agencies have organic regulations. For instance, Argentina, Australia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel, and Switzerland have regulations considered equivalent to or more stringent than the European Union’s Regula
tion No. 2092/91.
CERTIFYING AGENCIES
Depending on the certification desired and the country in which the tea will be retailed, certification may be carried out by that government’s regulatory agency, independent certification agents, or both. Some well-known certifying agencies whose logos you will also encounter in the marketplace include Switzerland’s Institute for Marketecology, Germany’s International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, California’s Quality Assurance International, and California Certified Organic Farmers.
Switzerland: Institute for Marketecology (IMO). The IMO (headquartered in Weinfelden) is one of the first and most renowned international agencies for inspection, certification, and quality assurance of ecofriendly products. Its worldwide activities are accredited by the Swiss Accreditation Service (SAS) according to EN 45011 (ISO 65), the international standard for certification. The IMO offers certification for organic production and handling according to the European Union’s Regulation No. 2092/91. It is also accredited by the USDA for organic certification under the National Organic Program and is licensed to provide JAS certification for the Japanese market. For more information visit the IMO online at www.imo.ch.
Germany: International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). IFOAM (based in Bonn) was founded in 1972, when the president of the French farmers organization Nature et Progrès put forward a worldwide call to ensure a future for organic agriculture. Progressive farmers from such diverse locales as Canada, England, France, Germany, and India became active. A decade later participation was initiated by farmers in the United States as well as by African proponents of organic agriculture. IFOAM also works with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Today IFOAM is influential in coordinating activities internationally regarding policy and practicality within the organic movement. One of IFOAM’s founders, Eve Balfour, proposed that the characteristics of truly sustainable agriculture might be summed up as “permanence,” an agricultural concept the world is once again embracing. For more information, visit IFOAM online at www.ifoam.org.
California: Quality Assurance International (QAI). Since 1989, the independent, third-party QAI certification program of organic food systems has been designed to certify every step of the organic chain: from the land on which the product is grown, to the producers growing the product, to the postharvest facilities preparing the product, to the processing and handling facilities transporting the product. Currently, the QAI (headquartered in San Diego) offers organic certification under the USDA NOP for producers, processors, private labelers, distributors, retailers, restaurants, wild crop harvesters, and food-crop greenhouses. According to the QAI, a nationwide independent shelf study found that two out of three certified organic products on U.S. store shelves use QAI certification services. For more, visit the QAI online at www.qai-inc.com.
California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF). Headquartered in Santa Cruz, the CCOF primarily certifies to USDA NOP standards, offering its organic certification program throughout North and South America for food processors, farms, livestock operations, retailers, private labelers, and brokers. However, effective February 10, 2006, CCOF upgraded its international division, renaming it CCOF Global Market Access. CCOF offers a variety of services to ensure that products are recognized as organic throughout the world. CCOF is IFOAM-accredited and offers verification to the European Union’s Regulation No. 2092/91 standard, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF)–USDA export arrangement, and other national requirements in addition to its basis, the USDA certification program. For more information visit CCOF online at www.ccof.org.
Fair Trade
Similar to the origins of the organic movement, the concept of fair trade has at its roots several parallel organizations. These humanitarian and religious agencies desired to increase the economic viability of disadvantaged workers in some of the world’s most impoverished regions, assist refugees to reenter society, and help others recover from various natural disasters.
Then, in 1968 the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in Delhi communicated the message “trade not aid.” Since that time fair trade has exploded. In 1973, Fair Trade Organisatie in the Netherlands imported the first fairly traded coffee from cooperatives of small farmers in Guatemala.
The concept of fair-trade coffee accounts for 25 to 50 percent of the turnover of fair-trade merchandise in Europe. Primarily because of the keen interest in fair-trade food items in the UK, the increase in fair-trade food products sold in Europe from the mid-1990s through 2003 and 2004, for example, has been phenomenal, with food items now constituting the bulk of the merchandise sold fair trade in Europe. In the United States coffee sales alone have altered the fair-trade category significantly, so now food sales have changed from being traditionally less than 10 percent to now representing more than 30 percent of the merchandise sold as fair trade. In the Pacific Rim, fair trade’s biggest growth market in recent years, jewelry, crafts, and furniture comprise the bulk of sales, with food products still well under 10 percent of the total.
By the late 1980s and early 1990s fair trade had developed into an economic model defined and administered by several organizations, spearheaded by the “founding fathers” of fair trade—Fairtrade Labelling Organisation International (FLO-I), the International Federation for International Trade (IFAT), the Network of European World Shops (NEWS!), and the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA). In an effort to organize and streamline the efforts of the many agencies involved, these four key organizations banded together informally as FINE, an acronym based on the first letter of each group’s name. For more information on these agencies, see www.eftafairtrade.org.
FAIR-TRADE STANDARDS
Next we explore what fair trade is and how it is administered, particularly in regard to tea. First and foremost, the core fair-trade food products are generally (but not always) certified, but only those that are certified may be labeled with one of the various official logos (marks). Nonfood merchandise is rarely regulated and never marked. For marked food items, standards needed to be generated, and these are at the core of the fair-trade position in the global grocery market.
Because the problems of agricultural producers and workers differ from product to product, there are two general standards—one for small farmers and one for workers. The first applies to smallholders organized in cooperatives, and the second applies to workers whose employers pay decent wages. Both standards stipulate that buyers must do the following:
Pay a price to producers that will cover the costs of production and living expenses.
Pay an additional premium that producers are expected to invest in development.
Partially pay in advance, acting as creditor, when requested.
Contract for long-term planning, as possible.
In addition, there are specific fair-trade standards for several products. The vast majority of tea is grown on sizable estates or gardens owned privately or by companies. Workers’ concerns on tea plantations focus on fair wages and decent working conditions. For these workers as well as those in factories, there are minimum health, safety, and environmental standards. No child or forced labor is allowed.
For more on the FLO International’s standards, go to www.fairtrade.net and search for “Generic Standards for Hired Labour Situations.” For more on their standards for the tea industry, go to www.fairtrade.net and search for “Product Standards for Hired Labour Situations.”
TEA ESTATE WORKERS’ WELFARE ISSUES
When the English controlled tea production in their colonies of Ceylon and India in the twentieth century, they created tea estates that often encompassed thousands of acres of land. These estates operated as self-sustaining social units and provided housing, food, schooling, and medical care for the tea workers and their families who lived on the estates. The rural and mountainous location of tea gardens often meant that no other work was available to the tea worker, creating a situation where
the tea factory owners had the upper hand over the workers who were dependent on the tea estates for their existence.
Despite the fact that today India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon) have independence from English control, these countries still continue to operate the tea gardens under the English system of providing food and shelter for their workers. Only today, with the return of privatization and national pride, tea estates operate with the ethical awareness of the importance of the workers’ lives and welfare as well as the interdependent contribution that each makes to the common good of the other. Social harmony is an important order of the day.
Workers are no longer treated as outsiders, and workers’ concerns are addressed with conviction, not compulsion. In India governmental regulations require that the estates pay a living wage and provide workers with their basic needs of food, medical attention, and shelter. The most respected estates do more than that, however. They offer prenatal care, day-care centers, recreation centers, and training centers to provide education and skills that can bring people out of the tea gardens and into higher-paying computer and service jobs. Children are schooled until they are the legal age to work; child labor abuses are not part of the methodology of these tea estates.
For example, in Sri Lanka, the Bogawantalawa Estate is comprised of twenty-three sub-estates, eleven tea-processing factories, forty-five thousand acres of tea gardens, and more than sixteen thousand workers—a population that certainly qualifies as a small town. This estate is proud of the programs that it offers workers—savings and loans programs, libraries, computer learning centers, and mandatory schooling for children. No child labor is used. Scholarship programs are made available to deserving students.
The Story of Tea Page 44