U.S. and Canada Sign Organic Equivalency Agreement

Producers of certified organic products in the U.S. will no longer have to go through a separate certification process to have their products labeled organic in Canada.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency signed an organic equivalency agreement yesterday, meaning the two countries will recognize each other's officially certified organic products. It's the first such agreement in the world covering organic certification.

The agreement goes into effect at the end of this month, at the same time that Canada launches its first uniform National Organic Regulations. Canada is our largest trading partner and currently imports around 80 percent of its organic produce from the U.S.

There are some differences between U.S. and Canadian organic standards, but I haven't found any info on how the agreement resolved those issues. Even the managing director of Canada's Organic Trade Association, Matthew Holmes, is still speculating on the details -- in particular, on how the two countries will resolve their different takes on sodium nitrate:

Sodium nitrate is allowed in the U.S. for restricted use, but is not on the list of acceptable soil treatments in the Canadian standards.

"That was identified as one of the main differences," Holmes said June 17. "We don't know yet the final details of the agreement, but my guess is that there will be some sort of carve-out relating to this substance."

Whatever agreement is made, whether it be phasing out of use of the product by the U.S. or another solution, exporters in the U.S. have a two-year buffer if a phase-out is required.