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Certification and Standards
Organic Standards
Advantages of Certification
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Advantages of certification

The principle advantage of certification is access to the organic marketplace and the premiums paid for organic produce. The individual CB’s vary considerably in the support services they offer to their certified operators, but most do offer access to farmer networks, field days and maybe some downloadable information from their website. The CB’s often arrange delegations to the major organic trade fairs and events around the world [TMO story to be written about organic trade fairs] and may provide links to buyers and processors of organic produce.

The certification standards are also a useful guide to what is considered as bona-fide organic practices.

There are also disadvantages to certification, including:

• It requires the payment of fees and charges
• It requires at least 12 months of organic practice before produce can be marketed as, ‘in conversion to organic’ and at least 36 months before produce may be sold as, ‘organic’ 
• It requires that growers work only within the rules or Standards and therefore with a limited range of inputs or practices, and
• It requires detailed record keeping of purchases, practices and sales, and regular inspection.

It is also important to note that while being certified to the National Standard allows you to export to international markets with greater ease, some individual certifying organizations in other countries may have additional certification requirements

The decision to apply for organic certification is something each person needs to decide for him or herself based on the benefits and disadvantages. A benefit of the process of converting is that certification becomes part of your normal business planning and is treated as an integral aspect of the system you operate under. Visit the Certifier Choice section on this website for further information.