Canadian Organic Standards Review Update

Organic Federation of Canada – June 24th

The Canadian Organic Standards review is not officially launched yet, but prioritization of the Work Lists’ items is underway. The Canadian General Standards Board is finalizing with the Standard Council of Canada the workplan for the complete review of the Canadian Organic Standards. In the meantime, the 400 items of the work lists that are to be addressed by the working groups are sorted out and submitted to a first prioritization by the SIC members. This first exercise will help determine the workload for each working group that will submit amendments to the COS at meetings of the voting members of the OTC.

OFC application under the AAFC Agri-Marketing program to fund 75% of the cost of the review is still waiting for approval. Many interesting exchanges of information have taken place with AAFC officers about the nature and the budget of the review project. In the meantime, OFC is organizing the fundraising campaign to match AAFC potential funding; 25% of the cost review has to be covered by industry.

For more background and  info on the Canadian Organic Standards Review click here

Are you interested in continuing your participation on a COS Review Working Group, or are you  interested in applying to join a WG?

If yes, please contact the OFC, at info@organicfederation.ca , 514-488-6192. We are still recruiting!

The basic Work Groups are:

•  32.310 Organic Standard: Crop WG, Livestock WG, and Processing WG
•  32.311 Permitted Substances List: PSL Crop WG, PSL Livestock WG, and PSL Processing WG

Organic related skills and expertise wanted:

•  Organic farming or processing
•  Materials/Chemical substances
•  Veterinary medicine/nutrition and supplements
•  Apiary
•  Environmental
•  Animal welfare

Participation in Working Groups is voluntary and not paid; the WG meetings are held by toll-free teleconference.

Time commitment: Up to one 2hour call every second week, depending on need.

The Chairs of the WGs will coordinate the work and agenda of the meetings and CGSB will provide secretarial assistance. Working Group Chairs selection will be finalized for each WG once funding is secured. Payment of  honorarium for WG Chairs is currently depending on the approval of an OFC application for funding under an AAFC program.

Report from the Standards Interpretation Committee

The Standards Interpretation Committee has meticulously analyzed all comments received under the two last comment periods and produced a report  presenting revised and unrevised answers. All the Q&As listed on this report are being transferred to the SIC Final Q&As section posted on OFC website. From the 190 questions received from the Canadian industry, the SIC has transferred 44 questions to the CGSB Committee on Organic Agriculture (Organic Technical Committee-OTC) for further investigation

More info coming soon. Visit the Organic federation of Canada’s website for updates