Digging Deeper Why the Organic World Needs TOS, and IFOAM – Organics International Perspective

The success of organic farming worldwide (reaching 99 million Ha of certified land in 2023, representing 2.1% of the world’s farmland and above 4.3 million producers) also means that many people’s profession is to deal with organic guarantee systems (OGS) (meaning organic standards and certification issues) on a daily basis.

With hundreds of organisations involved in organic certification and standard setting globally, thousands of certified smallholder groups (and their respective Internal Control System managers), and a bunch of international and local NGOs supporting the organic movement, it is safe to assume that the world counts tens of thousands of OGS professionals, sharing the same field of competence. The field is complex, however, due to the multitude of organic standards and regulations that apply to the various locations and markets. OGS issues are intertwined and highly dynamic, subject to regulatory changes that can often have tremendous livelihood and business impact.

Staying up to date with OGS developments is not only an imperative for professionals in the increasingly competitive field of organic certification services.

It is also a prerequisite for regulators, movement advocates and supporting NGOs, in order to enable them to develop effective strategies, take appropriate decisions to support organic farming, and find better ways to tackle the fraud problem and promote organic integrity.