Organic standards

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Before learning what organic standards are, perhaps people have already defined what organic is. Organic is called organic food or, in other words, food produced by organic methods. A product that wants to be certified Organic must comply with stringent rules and standards.

Organic standards

The requirements of the Standard

Regarding biodiversity: Organic agriculture encourages organisms and plants to live together in large areas, not only in the same field but also in adjacent habitats. The more different species of plants, animals and soil organisms live in a farming system, the more organisms there are that help maintain soil fertility and deter pests and diseases. This biodiversity will enable organic production to produce healthy products in a balanced environment.

Regarding the buffer zone: Each organic production area must be protected from contamination with chemicals that are washed away or transferred from the neighbouring field.

Regarding similar production: To avoid mixing organic and non-organic crops, organic standards only allow the same crop to be grown simultaneously in both organic and conventional fields.

About seeds and growing materials: Ideally, all sources and seedlings are organic. However, it has now been confirmed that in our country, there currently need to be organic seeds and seedlings to meet organic producers.

About genetically modified materials: Organic agriculture prevents significant risks to health and the environment. Therefore, even though highly scientifically developed technologies are sometimes only accepted if it is possible to predict the risks that may occur during their production.

Regarding organic inputs: The PGS standard will guide the types of information that can be used in organic production. Not all products on the market labelled “organic” or “biological” are allowed to be used in organic farming because they may still contain chemicals or how they are produced—not following organic principles (by using GMOs, for example). Therefore, farmers always have to check PGS standards before using a new product for organic production.

Standards for products

Organic certification by the United States Department of Agriculture, National Organic Commission (USDA) (USA – issued in 2005): certifies the most stringent organic standard because it is a proper food standard. The agency requires products containing 95% organic ingredients to use their logo. In addition, the agency also does not allow the use of synthetic preservatives and most chemical elements when processing.

BDIH (Germany – 1995) Although it is called the standard for natural body care products, the BDIH requires manufacturers to use organic ingredients wherever possible. The BDIH defines “where possible”, i.e. available in adequate quantity and quality, and determines which plants are included in this list. So, a product that contains 0% organic ingredients can still be BDIH certified. BDIH also maintains a list of ingredients that may be used in products for BDIH members. BDIH is a forerunner in creating the world’s first organic certification for body care products

The Soil Association (UK -2002) The Soil Association requires all certified products of this organization to show the organic percentage on the product label. A product is called organic when it must contain 95% organic ingredients. Products labelled “made with organic X” must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. The Soil Association does not count the product’s water content, but if water is used to make an ingredient (such as floral water), then the weight of the water is relative to the importance of the plant used. It will determine the organic rate. This method is intended to prevent manufacturers from increasing the percentage of organic ingredients in their products with plant-based water.

Cosmebio (France – 2002) Cosmebio requires products to contain 95% ingredients from agriculture to be recognized as organic. 10% of the product’s total weight (including water) must be organic. A maximum of 5% is allowed as a synthetic ingredient. Cosmebio is exclusively available to French manufacturers and is certified by Eco-cert. Eco-certificate is valid for manufacturers worldwide.

Eco-cert (France – 2002) Eco-cert requires products to contain 95% ingredients from agriculture to be certified as organic. 10% of the product’s total weight (including water) must be organic. A maximum of 5% is allowed as synthetic ingredients

Biogaranite (Belgium – 2004) is similar to Eco-cert, which requires products to contain 95% ingredients from agriculture to be certified as organic. 10% of the product’s total weight (including water) must be organic. A maximum of 5% is allowed as synthetic ingredients

Biocosc (Sweden – 2006) Requires 95% of agricultural ingredients to be certified as organic. 10% of the total product weight (including water) must be organic. Up to 3%, synthetic ingredients are allowed.

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