OFA Welcomes Gillard Government Support of Organic Sector

Posted by Josette Dunn on 23rd July 2010

The Gillard Government will be funding $33,000 to Standards Australia to support the Australia Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products

“The OFA initiated the Australia Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products to ensure credibility of organic products.” Andre Leu, Chair of the Organic Federation of Australia says. “We are very pleased that the Gillard Government has agreed to fund the ongoing maintenance of this standard”.

“As the peak industry body for the Australian organic and biodynamic sector, the Organic Federation of Australia (OFA) has spent four years working in partnership with the government and the Australian organic and biodynamic sector on this project,” Andre stated.

“An Australian Standard will provide the organic industry with a uniform national benchmark for the production and the marketing of organic produce on the domestic market. This standard can be used by government agencies such as the ACCC to ensure compliance against misleading and deceptive practices for organic products sold on the domestic market including imported products,” Mr Leu said.

“The OFA welcomes the comments by the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Tony Burke supporting this standard” said Andre.

“Having developed the standards for organic and biodynamic products in 2009, it is vital that these remain up-to-date,” said Mr Burke.

“The adoption of a single national standard for organic produce will provide greater certainty and credibility for industry and consumers and will be a major step forward in the industry’s development.

“A broad range of organic industry stakeholders were involved in the development of the standard, including organic producers, retailers, consumer groups, certifiers, processors and government agencies. I encourage producers, certifiers and retailers to adopt this standard.” Mr Burke said.

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