Organic Processing Vol.6 #3

Organic Fiber Walking Tour
At All Things Organic Show

While at ATO, don’t miss the Organic Fiber Walking Tour of the Magnificent Mile, Chicago’s world famous shopping district, Tuesday, June, 16. The tour will stop at stores large and small that are selling a wide

and ingredients flowing smoothly without additional certifications or major changes in farm or processing operations.

On March 18, 2009 Taiwan officially added the United States to its list of recognized countries with equivalent organic standards for fresh and processed crop and livestock products. Also, the USDA National Organic Program’s approved certification agencies are now recognized by the Taiwan Agriculture and Food Agency (AFA) to certify products as organic in Taiwan.

Adapted from Wolf, DiMatteo + Associates’ “News & Policy Updates for the Organic Industry.” For more details, contact the company at info@organicspecialists.com.

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variety of organic cotton products including Gap, H&M, Levi Strauss and Skinstinct. Attendees will see the latest styles and learn from retailers, all the while networking with one another and getting the chance to shop with substantial discounts! Cost per registrant is $50 and lunch is included. For more information visit the ATO website: www.organicexpo.com, and click on “store tours.”

International Updates

The U.S. and Canada are very close to completing an equivalency agreement on organic regulations. National Organic Program Director Barbara Robinson announced at the OTA Policy Conference on March 25th that there are only a few particulars left to work out to reach an agreement. Canadian officials have sent this message about the meetings with the U.S. on equivalency: “Recent discussions were productive and significant progress was made in the technical evaluations of our respective national organic programs.

Both Canada and the U.S. are optimistic that an arrangement recognizing our national organic systems as equivalent could be concluded prior to the implementation of the Canadian program on June 30, 2009.” This would be momentous for the organic industry—a precedent that will keep trade in organic products