DIALOGUE
Overcoming Obstacles
in Exporting from the United States
An interview with Bob Anderson of Sustainable Strategies and Katherine DiMatteo
of Wolf, DiMatteo + Associates, Project Leaders for OTA’s Global Gap Analysis
Despite hard economic times, organic is still in demand throughout he world—but there are many areas that don’t have access to organic products, especially processed foods. For companies in the U.S., this
means there is a world of opportunity to expand their markets.
Exporting, however, gets very tricky
when you start taking into account
all the various organic standards
and lists of what is allowed and
what is not allowed.
To help break down trade barriers and in-
crease market opportunities, the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural
ganic products—including assessments and gap analyses. Gap analyses are detailed, side-by-side
comparisons of the U.S. national organic standards and those of designated countries. Each
analysis identifies the barriers to exporting U.S. organic products to specific international spe-
cialty markets. In 2009 alone, the team helped with negotiations to create agreements with Tai-
wan and the landmark equivalency agreement with Canada.
Katherine DiMatteo
Bob Anderson
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ORGANIC PROCESSING
