Honing In: China
Efforts to gather more information
about rapidly growing organic activities
in China led the NOP to conduct one of
its most comprehensive compliance assessments. In 2011, the NOP released a
report on its observations.
China has a small but growing demand for organic products. Some analysts expect domestic sales of organic
products in China to be as high as $3.6
million to $8.7 million by 2015. Primarily,
however, China exports large amounts of
agricultural goods for further processing
into multi-ingredient, processed products. From 1995 to 2006, the export value of
organic foods rose from $300,000 to $350 million with an annual growth rate of
30 percent.
Organically produced foods, which cover about 3. 8 million hectares in the
country, reach ports in North America, Europe and parts of Asia, including Japan
and South Korea. Crops, especially vegetables, account for the largest organic export by value. Shipped in dried, frozen or liquid bulk form, these organic products find their primary market in Europe, although the U.S. receives products
certified to USDA Organic regulations.
Rapid growth of production and surge in demand for organic products in the
U.S. correlates with greater certifier activity in the past few years. In 2006, there
were 496 organic operations in China certified under the NOP regulations. As of
September 2010, that number had risen to 649 organic operations that are certified by nine NOP-accredited certifying agents operating in China.
The growth of certified operations in China points to increased consumer demand for organic products in the U.S. However, public concerns about products
originating from foreign sources prompted the NOP to initiate an assessment of
China-based NOP certifying agents as well as to evaluate Chinese operations that
were exporting organic products to the U.S.
Chinese export value of organic
foods was last tallied in 2006 to
be over $350 million, with an
annual growth rate of 30 percent
from 1995 to 2006. Today,
organic agriculture covers 3. 8
million hectares in the country.
Organic maize and peanut production in
China’s Shandong Province.
As the NOP observed during its assessment, multiple export markets for
China’s organic products mean that
multiple organic certification systems
are at work simultaneously. The majority of certified operations in China
comply with dual or triple standards to
allow for marketing flexibility. The
three major organic certifications are
that of the European Union, Japan
and United States. Therefore, China-based accredited certifying agents normally certify operations to two or more
organic certification standards.
This unique characteristic presents
challenges for operations, certifiers
and inspectors since they have to
learn, understand and implement different standards according to different
export markets. For example, in cases
when a compliance investigation is
necessary to address potential rule violations, EU regulations allow certifiers
to halt the sale of organic product.
Under the NOP regulations, affected
parties are guaranteed due process of
appeal and a hearing before an administrative law judge prior to any decision
that would affect their certification.
Given that the majority of organic
products are exported to European
markets, NOP auditors noted a natural
tendency for accredited certifying
agents to default to EU organic
standards. According to Lars Crail,
NOP technical expert who led the
compliance assessment in China, “If
both organic systems were compared
in terms of language fluency, the EU
certification system would be the na-
tive language and the NOP certifying
system would be considered a second
or learned language.”
Overlapping organic standards and
cultural differences, including lan-
guage, could occasionally result in mis-
use of NOP regulatory terms. For
example, Crail noted, a certifier used
the term “reinstatement” in a notice of
revocation to an operation when rein-
statement can actually only be re-
