[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”0″ padding_right=”0″ hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”underline solid” sep_color=”#000000″ margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]US and Switzerland announce organic certification agreement [/title][fusion_text]Thursday, July 9th 2015
The United States and Switzerland announced today that beginning July 10, organic products certified in the United States or Switzerland may be sold as organic in either country. Similar to previous U.S. equivalency arrangements with Canada, Japan, Korea, and the European Union, this agreement eliminates the need for organic operators to have separate organic certification to both U.S. and Swiss standards, which avoids a double set of fees, inspections and paperwork. Through the organic equivalency arrangements reached over the past few years, U.S. organic farmers and businesses have streamlined access to over $35 billion international organic markets, according to USDA’s announcement, which also noted that the U.S. organic market is valued at $39 billion. Technical experts from the United States and Switzerland conducted on-site audits to ensure that their regulations, quality control measures, certification requirements and labeling practices were compatible, USDA said. The United States and Switzerland will review each other’s programs periodically to verify that the terms of the arrangement are being met.
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