Alliance for Organic Integrity – Strengthening organic assurance globally

The Alliance was founded in 2019 by IOAS to improve organic integrity.

 Our mission, is to be the global multistakeholder Alliance that delivers the education, tools and resources needed to lift quality in organic control; maintaining the integrity of organic certification and consumer confidence in the organic label.


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We aim to

Collaborate with Stakeholders

Collaborate with stakeholders from industry, control bodies, government agencies and non-profits to share knowledge, innovations, resources and solutions for organic integrity.

Lift Quality

Lift quality in organic inspection, certification and accreditation through education and training in best practice.

Deliver Tools

Deliver tools that help prevent fraudulent products entering organic supply chains.

Promote Harmonization

Promote the harmonization of organic requirements to enable more efficient and consistent application.

The Alliance for Organic Integrity launched The Organic Integrity Mapping Project at Biofach 2024. This research project has now taken place and we are in the process of writing the report. A summary has been published in Issue 195 of The Organic Standard. The Alliance has initiated this research project in order to develop a thorough understanding of the global organic integrity landscape: the organisations and initiatives currently working to improve the integrity of the organic control system or address deficiencies within it. As well as sharing findings as a resource for the organic control community via the website and The Organic Standard publication, The Alliance will identify the gaps that need to be filled and identify initiatives to support as well as organisations to bring into The Alliance as Partners. Many thanks to the 87 global experts and stakeholders who took the time to complete this survey!  We thank all contributors in advance for sharing their knowledge and insights. 


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In 2023 The Alliance partnered with Biocertification SL to re-launch the much respected The Organic Standard online journal.  The Alliance and BSL recognised the gap for an information resource that reports on timely issues affecting organic integrity and the organic control community: The Organic Standard aims to fill this gap, providing the organic community with much needed news, analysis, insight and guidance on global organic regulatory, standards and control issues.  The journal has a growing number of subscribers representing certification bodies, standard setters, sector bodies, governments, consultancies and industry. It has become widely recognised as the credible source of international news and analysis for organic standards setting, certification, regulation and accreditation. The journal has different sections such as Certification & Accreditation, Standards & Regulation, Updates and Opinion, and Country Focus Reports. 

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Recent and Upcoming Events

Keynote Speech at the 17th Organic Asia Congress, Handan City, China 

Alliance President, Francis Blake, was invited to give the keynote speech at the 7th Organic Asia Congress, held in Handan City, China from 18th to 21st June.  Held in conjunction with the IFOAM Organic Industry and Organic Product Market Development Conference and the 6th IFOAM-Organics Asia General Assembly, this gathering brought together over 100 delegates from 22 countries to discuss global organic trade, technological innovations, organic standards and low carbon development.

In his Keynote, entitled “Reaffirmation of Integrity in Organic Standards”, Francis gave his assessment of how current organic standards deliver on the principles of Health (about 8/10), Ecology (9/10), Fairness and Care (5/10 each), but also cautioned about using standards as the only tool for improving integrity – they must correspond with what is viable and achievable for farmers (and others in the supply chain).

Francis identified harmonisation between standards as an ongoing problem, which is now an issue for national and international regulations (whereas it was previously just between private standards).  This negatively affects trade, partly because it adds cost and complexity, which in turn increases risks to integrity.  

Finally he addressed the issue of policing the standards properly, which is more AOI’s area.  Are inspectors and certifiers adequately trained, and do they have the necessary tools for the job (including a mandate to really investigate discrepancies, rather than just issue a non-compliance)?  How do certifiers operate in other countries and are they overseen properly?  Is there sufficient communication and cooperation between certifiers certifying different parts of the same supply chain?  These are all problems identified by IOAS (the Alliance’s parent body) and which the Alliance is aiming to address. 

NEWS AND UPDATES

The Organic Integrity Mapping Project – 2024 Survey

The Mapping Project undertaken by The Alliance has taken place and the results from 87 submitted surveys are being consolidated. We’re grateful to all those who responded, 50% of whom were from Europe or North America with the remaining from South Asia, South East Asia, Australia, Central & South America, Africa & the Middle East. Around 30% of respondents were from Associations, Membership or Networking organisations, 28% were certifiers with the remaining from government bodies, retailers, not-for-profits, input assessors, standard owners a laboratory and an accreditation body.

We will be updating the website on the full results, but in the meantime here is a preview showing respondents views on the importance of various organic integrity issues and the major challenges going forward:

When respondents were asked how important various organic integrity issues were on a scale of 1-5,  the following percentage rated them as being important (4 or 5/5):

  • 75% of respondents believed the harmonization of regulations is important, to ensure organic integrity globally
  • 76% of respondents believed the development of better forensic tools is important, to ensure organic integrity globally
  • 80% believed it was important for the organic community to communicate about organic integrity issues
  • 83% believed it was important to prevent and tackle fraud, to ensure organic integrity globally
  • 90% of respondents believe it is important to build competence through training, to ensure organic integrity globally

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