Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
March 7, 2016

Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food Lawrence MacAulay and Minister of International Trade Chrystia Freeland announced today that the European Union (EU) has voted in favor of expanding the current scope of the Canada-EU Organic Equivalency Arrangement. Canadian certified organic processed products that include imported ingredients will now also be covered by the arrangement and will no longer require costly and time-consuming double certification. The expanded scope of the arrangement will also include mutual recognition of EU and Canadian organic wine standards as being equivalent.

Some administrative steps remain before the amended EU regulation comes into force. It is anticipated that the regulation will be published in the EU Official Journal by the end of March 2016. The EU regulation enters into force seven days after its official publication, at which time the revised Canada-EU Equivalency Arrangement will also come into force.

Quick Facts

• In June 2011, Canada and the EU entered into an arrangement that deemed their respective certification systems equivalent for organic agricultural products (food, feed, and seed).
• The Canadian Organic Trade Association estimates the EU market for organic products to be worth approximately 23.9 billion Euros and is the second largest organic market in the world.

Quotes

"This is great news for our hard-working Canadian organic processors and producers who will now benefit from increased opportunities to export their products to Europe. The Government of Canada recognizes the organic sector's determination in working with us to find new markets."

- Honourable Lawrence MacAulay, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food

"Allowing goods to flow more easily between Canada and Europe is a real focus for our government, and this is very welcome news for organic processors and producers who export to Europe. I look forward to building on this success as we implement our gold standard agreement with the EU, the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement."

- Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Minister of International Trade

"This is long-awaited and exciting news for our sector. Strengthening Canada's export opportunities with EU countries just took a strong step forward with recognition of Canadian Organic Regime (COR) certified organic products with ingredients from all approved suppliers."

- Dag Falck, President of the Canada Organic Trade Association

Additional Links

• Canada-European Union Organic Equivalency Arrangement - Overview
• Canada Organic Regime: A Certified Choice
• Canada-European Union Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement

Website: http://www.agr.gc.ca

Published: March 8, 2016