Canada has signed an organic equivalency agreement with Japan.
“We’re really happy with it and really relieved. It has been a long negotiation,” said Matthew Holmes, executive director of the Canada Organic Trade Association.
“(Japan was) very meticulous and very careful in reviewing our standards and our system, so we’re really happy to see that the government was able to negotiate this.”
It is Canada’s fifth equivalency agreement. The others are with the United States, the European Union, Switzerland and Costa Rica.
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Federal agriculture minister Gerry Ritz announced the agreement during a trade mission to India and China.
Japan is the third largest market for organic food after the EU and the U.S. and the ninth largest consumer when ranked by country.
The Japanese agreement gives Canadian organic growers access to 95 percent of the world’s $64 billion in annual organic trade, said Holmes.
Canadian organic sales to Japan are estimated at $10 to $15 million annually.
“We think that will grow quite quickly over the next five years and easily double annually by the end of that period,” he said.
Before the agreement, Canadian organic growers and manufacturers wanting to do business in Japan had to be certified and inspected in accordance with the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS). It was a costly process that prevented some business from occurring.
Starting Jan. 1, any organic crops, vegetables or processed food made with those ingredients that are certified under Canada’s standards will automatically receive the JAS logo.
Meat, dairy and honey products will not bear the JAS logo because the Japanese standard does not deal with them.
However, Holmes said the equivalency agreement will give Japanese consumers confidence in any product bearing the Canada Organic logo.
Japan is a net importer of organic products. Popular items bought from Canadian suppliers include soybeans, cereal grains, maple syrup and specialty roasted coffee. Products coming back the other way include processed soybean products, sake and rice wine.
Holmes said the industry’s priorities for future equivalency agreements include South Korea, Mexico and Brazil.
