The federal government will inherit a hot organic potato this year when it is asked to prepare regulations setting national standards for organic agriculture.
The industry is divided on the issue, with Quebec and British Columbia pitted against other provinces.
The federal government could find itself caught in the middle of that organic family feud.
The regulations will start a three-year clock that is supposed to lead to a mandatory certification system for organic produce crossing provincial or international boundaries by 2000.
“There will be a Canada organic standard and product crossing boundaries will have to meet the definition,” said Larry Lenhardt of Lindsay, Ont., president of the Canadian Organic Advisory Board. “This has been a long time coming.”
Read Also
Research looks to control flea beetles with RNAi
A Vancouver agri-tech company wants to give canola growers another weapon in the never-ending battle against flea beetles.
He said COAB will ask Agriculture Canada to develop regulations for national certification and standards after a COAB meeting this winter.
“We need 75 percent to make decisions and we have it,” he said. “A proposal is going forward.”
At Agriculture Canada, Ann Millar, of the food inspection directorate, said the government will act. Draft regulations based on an earlier COAB proposal are based on a three-year voluntary plan followed by mandatory rules.
Industry consensus
“We have been waiting for an industry consensus,” she said. “COAB speaks for the industry.”
That is why it will be a controversial issue.
Quebec, possibly with the support of British Columbia, does not agree COAB speaks for the industry. The province will object to the proposal if it gives a national certification body any power to oversee provincial certification systems.
Robert Beauchemin of Milan, Que., the province’s representative on COAB, said in an interview the Quebec government would not agree to allow a group like COAB to oversee and second-guess decisions made by a provincially designated certification body.
“The Quebec industry does not want to isolate itself,” he said. “It wants to facilitate trade. But how control is implemented will obviously be a major part of this discussion.”
The dispute between national and provincial standards has divided the industry for years, even though all sides agree a nationally recognized standard would help the $50 million industry develop export markets. By 2002, the European Union will only accept organic products if they are certified to meet national and international standards.
Quebec and British Columbia have the most organized industries, with provincial regulation already in place.
They have resented suggestions their provincial standards be dependent on national approval or that a national body duplicate provincial certification decisions.
They have argued for the right of their existing systems to be incorporated into national standards as equivalent.
And there have been arguments about whether new regulations should be mandatory or voluntary.
Lenhardt said it was because of the lack of unanimity that COAB set its decision-making requirement at 75 percent of membership.
He said he expects negotiations with B.C. to produce agreement that will allow the province to join the consensus in asking for federal regulation.
He would not say the same for Quebec. “No comment. It is too political for me to comment on.”
Beauchemin said a major part of the problem is that while Ottawa has decided to recognize COAB as the voice of the national industry, it is not.
The board rarely meets, its decision-making process is not very transparent and it does not speak for Quebec.
“To suggest that COAB is the voice of the industry … is not very far from being a joke.”
