One of the world’s largest organic certifiers is setting up a regional office in Saskatchewan to better service its western Canadian members.
Organic Crop Improvement Association International Inc. hopes to open the office by early summer. Once that happens, member files will no longer have to be shipped to head office in Lincoln, Nebraska.
“There will be a shorter turn-around time between the time they are inspected and the time they get their final certificate,” said OCIA International president Debbie Miller.
Lori Gagnon, quality assurance co-ordinator for Sunrise Foods International Inc., a Saskatoon organic broker, said that’s a positive development.
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“I think that would be a good thing just because you have someone more local to communicate with and probably a faster response time.”
The move affects Sunrise Foods because OCIA not only certifies it, but also its farmer suppliers.
In the past Sunrise couldn’t buy from some OCIA members until their certification papers returned from Nebraska. And that can take a long time.
“I know some of the farmers who had their inspections this summer are just getting their certificates in January and February,” said Gagnon.
Miller said the approximately 1,000 western Canadian farmers that OCIA certifies can expect a one to two month turnaround time once the regional office opens.
A location for the office hasn’t been determined yet, but Muenster, Sask., is being seriously considered. The office will employ one full-time worker and up to 12 seasonal part-time staff.
Another regional office is being established in Mexico to serve Latin America.
Other changes are also taking place at OCIA.
The association is establishing a charitable organization called OCIA Research and Education Inc., which will attempt to secure foundations, grants and donations to help the organic industry.
Miller said it has been a “perennial regret” that the association has not fulfilled its mandate of education, extension and crop improvement as outlined in its bylaws. The new charitable organization should help accomplish those goals.
“We’ve been focusing a lot on certification and not as much as we would like to on organic crop improvement,” she said.
The two new regional offices will help develop and co-ordinate these research and education programs.
OCIA also plans to establish OCIA Certification Inc. a new certification branch that is needed to comply with the U.S.’s National Organic Program.
The NOP states it is a conflict of interest for a certification body to be governed by a board of directors that are certified by that same body, which was the case with OCIA International.
OCIA Certification Inc. will be solely responsible for NOP certifications, and its board of directors will be made up of people who are not certified by OCIA to the NOP standard.
The main body, OCIA International Inc., will continue to certify to other standards, such as ISO Guide 65 and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
