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Table of Contents
REGULATORY UPDATES
HOW REGULATORS ARE FACILITATING TRADE OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS
India, Morroco, Sri Lanka and Tunisia - structures, standards, control systems
by Tom Nizet, Bio-Engineer
In 2024 and 2025, I had the honour and pleasure to work with 4 non-EU countries to facilitate international but also domestic trade of organic products.
Two countries, Sri Lanka and Morocco, have organic legislation but neither of these is currently recognised as equivalent to the EU organic regulation. Two others, Tunisia and India, have organic legislation in place which is partially recognised by the EU as equivalent. Each of these four countries has been working independently.
This article is adapted from the presentation given by each country at Biofach Nuremberg in February 2026 and explains the approaches taken by the different authorities at different stages of development.
AOI — ORGANIC OBSERVATORY
A message from Bo van Elzakker, AOI Board Member
Part of this issue of TOS is a first article about a possible case of fraud, bread wheat in Eastern Europe, about 10 years ago. It is part of a series of articles; different commodities, countries, set-ups, duration, etc. In the next issue of TOS there will be more about other grain, feed grain, oilcake cases in Eastern Europe. The Organic Observatory has already received from some readers suggestions for other cases, including more recent ones. We would like to hear more from readers. When you have information about fraudulent behaviour, even if just suspected, please send an email to the Organic Observatory, [email protected]. We invite comments whether you are a producer, trader, importer, inspector, certifier, oversight body or authority. We will keep your information confidential, anonymous. Secondly, spread the word (that you can subscribe to the TOS for free) to anyone that you expect to be interested in this work. Thirdly, as we have limited capacity, we look for volunteers that are willing to help us to study the different cases that may surface. It’s also an opportunity to learn a thing or two about fraud investigations. In that case, mail to [email protected]. That information too will be kept confidential.
Thanks and enjoy the read!
ANALYSIS OF A LIKELY FRAUD
Geographic theatre for a likely fraud
GRAIN CASE EASTERN EUROPE
by Bo van Elzakker - Editor, Organic Observatory
As promised in TOS 204, we are providing a series of articles on past fraud (proven or suspected) in organic supply chains with the aim of learning from past cases; how they occurred, how they were uncovered and how they were solved. We are seeking to highlight patterns and high risk situations to help inspectors and certifiers identify potential cases that deserve deeper analysis which might lead to prevention and/or prosecution.
Our first case is a write up of an AOI presentation for IOIA inspectors, early February 2024 in San Antonio, Texas. It is about a case of fraud in a supply chain involving 5 countries and 4 CBs. It was intended to give the IOIA inspectors a taste of (potential) grain fraud in Europe, specifically Eastern Europe. Some of the wheat may actually have arrived in the US. There have been some big fraud cases in the US, including imports of suspicious goods from Eastern Europe, so the inspectors were keen to know more about that. They also wanted to test whether this kind of fraud could be better stopped by the new US Rule, the SOE – Strengthening Organic Enforcement.
THE STATE OF ORGANIC: PRODUCTION AND MARKETS
by Nuria Alonso, TOS Commissioning Editor
In February FiBL and IFOAM presented statistics on organic production and markets worldwide at the recent BIOFACH trade fair, based on data from 183 countries collected in 2024. The publication is a wealth of data and articles on the status of organic production and markets around the world with some excellent contributions on policy and market trends from experts on all continents. Here is a selection of brief data highlights from the publication:
Markets
The United States remains the world's largest market — 64bn euros retail sales in 2023.
Switzerland recorded the highest per capita consumption — 468 euros per person per annum in 2023.
In Europe, Germany followed by France accounts for the highest retail sales of organic product.
China (followed by India) is the largest exporter to the US and EU of organic products in Asia (mainly oil cakes, culinary plants and beans).
Nearly 56 percent of EU and US imports are from Latin America and the Caribbean.
The largest exporter in Oceania was New Zealand (apples and wine), followed by Papua New Guinea (mainly coffee) and Australia (mainly wine).
Producers and production
In Europe, Italy (followed by France and Greece) leads in terms of numbers of producers – 84,191. Italy also has most organic processors.
In Asia (and the world), India leads in number of organic producers – almost 2.5m,
Main Asian exports of organic products are soybean oil cake, rice and sugar.
Asian country with the highest organic area share was Timor-Leste (9.2 percent), followed by India (2.5 percent) and Sri Lanka (2.5 percent).
In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 10.3 million hectares were managed organically in 2023 — almost 11 percent of the world’s organic farmland.
The largest Latin American and Caribbean exporter was Mexico (mainly bananas, tomato, peppers, avocados and sugar), followed by Ecuador (96 percent bananas) and Peru.
In Africa, Uganda has the largest farmland area under organic management, followed by Ethiopia, Togo and Burkina Faso.
Nearly 54 percent of the world’s organic farmland was in Oceania – nearly all was in Australia (53m ha) followed by New Zealand and Samoa.
In 2023, the organic banana production area grew to more than 100,000 hectares or 2.1 percent of the total banana area.
The World of Organic Agriculture. STATISTICS & EMERGING TRENDS 2025 has already been published and is available for free from the FIBL web site.
TACKLING THE UPF PROBLEM
by Nuria Alonso, TOS Commissioning Editor
New labels for Non-UPF foods
In an increasing number of countries there is considerable attention currently on ultra-processed foods or UPFs as a contributor to poor health, particularly obesity. Ultra-processed foods are defined as industrially manufactured, made from substances extracted from foods (like oils, starches, protein isolates) and often contain added chemicals (flavourings, colourings, emulsifiers, preservatives).
The US consumes the most ultra-processed food. However, according to the Non-UPF Verified project, today 91% of all adults in the US and Canada want products to have all recognisable ingredients and 72% of shoppers in the US say they are seeking to avoid ultra-processed food.
Identifying which foods are ultra processed is not so simple. While some UPFs may be obvious, like soft drinks or instant noodles, others hide behind the guise of healthy choices.
In this context, Non-UPF Verified has been launched by the Non-GMO Project under the umbrella of the movement Food Integrity Collective to help consumers clearly identify food that is not ultra-processed.
The Non-GMO Project has operated since 2007 and currently verifies more than 63.000 products.
Non-UPF Verified follows a standard and a verification process conducted by the technical administrators employed by the organisation. Food brands can apply for verification through their website; the standard is also published on their website. It establishes the criteria and requirements to decide what products can be considered as non-ultra processed, regarding product eligibility, processing requirements and formulation requirements.
Non-UPF Verified presented their project at the recent Natural Products Expo West 2026, where it announced its first seven certified brands at the show, including the well-known organic brands Amy’s Kitchen and Olyra Foods. It is interesting to realise that organic does not mean automatically non-ultra-processed. The number of additives permitted in organics is much more limited than in conventional processed food, but it is still possible to find organic snacks, sweets, breakfast products, drinks and others that can be ultra-processed. Therefore, the identification of organic food as non-ultra-processed through a verification process such as Non-UPF Verified it is an extra guarantee for concerned consumers.
Information obtained by the Non-UPF Verified process from each company includes the level of processing used for each ingredient, processing methods, formulation intent and how foods are structurally altered before they reach store shelves; information that is usually not available on the package.
The Non-UPF Verified scheme is not alone in this territory. The Non-UPF program is a non-profit established in 2024 in California and similarly provides a certification label on foods.
A further initiative with a similar purpose was presented at the Natural Products Expo West; it is a mobile scanning app, WISEcode, an AI food-data platform that analyses ingredient attributes to determine how processed a product is. Brands can also apply for the Non-UPF Shield verification to demonstrate that their products meet the WISEcode non-ultra-processed criteria.
SIGNPOST
RESOURCES, REPORTS & INITIATIVES
Useful information — from our partners, the organic community and beyond.
New guidance on the EU Organic Regulation for operators outside the EU: A new practical guidance developed by Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and COLEAD aims to help non-EU operators and groups of operators better understand the EU organic regulation when exporting to Europe.
In search of the TRUTH?: These days with so many channels of communication and so many different lobbies it seems difficult to know what’s true about anything including organic agriculture and products. IFOAM OI set out to address this in a webinar in January. The UK-based ZOE project also addressed this topic ‘according to science’ several years ago. Watch their in-depth You tube video here.
Sustainably sourced renewable materials in textiles: Ohana Public Affairs, a specialist consultancy based in Brussels, recently published a blog post exploring the role of sustainably sourced renewable materials in shaping the future of the fashion, textile and apparel industry. It defines what sustainably sourced renewable materials are, explains why they should be clearly reflected in EU legislation, and includes real examples of how organizations are engaging.
Global Standard recently announced the release of GOTS Version 8.0, the latest update to their processing standard for organic textiles. The updated standard strengthens requirements for air emissions and waste management, as well as criteria for product safety. It introduces new provisions on circularity, microfibre management and updates in residue testing.
WWF reports on Regenerative Agriculture: The World Wildlife Fund in the UK has produced various reports and videos over the last year on Regenerative Dairy Farming.
EDITOR’S NOTE
We want to hear from you, particularly local news that might be of global interest. What are your successes, what are your problems, what are your solutions? We are interested in new voices, different opinions. Do you have resources to share, are you recruiting or are you staging an event or webinar training? Organic matters — share with the rest of the world here.
Commissioning Editor: Nuria Alonso
Business Manager: David Crucefix
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