On March 31, 2026 the EU Commission published an analysis of 21 substances detected in organic products, including technical tables assessing occurrence, supply chain stages, and possible sources of contamination. More on that next month
Coincidentally, in this issue of The Organic Standard our focus is mainly on investigating the causes of pesticide residue contamination. Tom Nizet presents two excellent case studies illustrating the application of the ‘Vade Mecum on official investigations in organic products’. AOI congratulate and highly recommend the work of the Anti Fraud Initiative, the RESCUE network and the German Federal Organic Farming Scheme for sponsorship of the Vade Mecum document.
Bo van Elzakker continues his series on the AOI Organic Observatory learnings from fraud cases by diving into the detail of a supply chain. In addition, we asked Marion Blom of Bionext, Netherlands to explain in more detail the EU Commission proposed changes to Regulation 2018/848 and the process of debate and decision making as well as the EU Roadmap published in December 2025. These changes were one of the main topics discussed by 14 Latin American country authorities in Ecuador during March. Lastly, Nuria Alonso explores evidence of the importance of the global south smallholder.
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Table of Contents
INVESTIGATING PESTICIDE RESIDUES
CASE STUDIES ON INVESTIGATING PESTICIDE RESIDUES IN ORGANIC PRODUCTS
by Tom Nizet, Bio-Engineer
Steps in the investigation of a herbicide residue
In August 2024, a group of experts published a guidance document that centralised existing, albeit scattered, knowledge and introduced important new insights for investigating what causes the presence of pesticide residues in organic products. The publication is available as “ A Vade Mecum on Official Investigations in Organic Products.” Since its publication, the Vade Mecum has been translated into French, Bulgarian, German and Ukrainian, and is available, free of charge, on the following website: www.organic-integrity.org
During Biofach 2026, some of the authors presented case studies that demonstrate the positive impact of the Vade Mecum to guide investigations and to determine “source and cause”, as requested by the EU organic Regulation.
In this article, two of those cases are described and illustrated.
AOI — ORGANIC OBSERVATORY
CIRCUMSTANCES OF FRAUDULENT BEHAVIOUR
by Bo van Elzakker - Editor, Organic Observatory
The ‘organic’ farm - extreme example of scattered plots within conventional plots.
USING PAST CASES TO DETECT FRAUD TODAY
The article in TOS 205 Analysis of a likely fraud: a Grain case in Eastern Europe was about one specific case in Slovakia. There are other cases, with grains, for food and feed (meaning wheat and other cereals via soya to oilseed cakes) coming as far away as Kazakhstan and Russia, or from Ukraine and Moldova, but also from EU member states like Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Serbia, usually using the Black Sea to ship it from. However, the Organisers, as we can call them (producers, consultants, handlers, exporters, importers), were not only from Türkiye but also Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. More CBs were involved. The first point of entry into markets ports could have been also in Italy or Spain but also Canada and the US, or the UK.
This second article describes some characteristics of these problematic cases in more detail.
REGULATIONS
CHANGES, DECISIONS & ROADMAPS IN THE EU
by Marian Blom, Project Officer at Bionext, Netherlands
Changes include harmonisation of rules on withdrawal periods for veterinary medicines
In January we briefly reported in TOS on the EU Commission proposal for changes to Regulation 2018/848 on organic production and labelling and the EU’s ‘Roadmap’ for the sector. We asked Marian Blom of Bionext, Netherlands to explain the proposed changes in more detail and the process of decision-making that the Commission is undertaking.
14 LATIN AMERICAN AUTHORITIES MEET IN ECUADOR
by Gabriela Soto, President of Eco-Logica, Costa Rica
Delegates at the Fifth EU-LAC Agri-food Dialogue in Ecuador
On March 17th and 18th, representatives from 14 Latin American countries gathered in Ecuador for the Fifth EU-LAC Agri-food Dialogue titled “Organic Agriculture: Strengthening Sustainable Markets in the European Union and Latin America and the Caribbean.”
One of the main topics of discussion was the proposed changes to the EU Organic Regulation 848/2018 discussed in the above article. Panels with representatives from the competent authorities of the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru, and the OECC were invited to share their perspectives on how these changes might affect the certification process in their countries.
The Dialogue was organized as part of Component 2 of the AL-INVEST Verde program, which is funded by the European Union and implemented by the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Administration and Public Policies (FIAP) and the Italo-Latin American International Organization (IILA), with support from the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) and the Inter-American Commission on Organic Agriculture (CIAO).
For more information and news on the organic sector in Latin America, please visit the CIAO webpage.
ANALYSIS OF PRODUCTION DATA
THE IMPORTANCE OF GLOBAL SOUTH SMALLHOLDERS
by Nuria Alonso, TOS Commissioning Editor
She’s important
The recently published report The World of Organic Agriculture. Statistics and Emerging Trends 2026, published by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and IFOAM – Organic International, collecting data from 2024, makes clear that the three countries with the highest number of organic producers are: India, Ethiopia and Uganda.
Why these three countries and who are the producers?
India is the country with the highest number of organic producers (2,363,607), followed by Uganda (404,246) and Ethiopia (203,258).
India, a country where organic agriculture is well implemented, counts on official support. APEDA, its competent authority, published in 2024 a Study of Indian organic market and export promotion strategy. The study states that there is a strong domestic demand for organic products and the same time than export market is being actively promoted.
Most farmers in India are organised in groups of smallholders, 2,358,267 of them. Only 5,340 farmers are operating independently; all of them (groups and independent farmers) are operating under the national Indian regulation, NPOP.
The number of producers in India increased by 55% from 2021 to 2022, the study from APEDA explains, due to the rising domestic and global demand for organic food after the COVID-19 pandemic. The highest number of organic producers in India was in 2022; numbers decreased in 2023, but they grew again in 2024.
Additionally, 1.8 million farmers are registered under the participatory guarantee systems (PGS) in India. These numbers have not been included in the FiBL statistics.
In Uganda, the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) and other organisations promote organic farming, mainly among smallholders. They organise events such as the National Small-scale Farmers’ Convening on Organic Agriculture, supported by the government, which has developed the National Organic Agriculture Policy (NOAP) and the National Agroecology Strategy (NAS).
Uganda is also the leading country in Africa regarding organic land area. Main crops grown are cocoa, coffee, tropical fruits and oilseeds.
Ethiopia is the largest grower of specialist organic coffee in Africa. Most organic coffee in Ethiopia is produced by groups of smallholder farmers. Two of the three certification bodies operating in Ethiopia reported 128 groups of smallholders with ICS, having 203,134 members in total.
Ethiopia advanced a National Agroecology Strategy in 2024–2025, which is still in development but is expected to have a very positive impact on the consolidation of the organic farming in the country.
This data comes from different sources depending on the support infrastructure in each country. In India where there is considerable government support, data is provided by the authorities. In Uganda NOGAMU carried out a study in 2023/24 with the purpose to count all smallholder/ICS members of every group in the country.
In countries such as Ethiopia where organic production is not officially regulated, data is provided by the certification bodies operating in those countries. However, not all of them provide data on the number of smallholders/ICS Members.
Nevertheless, this data puts beyond doubt that the global south smallholder is a key component of organic production and supply chains in many products, especially coffee and cacao. Regulators in countries of production and in key markets clearly need to better understand this when drafting their legislation.
Our sincere thanks to Helga Willer of FIBL, the editor of the report, for her assistance and for the information provided.
SIGNPOST
RESOURCES, REPORTS & INITIATIVES
Useful information — from our partners, the organic community and beyond.
Sri Lanka national organic standard joins Family of Organic Standards: IFOAM OI report that during March 2026, the Sri Lanka national organic standard ("Requirements for Organic Agriculture Production and Processing, Sri Lanka Standard 1324:2025") was officially approved into the IFOAM Family of Standards.
The standard was developed by the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) and is licensed to the Sri Lanka Export Development Board. The National Organic Control Unit of the Sri Lankan Development Board (EDB-NOCU) serves as the competent authority for organic agriculture in Sri Lanka.
Critical EU vote on GMO legislation expected in May: IFOAM Organics Europe have drawn attention to the controversial legislative proposal on so-called New Genomic Techniques (NGTs) being in its last stage with a likely vote on the 18th of May. The compromise text agreed in December 2025 fails to address key issues (see IFOAM OE press release). Notably, transparency towards producers and consumers has been deleted, and no meaningful legal approach has been proposed on the topic of patents.
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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