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Mexico Organic Standards Finalized

by Jon Knapp |

En Español – Finalización de los Acuerdos Orgánicos de Mexico.

The final section of the Mexican government’s organic program, the revised production guidelines, was published at the end of October 2013. The guidelines (“Lineamientos”) join the regulations (“Regulamentos”) published in 2010 and the law (“Ley”) published in 2006 to complete the Mexican organic certification program. The official documents are currently available only in Spanish but we are working on obtaining English versions and will make them available as soon as possible.

This new national organic program requires that all organic operations in Mexico become certified to the Mexican standard by a certifying agent approved by the Mexican government. CCOF-certified operations will have until April 29, 2015, to meet this requirement. (The requirements go into effect six months after publication, or April 29, 2014, but operations with “voluntary certification” such as the USDA National Organic Program are given an extra year.)

We are working hard to analyze the new program and its requirements and develop a certification program that will meet the needs of organic operations located in Mexico and their U.S.-based partners. We are also communicating with stakeholders and government officials to gain clarity on important sections of the program and hope to have more concrete and detailed information to pass along soon.

CCOF will be communicating specifically with certified clients in Mexico about the details of this upcoming requirement; however, operations in the United States may be affected if they buy organic products from Mexico and should be aware of the upcoming changes. Note that this new certification program applies to all operations in Mexico, even if they are only producing product for export to the United States or abroad. Please look for additional information in upcoming CCOF publications. We will be sure to share as much information as we can, as soon as we can, to all affected parties. If you have questions, concerns, or information about your needs in Mexico, please contact ccof@ccof.org. We remain firmly committed to meeting the needs of our clients in Mexico, and elsewhere, to ensure ongoing market access.