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Publicly announced way back in September, 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture’s new regulations around the term ‘organic’ took effect on Sept. 1, 2018. Producers and processors had three years to prepare and become federally or provincially certified to claim food and beverage products are organic.
Prior to this shift, there was no monitoring of BC products labelled or claimed as organic within the province, but goods moving inter-provincially were regulated. According to a fact sheet, the ministry says the change is to bring peace of mind to consumers who can trust that a product labelled as being organic is in fact just that.
Shirlene Cote of Earth Organic Farm is part of Glen Valley Organic Farm Cooperative and notes the farm has been certified for about 20 years so the change doesn’t impact the two businesses that operate on the site.
“The two businesses are still audited separately,” she says. “They [auditors] come out, we organize so that we’re all on the farm together. Then some things are audited together because we have some things that are shared, like barn space… then other things are separate, like inventory.”
Glen Valley Organic Farm Cooperative is certified through the BC Association for Regenerative Agriculture, which is one of the nine certification bodies under the Certified Organic Association of BC (COABC). Samantha Graham, administrative assistant with COABC notes it is up to producers and processors to choose the best certification body (CB) for their business depending upon fit, location and whether they will export products outside of BC.
“Six CBs are regionally accredited certifiers and three CBs are COR (Canadian Organic Regime) accredited certifiers,” Graham says.
The COR accredited certification bodies are able to provide certification for trade outside BC.
“Both types of CBs can certify products to the British Columbia Certified Organic Program (BCCOP),” she notes. “Meaning they are suitable certifiers for operators trading products exclusively within BC.”
Costs for certification vary among providers and there is an additional fee for COABC membership. Graham notes that while membership has increased over the last few years, there is no data to support whether or not it is because of the new provincial regulations. There are currently more than 750 members of the organization.
“The COABC membership fee is calculated on a sliding scale based on gross organic income and is collected by the CB annually on COABC’s behalf,” Graham says.
Cote, who grows fruit (berries, apples, pears and plums), vegetables and eggs, hasn’t noticed much discussion of the new regulations among other growers, but she adds the timing of implementation is during harvest. She doesn’t anticipate much change as a result of the new regulations at the farmers’ markets in Vancouver where she sells her products. She also offers CSA boxes (Community Supported Agriculture).
“Even at the farmers markets and stuff it’s always been regulated for us. We were already required to only put up a sign if you were certified,” she says. “Some people might be calling their CSA organic and they’re not certified. Most people, that I know anyways, that aren’t certified, are very careful with their wording.”
She notes that those who aren’t certified might make verbal claims like “we practice organic, but we aren’t certified.” It’s an important distinction because the Ministry of Agriculture fact sheet notes the term organic is now a protected label in BC. That means, it can only be used on food or beverages produced or processed in BC that meet certification conditions.
The fact sheet also states that other grammatical forms, phonetic representations and abbreviations or symbols of organic are covered by the protected label status. Thus, using a representation like “Our apples are Or-Gan-Ick” would be liable for the graduated enforcement COABC will implement. However, legal business names are exempt from the status.
Enforcement is based on the ability to produce proof of certification when requested by the ministry. Without certification, penalties such as fines may apply, though there is no explanation of what enforcement may look like on the ministry’s fact sheet.
Cote is glad she doesn’t have to worry about the issue but notes others – especially at farmers’ markets – will be at risk if they don’t follow the rules.
“When I could I did. I grabbed an opportunity that allowed me to certify. I’ve never seen it really be an issue,” she says. “It would be interesting, other markets I’ve heard that there have been problems. It will be interesting to see how much more things are regulated.”
She says one of the biggest issues at farmers’ markets is ensuring vendors are selling their own products and can stand behind claims of organic, locally-grown or spray-free.