NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia) has secured approval from Chinese regulators for its certification arm, NASAA Certified Organic, to inspect organic operations within Australia for export to China.
According to NASAA, the deal has the capacity to boost Australia’s organic and biodynamic industry by up to $100m per year, and marks the first time that a foreign organisation has been approved to inspect organic products for export to China, as well as to inspect and certify Chinese organic operators to USDA NOP and Japanese Agricultural Standards in China.
Beb Copeman, NASAA General Manager said that the deal was the most significant initiative to be released into the Australian organic market in 30 years.
“It will save Australian operators thousands of dollars and months of paperwork in exporting their organic products to China. NASAA trained and CHC (Beijing WuYue HuaXia Management and Technique Center) approved inspectors in Australia will audit certified operators; write the various reports and our Chinese based partners assess and approve the application,” said Copeman.
“This will allow Australian organic products access to the highly regulated Chinese organic market with the same ease and cost structure as access to the American, Japanese or European organic markets.
“This means a considerable reduction in cost, time, and red tape,” he said.
Copeman says that as global demand for organics continues to rise, Australian producers are well positioned to capitalise on China’s rising middle class due to our clean and green reputation.
“One NASAA certified operator has increased their turnover from $20 million to $40 million in just one year, and many other smaller operators have doubled their turnover, due to access to China…
“China’s demand for Australia’s organic produce will continue to grow as long as China’s affluent middle classes continue to grow” he said.