Study on legislation of organic products quality

Abstract

Consumers' demand for organic food has steadily increased in recent years. Operators who produce, process, storage, trading and/or import from a third country certified organic food and/or in conversion period, before placing them on the market must undergo the activity of production unit/farm to the inspection/certification system. Inspection and certification bodies accredited by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development carry out inspections and issue certificates for organic farmers. Certificates attest to compliance with national and international standards governing organic farming and quality of products. The world's most important organization, the International Federation of Organic Farming Movements (IFOAM), has developed the first standards of organic food production and processing in 1980, which it has developed in collaboration with its UN partners, the Organization for Food and Agriculture (FAO), the Codex Alimentarius Commission and the United Nations Trade and Development Conference (UNCTAD), becoming the IFOAM Family of Standards. It is known as COROS (Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standards). These standards currently include production standards with major regulations in EU Regulation 834/2007, as well as other standards, about 50, among which the most important ones are: the US National Organic Program, Japan Standards for Agriculture, and others. Also, in 2005, the ISO 22000 "Food Safety Management Systems - Requirements for any organization in the food chain" was developed and approved as the first international standard for Food Safety Management System. In this context, this paper presents the results of a study on the regulation of the organic products quality.