The demand for organic food production is rising the world over with the concern for environment sustainability.
The organic food and beverage market size and the demand will be worth US $ 320.5 billion by 2025. Therefore, we have to be ready with the organic food certification to meet this growing world demand, Managing Director, Biocert International Pvt Ltd., Dr. Dillip Dhaker told a workshop on International Market Developments on Organic Markets and Organic Certification for Sri Lanka in Colombo last week.
It was organised by Biocert International and held on the theme ‘Winning Challenges’
“Our company is now a recognised control body by the European Union Commission to provide organic certification services. Therefore, Sri Lankan companies engaged in export oriented organic food production could benefit from this certification,” he said.
“Most of the countries look for certification by a third party when it comes to organic food imports,” Dhaker said
The food industry is moving towards organic farming and conventional methods have become a thing in the past. Sri Lanka needs to adopt to this change and best way to go forward is to obtain third party certification which brings international recognition to the value chain, he said.
“Consumers are conscious of what they consume and the trend is to go for organic food. The world is moving towards this concept fast and the manufactures, especially food producers should be mindful of this fact to be competitive in the global market place,” he said.
With operations around the region, Biocert was established with the objective of providing professional inspection and certification services to all stakeholders in developing countries at an affordable cost. Over the years Biocert has certified clients in many countries in Africa, East Asia and South Asia.
Biocert is a regional certification body that provides inspection and certification services for organic farming, sustainable agriculture practices, good agricultural practices and livestock management.
Among the types of certifications available are individual organic farms, organic grower groups, organic trade and handling, organic processing, organic agriculture, wild collection, wild harvest and organic livestock management.
The scope of accredited standard covers the organic supply chain from input manufacturers to producers to wholesale and retail operations ensuring organic integrity ‘from paddock to plate’. Biocert International Pvt Ltd certification program is recognized globally providing international access to the products and brands it certify.
The program is accredited under the Canada Organic Regime, IFOAM, ISO 17065 by IOAS-USA, a globally recognised accreditor.