Q&A with Derek Broadmore: Protecting the Organic Sector Through Regulation
Derek has spent 35 years as a lawyer in private practice including 8 years as chair of the Quota Appeal Authority. He has had 30 years of involvement in organic farm development and environmental activism and has served as chair and director of several organic companies and grassroots organisations, including chair of the organic certifier BioGro and chair of OANZ. He was also an early director of the Environmental Defence Society.
Derek Boardmore is currently the Convenor of OANZ’s Technical Working Group on the Organic Products Bill. The group meets periodically to discuss outstanding issues and progress with the Bill. The Working Group is also working closely with MPI on the development of the new National Organic Standard that will be a central feature of the new regulated organic environment. Derek will be hosting a panel with MPI’s organic team at the 2022 Organic Action Day on 23rd September. We recently caught up with Derek to find out about the current state of play with the Bill, Standards and Regulations.
You’ve been involved in New Zealand’s organic sector for over 30 years, tell us a little about history, and your role within OANZ? And why this Bill is important to you?
My interest in organics arose as a natural progression from my involvement in the environmental movement during the 1970’s. My wife and I purchased farmland in the Wairarapa in 1984 and we decided that we would farm it following organic principles. We developed a small mixed farm with an apple orchard, sheep, cattle and, for a time, a market garden. We were certified by BioGro with which I was involved through my legal practice in Wellington.
OANZ arose from a strategic review of the organic sector completed in 2003 by its forerunner, the Organics Federation of NZ. OANZ was subsequently funded by the then Labour Government as part of a confidence and supply agreement with the Green Party. The task was to support farmers and other producers to transition into organic production. I was on the BioGro Council and became one of its representatives on the OANZ Council. Subsequently, at different times, I was chair of BioGro and OANZ.
What’s the story with the current organic standards in New Zealand?
Currently, there is no regulation of the organic sector in the NZ domestic market. Organic certification is provided by one of four private certifiers, Assure Quality, BioGro, OFNZ (Organic Farm NZ) and Demeter, the Biodynamic certificate. Te Waka Kai Ora also provides an indigenous certification ( Hua Parakore) that can either sit alongside one of the other organic certificates or stand alone.
Currently, the only Government involvement is with the export of organic products, which provides assurance to overseas markets through the Official Organic Assurance Program run by MPI. This program enables exporters to claim organic status for NZ products in our overseas markets.
Because the sector is currently unregulated, the only sanction against misleading organic claims in the marketplace is through the Fair Trading Act.
The Organic Products Bill is currently going through parliament; what are the Bill's main points, and why is it necessary?
The stated aims of the Bill are to;
Increase consumer confidence in purchasing organic products
Increase certainty for businesses making claims that their products are organic
Facilitate international trade in organic products
Central to the Bill is the development of a new National Organic Standard. Any producer that wants to be certified or approved as organic will need to meet the new standard. It will be unlawful to claim that a product is organic unless it meets the new standard. This will reduce the possibility of misleading claims about the organic status of a product.
The new system also has the potential to simplify NZ’s export of organic products.
What are the benefits for Kiwi farmers, growers and producers?
The new system will provide greater integrity and reduce the possibility of false organic claims. Farmers and producers will have confidence that unscrupulous producers who are not certified will not undermine the market. While there is not much evidence that false organic claims are a significant problem currently, I think it can be expected that as the market expands. Potential financial returns increase and the likelihood for it to occur will increase.
The new standard will also provide consistent rules across the sector and the certainty for producers that goes with that. For exporters, the National Standard will provide the basis for the Government to negotiate equivalence agreements with trading partners whereby each agrees to recognise the certification of the other without independent verification. This is likely to be an essential aspect of negotiating future trade agreements.
How will consumers benefit from the new rules?
Consumers will have confidence that when they purchase certified organic products, they are what they claim to be. Hopefully, the new system will provide a sound basis for the ongoing expansion of organic production within Aotearoa, NZ. This will lead to greater volumes and a greater variety of organic products. As production increases and the support systems around organic production become more available, the prices of products will align more closely to conventional products.
What is the timeline for implementing the Organic Bill, Standards and Regulations?
The Organic Products Bill has not yet been passed into law, so it is difficult to set a clear timeline. The Bill is awaiting its second reading in the House. It has cross-party support, and we are expecting it to pass this stage over the next month or two.
Drafting the new National Standard has already started in anticipation of the bill becoming law. Working parties comprising producers, current certifiers and others drawn from all parts of the sector are working with MPI to develop the standard based on the best international and domestic models available.
MPI has consulted the regulations, and initial thoughts on their shape and form have emerged. However, until the Bill itself has been passed, it is impossible to undertake the detailed drafting process.
I understand that assuming the Bill and Regulations are passed by the end of next year and work is completed on the Standard, we will be able to complete a transition period for implementing the new system within the following three years.
What role does OANZ play regarding the Organic Bill and new standard?
OANZ is the umbrella organisation for the organic sector. It has more than 40 members, from the smaller domestic organisations and interest groups to most major exporters. While many member organisations have pressed their specific concerns and ideas on the new system with Government, they have also fully participated in an OANZ-led cross-sector approach which has seen it take a central role in consultation, negotiation and discussion with Government to progress this legislation.
Bringing the sector’s views together through OANZ has given it significant credibility with MPI to the point where we have developed a very constructive relationship. This is now playing out in the development of the new Standard, and we hope it will continue into the drafting of the regulations.
Where do you see the organic sector in 10 years?
Ecosystem collapse and greenhouse gas emissions resulting in climate change, water degradation and species loss are now very clearly apparent. One of the most significant changes we must make to meet and reverse these challenges is how we produce food. Conventional production systems tend to be monocultures heavily dependent on synthetic fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides that destroy soil health, contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, pollute waterways and contribute to loss of habitat and the decline of insect and bird species.
Organic production has the potential to significantly shift food production from an essentially destructive model to a regenerative one where agriculture becomes part of the solution to the problem rather than its cause.
I think the potential for organic regenerative agriculture to deliver ecosystem benefits will become more and more widely recognised and understood. For example, the EU already has a target of 25% of productive land in organic agriculture by 2030, making financial resources available to member countries to achieve that goal. In New Zealand, there is increasing awareness both within the Government and the whole agricultural community of the need to change how we produce food significantly. Sustainability and regeneration are recognised as essential.
Organic Regenerative production is the best model to meet this challenge. I am very optimistic that it will become the standard for most food production over the next ten years.
Join Derek as he hosts a panel with the MPI Organic Regime Team on the next stage of the Organic Products Bill at the Organic Action Day.