Kia ora koutou and welcome to the December edition of MPI Organic News

As we head toward the end of the year and wrap up Organic News for 2023 it’s great to look back on the milestones that have been achieved this year.

On 5 April 2023 the Organic Products and Production Bill received Royal Accent officially becoming an Act. This took us a step closer on our journey of regulating organics and could not have been done without the support from all involved. 

In March 2023 the process regulations proposals were agreed by Cabinet, and they also agreed to public consultation on the proposals for a National Organic Standard.  The engagement during this consultation did not go unnoticed with a total of 94 submissions received across two phases. With careful review and consideration your feedback helped shape the National Organic Standard regulation proposals that were agreed by Cabinet and have just recently been published. Once again thank you for your time and effort put into submissions.

This is the last edition of Organic News this year, the team want to wish you a very safe and happy summer period and a relaxing start to 2024. We look forward to seeing you all in the New Year with our regular editions returning in February! Ngā mihi o te wā (Seasons Greetings).

The Organic Products And Production Act: Organic Standards Regulations – Cabinet Paper has now been published online. You can access the document via the link as well as Appendix One which outlines the proposals that have been agreed.

We are continuing to work alongside our legal team to ensure the drafting instructions for Parliamentary Counsel Office (PCO) capture the intent of what has been agreed. The next step is for PCO to receive these instructions and assign a drafter.

The National Organic Regulations Summary of Submissions has also been finalised and published. This provides a summary of the submissions received for the NOS regulations that were consulted on from April to July this year. Within the summary you will see the sections from the proposals that received the most comments, a summary of the viewpoints and what actions and considerations have been taken.

The Organics Sector Advisory Council met last week to hear about progress on the drafting of the regulations and notices under the Organic Products and Production Act 2023.  The focus of the discussion was on the end of 2024 deadline for negotiating a treaty level agreement with the European Union and what the sector can do to assist us in meeting this deadline.  This includes engaging early when the National Organic Standard supplementary notice content is released next year for discussion. We are aiming to release this content in February 2024 followed by drop-in sessions with the sector and public consultation in March and April 2024. The public consultation period will not be able to be extended so we need your help as a sector to ensure all feedback is submitted during the set timeframe.

We will let you know the schedule of drop-in sessions early next year.

The United States Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (USDA NOP) has introduced a new Strengthening of Organic Enforcement rule which must be implemented by March 2024. The recent rule brings several changes for operators in the US supply chain.

From March 2024:

• all organic operators will need to include a “Fraud Prevention Plan” as part of their Organic Management Plan,
• organic export consignments will need to be accompanied by a NOP Import Certificate issued by The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI). 

MPI is working with the Official Organic Assurance Programme recognised agencies to ensure all parties are ready to issue these. But exporters are encouraged to contact their US buyers/importers, to ensure they are doing what they need to do at their end to get certified (if they are not already).

Please note that from March 2023, it will not be possible to create or issue a NOP Import Certificate if the US importer is not certified organic.

Consultation on Organic Export Requirement Proposed Amendments is Now Live

Consultation on the proposed changes to the Organic Export Requirement: Organic Production Rules (OER: OPR) was published 8 December and will be open until 2 February 2024. This consultation on this requirement is part of work to ensure that the Official Organic Assurance Programme export requirements continue to be up to date and fit for purpose.

The proposed changes include the use of lignosulphonate as an input for organic production, and other updates to clarify the requirements and scope of this organic export requirement. This consultation is separate to the implementation of the Organic Products and Production Act 2023, and the development of regulations and National Organic Standard.

The consultation document and submission template are available at: Proposed amendments to the Organic Export Requirements: Organic Production Rules | NZ Government (mpi.govt.nz)

For more information about exporting organic products, and the Official Organic Assurance Programme visit Exporting organic food.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact organics@mpi.govt.nz