Contents of this page:
Download the Australian Certified Organic Standard (ACOS) 2010
Download tracked changes document from AOS 2006 standard to ACOS 2010
Frequently asked questions
Download Australian Certified Organic Standard (ACOS) 2010
Alternatively to order your hard copy, contact the BFA office on 07 3350 5716 or email: info@bfa.com.au
To save the document to your computer, right click on the link and chose "save target as".
ACOS is used directly by the majority of industry in certifying organic products, and is best known as the standard which sits behind the Australian Certified Organic ‘Bud’ logo seen on the majority of products in the Australian marketplace. Read more in the Frequent Q&A section on this page.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
INTRODUCTION 4
BACKGROUND ON BFA 5
1 SCOPE 6
2 DEFINITIONS 7
HOW TO USE THIS STANDARD 12
CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS: GENERAL 13
3 BASIC CERTIFICATION REQUIREMENTS 14
3.1. CERTIFICATION PROCESS 14
3.2. MAINTAINING CERTIFICATION 17
3.3. NON-COMPLIANCE AND CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS 20
3.4. DOCUMENTS, RECORDS AND AUDIT TRAILS 22
3.5. LABELLING, PACKAGING, MARKETING MATERIAL & INGREDIENT SPECIFICATIONS 23
3.6. PARALLEL PRODUCTION 26
3.7. TYPES OF CERTIFICATION 26
3.8. CERTIFICATION TRANSFERENCE/RECOGNITION ARRANGEMENTS 27
3.9. DEFERRAL OF CERTIFICATION 28
STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS: GENERAL: PRIMARY PRODUCTION 29
4 GENERAL PRODUCTION STANDARD – PRIMARY PRODUCTION 30
4.1. SOIL FERTILITY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT 30
4.2. BROUGHT-IN MATERIALS, STOCK AND EQUIPMENT 31
4.3. COMPOSTS 33
4.4. WATER MANAGEMENT AND ECOLOGY 34
4.5. PEST, DISEASE AND WEED MANAGEMENT 36
4.6. HACCP BASED FARM FOOD SAFE 36
4.7. ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT AND SOCIAL POLICY 39
4.8. CONTAMINATION (CHEMICAL, GENETIC, PHYSICAL) SOILS AND PRODUCE AND BUFFER ZONES 40
STANDARDS REQUIREMENTS: SECTOR SPECIFIC 45
5 LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION 46
5.1. LIVESTOCK MANAGEMENT - GENERAL 47
5.2. POULTRY – MEAT AND EGG PRODUCTION 53
5.3. PORCINE (PIG) PRODUCTION 56
5.4. DAIRY PRODUCTION 56
5.5. CAPRINE (GOAT) PRODUCTION 57
5.6. MISCELLANEOUS INTENSIVE PRODUCTION ENVIRONMENTS 58
5.7. EXTENSIVE RANGELAND PRODUCTION 58
PROCESSING/PREPARATION 60
6.1. PRODUCTION FACILITIES, PROCESSES, RECORDS & PROCEDURES 60
6.2. ANIMAL PRODUCTS 64
6.3. DURABLE FOODSTUFFS 65
6.4. PERISHABLES (FRUITS, VEGETABLES) & WET PROCESSING 67
6.5. BEVERAGES 67
6.6. MISCELLANEOUS PROCESSED PRODUCTS: PET FOODS; COSMETICS; FIBRES 67
7 MISCELLANEOUS PRODUCTION SYSTEMS 74
7.1. HONEY AND BEE KEEPING 74
7.2. GREENHOUSE PRODUCTION, NURSERIES AND SEED PRODUCTION 77
7.3. SPROUTS INCLUDING WHEATGRASS 79
7.4. MUSHROOMS 79
7.5. WILD HARVEST 80
7.6. SILVICULTURE / FOREST MANAGEMENT 81
7.7. AQUACULTURE 82
7.8. SPECIAL PROJECTS, PLANTATIONS AND ESTATES – INTERNATIONAL 84
7.9 FAIR TRADE - ETHICAL TRADE 86
8 MARKETING & HANDLING 90
8.1. RETAIL AND BUTCHER 90
8.2. WHOLESALER/EXPORTER/IMPORTER 91
8.3. RESTAURANTS AND PREPARED FOOD SUPPLIERS 92
8.4. TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OPERATIONS 93
8.5 FARMERS MARKETS AND OTHER MARKETS 94
9 MANUFACTURED INPUTS, AIDS & ADDITIVES AND APPROVED SERVICES 96
9.2. AGRICULTURAL INPUTS – SELECTION CRITERIA 96
9.3. AIDS AND ADDITIVES – SELECTION CRITERIA 98
9.4. CLEANSERS, SANITISERS AND DISINFECTANTS 99
9.5. EDIBLE MINERALS 99
9.6. SPRING AND PURE WATER 100
9.7. APPROVED SERVICES 101
ANNEXES 102
EXPLANATION TO ANNEXES FOR CROP AND LIVESTOCK INPUTS & TREATMENTS 102
ANNEX I: CROP PRODUCTION INPUTS 104
ANNEX II: LIVESTOCK TREATMENTS & INPUTS 112
EXPLANATION TO ANNEXES FOR PROCESSING AIDS & ADDITIVES, AND SANITISERS 115
ANNEX III: PROCESSING AIDS & ADDITIVES 116
ANNEX IV: CLEANSERS, DISINFECTANTS, AND SANITISERS 120
ANNEX V: BIODYNAMIC STANDARD 121
ANNEX VI: LOGO TYPES 123
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 125
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Download tracked changes from AOS 2006 standard to ACOS 2010 (updated March 2011)
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Frequently asked questions: The Australian Certified Organic Standard 2010
There are regularly questions about organic standards and regulations in Australia and we trust the following assists in you charting this area for your business or for your interest as a consumer.
Q: What standard am I certified to and what is the ACOS 2010?
A: The Australian Certified Organic Standard (2010) which is now current and available for free download from the BFA website is used directly by the majority of industry in certifying organic products. This is the Standard owned by BFA members and outlines the requirements for placement of the Bud logo with the words “Australian Certified Organic” on organic products as well as for other programs including the OGA small producers program, and also selected international market requirements (however some export market requirements also require the specific standard of the relevant regulator such as the USDA for the US, etc). This standard also outlines specifications for farming inputs and gardening approved products under the Bud program, along with sectors such as cosmetics, pet food, farmers markets, fair/ethical trade, textiles, aquaculture and more.
The ACOS brings other standards and organic logos together and outlines how an operator may then in turn place the most recognized organic logo the Bud on products in Australia as well as for export. This standard covers off on all the requirements of the Australian Standard referred to as the AS 6000 plus much else besides. The ACOS can best be described as the “AS 6000 plus”. It also incorporates other regulatory requirements and has been more recently assessed for equivalence with the EU regulations.
Q: Why a new standard and what updates are there in this standard?
A: The Australian Certified Organic Standard 2010 (formerly the AOS 2006) has integrated changes made through the past few years to the prior standard including additions over the past 2 years of Farmers Markets, updates to Cosmetics, updates to ensure direct access to the EU into the future, and other areas besides. There is a tracked changes document for those who wish to review these changes, while key material changes have already been communicated to certified operators over 2010 as these occurred.
The following sectors need to pay particular attention to changes to their sectors or following areas:
Cosmetics; Mushrooms; Honey; Processing, Packaging and Labelling; Primary Production; Livestock; Poultry; Pigs; Special Projects.
There is also further clarification on such issues as nanotechnology.
These changes have been communicated to industry in May 2010 and hence the ACOS 2010 is now current as of 1st December 2010.
Q: Why are there a number of standards both in Australia and internationally?
A: There has been now for 2 decades, almost as long as the BFA itself has been setting organic standards, an AQIS National Standard relating to export of products to selected markets. In the 1990s this standard was particularly relevant for the EU market while recognized by a limited number of other countries. More recently, through this decade the international market access model has shifted (by the likes of the US in particular, now Japan, Korea, etc) to one of directly recognizing certification agencies such as Australian Certified Organic (ACO) certification program.
Indeed ACO (a subsidiary certification agency of BFA) now carries 7 separate internationally relevant accreditations directly with agencies for different markets (the latest being Korea). While far from ideal for industry members, this has been the basic and rude reality of international trade, and in this challenging space our industry group has put considerable resources behind ensuring markets are as open as they possibly can be for our members. For information on organic certification click here: www.aco.net.au
In a decade that has seen AQIS slipping behind in market access and recognition for Australian exporters, BFA as a Group has moved forward to ensure there remains choice and market access wherever possible for Australian producers and value adders. This is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable years ahead – ie it will be up to industry, not government, to resolve many of these issues and secondly (regrettably but a reality) more, not less, governments internationally are not likely to recognize Australian standards but continue to craft their own – meaning direct certification to their requirements (via the likes of ACO) will remain a reality for access into those markets.
Lastly and what does cause some confusion, there are other international standards at play, and some of this product also finds its way to Australian retail shelves. Such standards include those of the USDA (NOP); Japan (JAS); Canada (COR); Korea, etc. In each instance BFA’s subsidiary ACO, is accredited directly to those requirements for access into those markets. Operators however need to have a specific ACO certificate for such markets for access (eg an ACO NOP certificate, etc) and on occasion the standards and certification requirements do differ from that of the ACOS and other standards relevant within Australia.
So the reality is that there will remain a range of organic standards at play in the world and within Australia. The good news is these are simplified both by the ACOS as well as the Bud logo program through co-operative recognition programs, meaning consumers are increasingly realizing how simple it can be to look for organic products. The other good news is that this “family” of standards all have a common backbone of what organic is – from prohibition of use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers and GMOs, while requiring a natural farming system approach with a very restricted list of food additives at the processing level.
Q: How does the ACOS relate to the AS 6000 – the Standards Australia standard?
A: The AS 6000, is a voluntary domestically relevant standard owned by Standards Australia. While the AS 6000 remains a voluntary standard it may be used in future by the ACCC, in concert with industry standards such as the ACOS 2010, to prosecute less than scrupulous traders not complying with industry recognized standards and certification. The BFA is involved in this standards setting forum (via the FT 032 committee) and recognizes it as one legitimate forum nationally for reviewing standards issues, alongside its own standards setting and industry regulatory activities.
The presence of this standard may assist our industry in future legal disputes at a domestic level where an operator chooses to claim organic without clear reference to a recognized certification and/or without evidence that they are indeed complying with the relevant standard. There are a very limited number of products that the BFA is aware of in this category, and when these are brought to our attention our group in the first instance investigates the issue and communicates with the company in question and in some cases hands this on to the ACCC (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission) to further investigate. Information from the marketplace is always welcome such that we can follow these issues up – go to the Organic Crusader section of the BFA website or email to comms@bfa.com.au
Q: What is BFA doing to continue to ensure organic interests are maintained in national forums?
A: BFA remains very focused on standards setting leadership and involvement both at national and international level to ensure members and consumer stakeholder interests are understood and integrated into standards where relevant. Such forums now include the committee overseeing the soon to be released for comment IFOAM Standard, the AQIS NSSC and OISCC industry forum, the Standards Australia FT 032 standards committee in addition to BFA’s own Standards Advisory Group – which is informed via BFA’s sectoral Advisory Groups.
BFA has put additional resources into supporting its sectoral Advisory Groups to ensure that its standards setting activities are clearly aligned with industry practices and realities and that of all stakeholders. At the end of the day, while there are ongoing calls for legislation for organic products in Australia, the political reality, as well as the reality on the ground, suggests otherwise. It will always remain the case that irrespective of further government involvement into the future, (which gets called upon to solve and regulate everything these days) the real regulation of the production and marketing of organic products will rely on the resources and vigilance of our industry itself. The BFA is taking this task very seriously by putting considerable resources into expanding the promotional activities surrounding the Bud logo programs and explaining to mainstream consumers the benefits of organic products.