Taiwan and Australia Agree on Mutual Acceptance of Organic Food Certification

Australia has reached a bilateral agreement with Taiwan on organic food certification, which came into effect on January 23, 2020. Taiwan will no longer recognize the organic certification of any countries that haven’t signed a bilateral organic equivalency agreement with Taiwan before May 20, 2020. Manufacturers from countries without a mutual acceptance agreement with Taiwan will need to undergo an assessment by accredited 3rd party assessment bodies to verify their compliance with Taiwan’s organic certification requirements.

As revealed by the official notice ^[1] released on February 21, 2020, a new bilateral organic certification equivalency arrangement (Chinese/English version ^[2]) between Taiwan and Australia came into effect on January 23, 2020.

Background and Significance

Under the Organic Agriculture Promotion Act ^[3] which was promulgated by Taiwan in 2018, Taiwan planned to repeal any unilateral recognition of organic certificates with countries that failed to sign a bilateral organic equivalency agreement with Taiwan within one year after the implementation of the Promotion Act (before May 30, 2020 - as regulated in Article 37). Manufacturers in countries that haven’t signed a mutual equivalency agreement with Taiwan can still export organic products provided they undergo a successful assessment by an accredited 3rd party organic assessment body and are granted an organic food certification as per Taiwan’s official rules ^[4].

Application Scope and Regulatory Requirements for Australian Exports to Taiwan

1. Application scope regulated in this Arrangement:

A. The following products are included in the Taiwan-Australia organic equivalence arrangement’s scope

organic products that are produced or made in Australia
includes crops, livestock, aquatic plants, and processed foods
certified to the National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce, by an approved organic certification body under the Export Control (Organic Produce Certification) Orders

B. The following products are not included in the scope of the equivalence arrangement:

agricultural products that are produced in the organic conversion period or processed products that use agricultural products produced during organic conversion period as raw material or an ingredient
imported agricultural product for further processing in Australia or repackaging, and exported to Taiwan
bee products

2. Regulatory requirements in Taiwan

Australian exporters must submit an application to the central competent authority (the Council of Agriculture, Executive, Taiwan) and obtain an approval number for labeling. Products must be labeled with the approval number before being sold in Taiwan.
Australian agricultural products are not allowed to use the Taiwan agricultural organic logo as Taiwan’s legal requirements only permit the logo to be used for products produced in Taiwan.
The additional requirements established by the department in 2008 and 2017 for organic produce exports remain in place.
The Taiwan organic standard maintains a zero-tolerance for the contamination of organic products with non-organic chemical inputs and residues as outlined in MAA2008-07.

View more at the Notice.