Washington, D.C. - Today, United States Trade Representative Ron Kirk congratulated the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency for their decisions to recognize each other's national organic program as equivalent. The decisions of both national regulatory authorities allow products certified to either U.S. or Canadian standards to be sold or labeled in both countries as organically produced. Under the concurrent equivalence determinations, negotiated by USTR, USDA and CFIA, both the USDA Organic seal and the Canada Organic Biologique logo may be used on certified products from both countries.
"This close cooperation is the first of its kind in international organics trade and a real achievement for both countries," Ambassador Kirk said.
Canada is the largest export market for U.S. organic products and USDA estimates that more than 75 percent of Canada's organic consumption comes from the United States. Estimates of the total market for organic products in Canada range from $2.1 to $2.6 billion.
