Canada and Mexico Agree to Organic Equivalency

Mexico and Canada have signed a memorandum of understanding in relation to the equivalency of their organic standards this past week. From the Canadian perspective, Mexico is joining the US, UK, EU, Taiwan, Costa Rica, Japan, and Switzerland in becoming equivalent to the Canada Organic Regime. The Canada Mexico Organic Equivalency Arrangement relates to the following categories of products:

• agricultural products of plant origin

• processed foods of plant origin

• livestock

• processed food products containing livestock ingredients

• beekeeping products

In January of 2020, I spoke with stakeholders in Mexico City who noted the failure of the two states to align on an organics standard: an essential and high value aspect in the produce market. Canada, with its limited growing season, represents a significant opportunity for Mexican agricultural stakeholders that produce high-value goods.

Organic standards are difficult for individual states to get their heads around in bilateral agreements. Ultimately, the consumer is at its most vulnerable when trying to determine the growing standards involved when comparing organic and conventional produce: it’s impossible for the consumer to tell the difference at retail.

So the wariness of governments when considering equivalency is informed by a few different concerns. Organic standards are specific to nations or regions – the Canadian standard is not the Mexican standard. Both are continually evolving, so neither organic standard is frozen in time. They’re also increasingly onerous and complex. This takes resources from both growers and government.

There are different manners of implementing organic standards. It makes a difference to governments whether organic growers are accredited using independent certification bodies or government or a blend of the two, and to what degree the certification group or government actually verifies compliance and enforces bad actors. That Canada has deemed the Mexicans to have created an organics process that bears equivalency to the Canada Organic Regime is a great accomplishment for Mexico. Accreditation under the Canadian Regime is no picnic.

At a more macro level, this equivalency agreement speaks to the relationship and trust between the two countries. Having worked together through complex and politically difficult issues during the USMCA/CUSMA/T-MEC negotiations, it’s heartening to see continued cooperation and integration between the three countries.

You can view the Canada Mexico Organic Equivalency Arrangement here.