QAI, ACO Partner to Expand Organic Products Agreement

SAN DIEGO—A new partnership between Quality Assurance International (QAI) and Australian Certified Organic (ACO) expanded the United States-Korea Organic Equivalency Agreement to include unprocessed foods, agricultural and forest products, raw food and livestock.

The agreement between the United States and Korea allows organic processed products certified in either country to be sold as organic in either country. This will help eliminate trade barriers since changes in Korea’s regulations closed the market to U.S. organic exports last year. The equivalency agreement covers processed products containing at least 95 percent organic ingredients that were processed in either country. 

QAI and ACO provide a certification of exported organic products to Korea by combining organic inspections, thereby saving time and money. The U.S.–Korea Organic Equivalency Agreement provides access to the growing Korean organic market for US and Korea-based farmers and processors.  According to U.S. industry estimates, the United States exported approximately USD $35 million in processed organic products to Korea in 2013.

ACO is accredited to the South Korean organic standard for raw and processed food, livestock and livestock feed certification and provides organic certification in accordance with the Korean regulations administrated by the South Korean Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. ACO operates extensively throughout the Asia Pacific region.