QAI and ACO team up to fill the void left by the United States and South Korea's organic equivalency agreement.
Earlier this month, South Korea and United States announced an organic equivalency agreement so that organic food manufacturers in the two countries can trade without requiring double organic certification. But the agreement only covers processed foods (specifically, products containing at least 95% organic ingredients).
For all the other consumer products that can be certified organic in each country, two international certifiers-Quality Assurance International (QAI; San Diego) and Australian Certified Organic (ACO; Queensland, Australia)-are providing a solution.
The two certifiers say they will combine inspections in such a way that will save time and money over double certification from a USA-accredited body and a South Korean one. They will certify unprocessed and raw food, livestock, and agricultural and forest products.
U.S. manufacturers will likely know QAI as a local certifier; on the other hand, ACO, while based in Australia, is also competent in and accredited for South Korean organic certification.
Robby Gardnerâ¨
Associate Editorâ¨
Nutritional Outlook magazineâ¨
robby.gardner@ubm.com
The Nutritional Outlook Podcast Episode 33: Keeping up with contract manufacturing
July 26th 2024Nutritional Outlook talks to Lauren Samot, commercial innovation leader, and Blayney McEneaney, sales executive at Vitaquest International, about trends within the contract manufacturing space, and the ways in which contract manufacturers like Vitaquest keep up with the market and differentiate themselves from the competition.