Background

There have been relatively few published fraud cases. There has always been a stream of rumours and allegations, suggesting that there is a lot more. Concerns trade between MS and imports. Limited trust in present international certification, strong competition among certification bodies which makes it cheap but also little leeway to do a good job. Traders have their quality management system, detect and reject goods but these may then be sold to other traders in other countries in the EU. Exchange of information is very slow. Lack of communication, coordination and cooperation between the trade, certifiers and authorities, sometimes nationally but especially among MS, and beyond.

Review

During Biofach 2007 the level of rumours was such that three individuals, all with a history in organic farming and conformity assessment, started what became known as the Anti Fraud Initiative (AFI). A first tripartite meeting in Bonn, in the Agriculture Ministry confirmed the seriousness of the topic, the need for joint action, and a process of information exchange was started.

End of 2007 a two day workshop was held in Frick (CH), early 2008 West European traders came together in Amsterdam, December 2008 there was another two-day workshop in Hamburg. September 2009 a pilot workshop was held in Bologna to address the problems in particularly Italy.

Organizers

On purpose this is organised in an informal way by three individuals. As much as possible they work through sector organisations to avoid politicking, to avoid that some companies, or some certifiers dominate the process. The meetings have been sponsored by governments and the sector organisations.

Results

The result is that stakeholders better understand and trust each other, and see each other’s limitations. There is a commitment in the organic sector to address fraud jointly. It is becoming clear what can be done and perhaps how. There is a need to continue with the open, participatory tripartite process. There is a need for a sort of secretariat to facilitate the process of information gathering, improving, communication and cooperation between different types of stakeholders, cross border.