Anti Fraud Initiative / Organic Integrity Network
The organic market grows rapidly in Europe, North America and Asia. The flow of trade is becoming more and more international and there is a shortage in the supply of various commodities. This leads to a situation where those who do not take the organic requirements seriously are tempted to enter the lucrative market.
Even if the organic market has currently the best quality management system of the whole food market, fraud is still an issue.
The main aim of the Anti Fraud Initiative is to improve cross border communication among inspection and certification bodies, trade companies, label organisations and authorities to strenghten organic integrity.
New publication: A Vade mecum on Official Investigation in Organic Products
The issue of traces of non-authorized substances in organic products, mainly pesticides, was one of the hot topics during the development of the new EU Organic Regulation, and the debate continues. If such substances are found, an official investigation must be conducted to determine the source and cause of contamination. A product can only be sold as organic if no major or critical non-compliances are found. The products concerned cannot be sold as organic until the investigation is concluded.
The issue has generated numerous reactions and discussions. Organic consumers need to be protected against fraud. On the other hand, pesticides from conventional agriculture are everywhere, sometimes it is difficult to determine their origin. Systematic investigations might be burdensome, expensive and lead to food waste.
To support effective and efficient official investigations, a "Vade mecum on official investigation in organic products" has just been published, guiding investigation methods and techniques. It can be downloaded for free here:
English version (original text)
Last Events
AntiFraud Initiative Conference 2024, January 25 and 26, 2024 in Brussels (Belgium)
Handles, keys, and levers for investigation of residue cases in organic production –
Good implementation practices for Articles 28 and 29 of Reg. 2018/848
Presentation of Good implementation practices for Articles 28 and 29 of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.
A new approach containing keys, handles and levers to use when investigating residue cases in organic production.
Conference of the Anti-Fraud-Initiative, February 9, 2023 in Brussels (Belgium)
Residues in organic production – sufficient indicators for fraud?
AFI, the Anti Fraud Initiative, organised a multistakeholder meeting of representatives of the organic trade, CBs, laboratories, sector organisations and representatives of the European Parliament, some member state COP members, the EU Commission.
The aim of the event was to discuss the difficulties the organic sector is currently facing with the implementation of articles 28 and 29 of the Regulation (EU) 2018/848, in particular the value of residue testing for detecting the use of unauthorised substances and the evaluating effectiveness of operators’ precautionary measures. There was a much needed exchange of views, of experiences.
"Residue testing in organic production: Investigations after detection of phosphonic acid and its salts"
The online seminar took place on 13 October, 2020 and was well organized by the „Anti-Fraud-Initiative“ (AFI), the European Organic Certifiers Council (EOCC) and IFOAM EU and sponsored by the the Alliance for Organic Integrity.
"Residue testing in organic production – what and why are we testing?"
The seminar took place in Brussels on 4 February 2020 and was jointly organized by the „Anti-Fraud-Initiative“ (AFI), the European Organic Certifiers Council (EOCC) and IFOAM EU and supported by the Alliance for Organic Integrity.
International seminar: “Zero Tolerance? Residue analysis as inspection tool for the authenticity of organic products“ January 10-11, 2019, Brussels (Belgium) Hosted by EOCC, Rue d’Arlon 63-67, B-1040 Brussels, Belgium.
Online Training on risk-oriented inspections
The Anti-Fraud-Initiative is happy to announce the launch of its new E-Learning-Tool for risk-oriented organic inspections around the world based on EU- and NOP regulatory requirements.
Sign up for the training
Get in touch. The fee for the course is 80,00 € including a certificate after successful completion of the final online test.
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