Purpose
This Market Access Advice notifies Australian producers, exporters and organic certifiers of requirements of exporting under the Australia-Taiwan organic equivalency arrangement.
The arrangement
- Following representations by the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, negotiations on the Taiwan-Australia organic equivalency have been concluded.
- A new bilateral organic equivalency arrangement came into effect on 23 January 2020.
- Products produced before 23 January 2020 are accepted provided they are accompanied with a valid organic produce certificate and any other export certification.
- The arrangement also establishes regulatory requirements for organic produce sent from Taiwan to Australia under the arrangement.
Organic certification and regulatory requirements for exports to Taiwan
- The following products are included in the organic equivalence arrangement’s scope:
- organic products that are produced or made in Australia
- includes crops, livestock, aquatic plants and processed foods
- certified to the National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce, by an approved organic certification body under the Export Control (Organic Produce Certification) Orders
Exclusions
- The following products are not included in the scope of the equivalence arrangement:
- agricultural products that are produced in the organic conversion period or processed products that use agricultural products produced during organic conversion period as raw material or an ingredient
- imported agricultural product for further processing in Australia or repackaging, and exported to Taiwan
- bee products
Importing country requirements
- Australian exporters must submit an application to the central competent authority (the Council of Agriculture, Executive, Taiwan) and obtain an approval number for labelling. Products must be labelled with the approval number before being able to be sold in Taiwan.
- Australian agricultural products are not allowed to use the Taiwan agricultural organic logo as Taiwan’s legal requirements only permit the logo to be used for products produced in Taiwan.
- The additional requirements established by the department in 2008 and 2017 for organic produce exports remain in place.
- The Taiwan organic standard maintains a zero tolerance for the contamination of organic products with non-organic chemical inputs and residues as outlined in MAA2008-07 (Attachment 1).
- The additional certification requirements for meat and meat products by certifier’s remains as outlined in MAA2017-01.
