The Organic Guarantee System of IFOAM - Organics International

Core OGS Services

After underoing a major revision process, the IFOAM OGS currently contains the components listed below.

Services based on the IFOAM Norms

	IFOAM Family of Standards - a service for standard owners.  A global framework to approve organic standards!
	IFOAM Standard - a service for certifiers. An off-the-shelf globally applicable certification standard!
	IFOAM Accreditation - a service for certifiers, delivered by the IOAS. List of IFOAM Accredited Certification Bodies.
	Global Organic Mark - a service for operators. An international label for organic products.
	To foster equivalence and complement the IFOAM Family of Standards, IFOAM has set up a program of recognition of conformity assessment systems, such as government organic accreditation programs. This recognition is based on equivalence to the IROCB (International Requirements for Organic Certification Bodies) and/or recognition by other credible systems (peer-review). The list of systems already recognized by IFOAM can be found here.

Additional services

	IFOAM-bioC Global Organic Certification Directory - a service for all stakeholders A realtime online database of certified organic operators worldwide.
	Official IFOAM PGS Recognition - a service for PGS initiatives A program to support PGS, providing official endorsement and granting access to the IFOAM PGS logo.

Further Information

Get updates on the latest and archived OGS news through the OGS Courier, a free electronic newsletter informing about the development in the IFOAM Organic Guarantee System.

A number of publications on guarantee system topics can be found in our Library.

IFOAM’s work to promote harmonization and equivalence has mostly been conducted through a long-term partnership with FAO and UNCTAD, implemented first under the ITF Project and subsequently under the GOMA project (Global Organic Market Access).

IFOAM also comments on other organic standards and regulations, with a view to promote harmonization, equivalence and improvement of standards.

For governments and sector organizations that want to develop or improve their national organic standard and regulation, IFOAM has developped the Organic Regulation Toolkit. The toolkit contains a number of templates and other tools which governments can use as a basis in their drafting process.

Additionally, IFOAM promotes guarantee systems that facilitate market access for small producers and has generated a number of tools, recommendations and positions to this end. See links below for further information.