Organic certification and terminology

To be described as ‘organic’, a vineyard and/or its wine (see organic wine) must have third-party certification, usually from a non-governmental organization or ‘certifier’ accredited by a ministry of agriculture or its equivalent and to criteria which are ISO 17065 (formerly ISO65) compliant. This verifies that the certifier’s standards conform to organic global baselines set by IFOAM (see above). Organic certification is granted after a three-year conversion period as wine grapes are a perennial crop (conversion takes two years for annuals such as cereals or carrots). Certification aims to protect both bona fide organic producers and consumers of organic products from anti-competitive activity or fraudulent claims. Certifiers can advise vineyard owners as to why their vineyard does not meet their standards, but cannot provide advice on which organic sprays might be best in any particular situation. Agreements in 2012 between the US, Canada, and the EU mean that organic production and labelling finally enjoy a strong degree of transnational if not yet global equivalence (previously an organic French vineyard exporting to the US needed both EU and American certification documents). Winegrowers who impose on themselves stricter standards than those of the organic baseline may join private organic associations such as France’s Nature et Progrès or Germany’s Ecovin. These bodies require, for example, wider buffer zones between conventional and organic plots, allow fewer fining agents, and require lower levels of free and total sulfur dioxide than those permitted for organic wine.