Organic agriculture movements and standards

     有机农业包括所有推动以环保而符合社会与经济效益的方法生产食品和蔬菜的农业系统，而促进土壤肥沃更是当中的关键所系。有机农业的目标是避免使用化学肥和化学农药，减少外界元素。然而，欧盟、美国、日本和中国等国家已各自就有机农业制订和颁布国内标准。国际有机农业运动联合会（「有机农业联会」）是业内的主要国际非政府组织，致力制订有机食品标准和推广有机食品的认证。有机农业联会现时在全球100多个国家共有700多个成员组织，并已制订一系列有机食品认证的标准，各国据此订立各自的有机食品标准。有机农业联会鼓励不使用化学肥种植有机作物。此外，有机农业联会亦反对于种植有机农作物时使用化学农药或其它相关产品。BCS是德国的私人检验机构，于一九九二年五月获欧盟认可对有机产品执行欧盟规例第2092/91号「农作物有机种植」的规定。BCS是有机农业联会的成员，根据欧盟规例第2092/91号「农作物有机种植」的标准对有机产品生产商进行检验和认证，协助第三国家办理有机产品出口至欧盟的手续。该欧盟规例载有关于所指「第三国家」进口有机产品至欧盟的规例。有机产品必须符合该欧盟规例第2092/91号的规定，方可贴上「有机」标签和在欧盟地区出售。

Organic agriculture includes all agricultural systems that promote the environmentally, socially and economically sound production of food and vegetables. And promoting soil fertility is the cornerstone. Organic agriculture is aimed to reduce external inputs by refraining from the use of chemical fertilizers and chemical pesticides. Different countries, such as EU, USA, Japan and China, however, have formulated and promulgated their own national standards for implementing the concept of organic agriculture. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (“IFOAM”) is the industry’s leading international non-government organization which formulates organic food standards and promotes the certification of organic food. The IFOAM currently has over 700 member organizations in over 100 countries worldwide and has formulated a set of standards for organic food certification to be used by individual countries as a basis for developing their organic food standards. IFOAM promotes organic crops to be grown on soil without using chemical fertilizers. In addition, IFOAM also promotes no use of chemical pesticides or other related products during the cultivation process for organic crops. BCS is a private inspection body based in Germany and was approved by EU in May 1992 to implement the EU Regulation No. 2092/91 “Organic Production of Agricultural Products” on products of organic origin. BCS is a member of IFOAM. BCS assists in export procedures of organic products from third countries to the EU by providing inspection and certification to producers of products of organic origin in accordance with the standards under EU Regulation No. 2092/91 “Organic Production of Agricultural Products”. This EU-regulation contains regulations on importing organic products from the so-called “Third Countries” to the EU. Organic products must be certified to be in compliance with this EU Regulation No. 2092/91 before they could be labelled as “organic” and be sold in the EU.