Headlines
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| 1 A Prominent Activist in the Organic Industry from Japan - Mr.
M. Takeuchi (from "Poultry Egg & Meat Business Magazine" issed on January 25, 1998)  English translation will be available soon.
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"Akane-Kai"
Last year, our activities have focused on more learning, collecting information as well as serious studies and academic research about the organic farming. We have held a number of seminars with lecturers from certified organic organizations, visiting poultry farms and organic vegetable farms, holding exchanges and meetings at natural foods restaurants, and through publishing newsletters. The name Akane-kai derives from the word for color madder red, which paints the sky just before the dawn, breaking the darkness before the sunrise. Dreaming of the day when farming will win a victory over engineering technology and the dawn of organic industry will arrive, we would like to devote ourselves further in making our activities worthwhile and fruitful. We would like to be the pioneer in this growing industry. We are planning to expand the activities for corporate members this year. As a part of this plan, we will hold "The International Organic Stock Raising Workshop" in Tokushima for 2 days on February 7 and 8, 2000. We are planning to hold this workshop every year in hope of making it a gathering where producers, both domestic and overseas, manufacturers, and consumers can meet. We will also avail a pamphlet for sale containing organic information at the workshop. We are hoping that Akane-kai will open 5 branches in Japan and, while trying to make our activities more enhanced and strengthened in those areas, we are also getting ready ourselves to be certified as a NPO(Non Profit Organization, Japanese Government has implemented the new law on NPO a year ago) status in near future.We sincerely wish to ask you to join Akane-kai as members. Masahiro Takeuchi, President |
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(U.S. Magazine issued September 1999) Shoppers want organic foods. Maybe they saw an article in TIME Magazine or heard about them21 on the Food Network. As retailers, you're advised to take that organic purchasing desire to the next step and promote "certified organic" products, which carry a guarantee that an independent third-party has verified that the producer of the products has adhered to a set of established production criteria. But who set up the criteria? And who's making sure that those third-party certifiers are doing their job? In other words, who is certifying the certlfier? Two definitions clarify the question. Certifers, as you would guess, certify. They "attest as meeting a standard." But is the certifier accredited ("recognized as conform with a standard")? Accreditation programs, whether national or international, affirm that a certifier is following consistent business practices in line with its established rules. Accreditation will with luck, give those that are being certified additional assurance that there are teeth behind the certification. Unfortunately, the accreditation angle of this puzzle is the one that is still lagging (particularly in the United States, with no national organic standards). Its impact can be felt in areas including international trade and mutual recognition. Understanding CertificationCertification, on the surface, is a fairly simple process. Joe the grower decides he's been growing organically, but wants to have the benefit of certification. He checks out the different organizations and decides he likes the standards of Farm Verified Organic (FVO) the best. Joe submits an application and processing fee and waits. The folks at FVO check out the form, see that Joe's processes are fairly well in line with their own, and decide to proceed. An independent inspector is then hired to check out Joe's farm. The inspector checks for materials used, that complete records are kept, analyzes the chance of contamination from other farms, and assesses other issues to ensure Joe is in line with all the standards of FVO. The inspector reports back to FVO with his findings and a recommendation. After review of this information, FVO finds that Joe is following the standards and awards certification. ...............(to continue) |
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3 "Organic" Related Links
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Please send your
comments and suggestions: hosoi@earthlink.net ©
1999 MLT International Inc. All Rights Reserved. |
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Akane-kai is a network of people
who seek information on organic foods industry in Japan. Since its founding in August
1998, the members has gradually increased and now it has grown into an organization
consisting of 88 individual members and 8 companies. 
