Standards, accreditations and market access

AsureQuality holds IOAS accreditation(external link) for product certification (registration number 43) and JASANZ accreditation(external link) for inspection and product certification. These accreditations support access to a range of international organic programmes and markets. Please refer to the current IOAS and JASANZ registers for the latest scope and status information.

To support product acceptance under the AsureQuality Organic Standard, AsureQuality recommends that imported product is certified under an IFOAM-accredited programme(external link) where applicable.

AsureQuality is recognised by New Zealand’s Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) to provide third party organic assurance where government-to-government official assurance is required.

Operators exporting to regulated markets covered by the MPI Official Organic Assurance Programme (OOAP)(external link) must meet the applicable MPI requirements, including exporter registration and export certificate requirements. Please refer to MPI’s current requirements for exporting organics and the relevant Organic Market Access Requirements before exporting.

Markets and Reference Documents 

• Requirements for Exporting Organics incl Organic OMARs(external link)

• European Union – EU Organic OMAR 

• Great Britain – GB Organic OMAR, MPI OOAP OER:OPR 

• Japan – Japan Organic OMAR, MPI OOAP OER:OPR (NB: NZ plant exports only and requires the Japanese importer to have JAS certification plus contractual arrangements in place to allow JAS labelling) 

• Switzerland – Switzerland Organic OMAR, MPI OOAP OER:OPR 

• Taiwan – Taiwan Organic OMAR, MPI OOAP OER:OPR  

• USA – USA Organic OMAR, (MPI OOAP OER:OPR & USDA NOP) 

• China – China Organic OMAR 

• OOAP Operator and Exporter Responsibilities

AsureQuality can support access to the United States through the MPI Official Organic Assurance Programme and USDA National Organic Program requirements, where applicable. Operators should confirm current market and programme requirements before exporting or applying organic claims.

USDA NOP Guidance Documents (external link)

USDA NOP(external link)

AsureQuality can certify products to support access to Canada under the Canada Organic Regime, where the relevant programme and scope requirements are met. Operators should confirm current market requirements before exporting or applying organic claims.

Canada Organic Regime (COR) (external link)

The following regulated market is not currently covered directly by AsureQuality organic certification:

• • Korean Organic Standard - AsureQuality has a working relationship with Korean-based certifier WeCert to provide verification on their behalf in New Zealand.

New Zealand exporters considering any new organic market should confirm the current requirements before exporting. Where required, exporters may also seek market-specific advice from Organic Trade NZ(external link) or the relevant market authority.

AsureQuality is also able to provide assurance of Product Acceptance to Soil Association (external link) for:

• Livestock Production (Sheep & Cattle)
• Processed Agricultural Products

AsureQuality does not certify directly to the Soil Association Certification Standard, but product acceptance is useful if you are supplying a Soil Association certified operator in the UK.