Australia's organic sector is urging federal authorities to tighten domestic regulation around the use of the term - but one Gippsland producer has questioned the push.
The call comes as part of Australian Organic Awareness Month, which peak lobby group Australian Organic Limited uses the promote the sector.
AOL chief executive Niki Ford said the lack of stringent domestic regulations was leading to confusion and hampering a burgeoning export market.
"Every organic operator who is certified has to go through a rigorous audit to substantiate their claims which underpins the importance of looking for certification marks," Ms Ford said.
"But without domestic regulation, you can have as little as one ingredient and still claim organic on your packaging in Australia."
She said choosing a certified organic product gave confidence it had gone through an annual audit and the production system, from paddock to plate, was compliant.
"We are the last country in the OECD not to have a clear definition of organic, which means a number of limitations for us, as a country," Ms Ford said.
"We know from research demonstrates more than 33 per cent of consumers have been fooled by misleading packaging using the word organic, which is not legitimately certified organic.
"That poses a real trust issue, when it comes to organics in Australia."
She said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was powerless to crack down on misleading claims because there was no mandated framework for organic products to be certified.
It was also hampering the export market.
"Without the regulatory reform we need key markets, like the United States and Korea, see our current framework as being incompatible with theirs," she said.
"We need a consistent definition of organic - all we have asked for is the export standard to be implemented in the domestic market."
That would allow the ACCC to investigate instances of the use of the term organic on when it came to conventional products.
"We would be able to have discussions, from a legal perspective, around misleading claims," she said.
A consistent framework and regulations would also allow for the federal authorities to deal directly with other countries on a government-to-government basis.
It comes as central Victorian abattoir Hardwicks stops small "service" kills for organic cattle and sheep.
Cherry Tree Organics beef and lamb producer Shane Blundy, Tarwin Lower, said he believed the federal government had "thrown out" legislation, allowing for tighter regulations.
"My understanding is that is has already been before the government, they were supposed to legislate against it happening, and they didn't," Mr Blundy said.
But he said claiming something was organic when it wasn't was "duping the public.
"We are trying to do the right thing and give the consumer the product they want and what they think they are buying," he said.
He said he wasn't concerned about export markets.
"I would be worried about the poor people in Australia," Mr Blundy said.
But Colin and Sally's Organic Lamb and Beef co-principal Colin Trudgen, Dollar, Gippsland, said he wasn't convinced more regulation was required.
"I don't think we should be regulating the word organic - I don't see why people can't just look for certified organic, and if it's not certified then ask the question why?" Mr Trudgen said.
"I think it's up to the individual to do that.
"I just don't like overregulation, to be honest, I don't think it's helpful."
Mr Trudgen said he was unsure of how tighter regulations would be enforced.
"What's to stop people selling it as organic, in a market - is it going to become a criminal act? I don't think its clear," he said.
He didn't think it was "that big a deal, I find it very difficult to come across products that have the word organic, without any certification.
"I think I have come across two in the last few months."
The bigger problem was that he said could gain an organic certification through the United States Department of Agriculture, without being certified in Australia.
"As a beef producer, I can get the USDA certification that allows me to raise beef in a feedlot - that goes against all the Australian standards," he said.
That could lead to American feedlot raised beef being sold as certified organic, in Australia.
At the same time all of Australia's certification bodies and major industry groups also recently formed the Organic Development Group, to push for greater domestic regulation.
The 11-member ODG was formed to create a united voice to pursue domestic regulation of the word organic.
Australian Certified Organic chairman, vegetable grower Wayne Shields, said the ODG was set up to put one voice to the government.
Mr Shields, Peninsula Fresh Organics, has properties on the Mornington Peninsula, Bullarto and at Barham, NSW.
"What we are trying to get is domestic regulation and a bit of teeth behind it, instead of people saying they are organically certified, even though they are not," he said.
There was a lot more bureaucracy, for exporters to Korea and the US, because there was no domestic regulation in Australia, he said.
Greater regulation in Australia would eventually have an impact elsewhere, he said.
"It will eventually filter down into the European market, as well." he said.
Andrew Miller
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
I'm a general reporter with Stock & Land, with a special interest in irrigation issues. I completed my cadetship, with the Age, in 1980. Over my career, I've worked for ABC radio news (Mt Isa, Qld) and at provincial and suburban newspapers.
