Certification emerged in order to guarantee the consumer the quality
of an organic product. With the growing distance between consumer
and producer, the certification of organic products was taken
up by certifying agencies, principally European and North American.
In order to guarantee the quality of organic products to consumers,
seals were invented. These seals are a guarantee that a certifier
gives a product, certifying that not only has the product been
inspected, but that it also complies with the re-gulations and
norms of organic production of the respective agency. It is the
seal of the agency which if recognized by the consumer, and it
is the trust placed by the consumer in this seal that permits
buying products without qualms. The regulations that guide organic
production try to control the compliance with ecological techniques.
The aspects that are regulated go from production in the farm,
to processes of industrialization, transport, labelling and others.
With this situation that seeks to guarantee organic products to
consumers, several certifying agencies emerged, particularly in
Europe and in the United States. While some of these are non-profit
organizations, the majority are profi-table businesses, that often
charge onerous sums in order to certify products of producers
in the South, regardless of whether they are large or small. It
is important to mention the function of the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), which has sought the
coordination between producers, commercial firms and certifying
agencies. This international organization has also taken on the
challenge of promoting organic agriculture worldwide. To achieve
consensus regarding the norms and regulations, these have been
discussed in diverse assemblies which deal with organic farming
in ecological, technical and social terms. With this aim, norms
have been defined which include a system of accreditation for
the certifying agencies and establish the guidelines of productive
processes.Exporting to Europe: the approval of the EU Different
European governments have established norms that must be kept
so that a product may be sold as organic. In the last years, norms
have been emmited in Costa Rica and Argentina; in Mexico, Peru
and Brazil norms are also being defined. Since 1991, the European
Economic Community (EEC) has esta-blished norms for organic production.
In these norms it is established that the definition of a product
as ecological or biolo-gical is synonymous with organic. This
definition is of great importance in order to avoid ambiguous
situations, since diffe-rent seals at times manipulate these concepts
without complying with all the required conditions, in order to
profit with the alternative markets. Any imported product to the
European Union must be certified by a certifying agency approved
by the Community. Another important aspect is that the European
Community has set a time limit for the countries of origin of
organic products to establish their own norms, duly approved by
the powers in charge. At this time, there are only three ways
to export organic products to Europe: obtain a certification from
a certifying agency approved by the Economic Community; obtain
a certification which is approved by a certifying agency approved
by the CEE (today EU); or to obtain a certification from a non-European
agency, but approved by the EU. In Latin America there exists
only one of these, which is the Agencert of Argentina, a certifying
agency directly ratified by the EU.The small producer and certification
The certifying agencies are businesses. Even though some are not
for profit, the majority compete for markets and clients in order
to remain in a field where competition has increased tremendously.
Some times, the buyers have their preferences for the certification
of a particular agency; the consequence of this is that the producers
must pay several certifying agencies if they want to sell to several
countries or several buyers. The certification of an agency is
extremely costly. The producer must cover the costs of air travel,
room and board and salaries of inspectors, which range from 250
to 400 dollars a day. The internal costs of the agency must also
be paid. And this must be paid every year, since the certification
lasts only one year. When there is a better coordination among
agencies, or if the agencies have established agreements among
themselves, it could be that the agency might give a second certification,
after having approved the first certification. This, of course,
is less costly, but unfortunately the majority of the agencies
still do not have this type of agreement. While only products
for export need to be certified, and the internal markets still
do not require certification, we could ask ourselves what will
happen when it is obligatory, both for international, as well
as national markets. Currently, the organic producers depend on
the certifying agencies. They must pay if they wish to export.
They also depend on the demands of the exporters and buyers of
the products. Some certifying agencies are not for profit, and
some can be more organic than others, in the sense of following
the principles of justice upheld in the organic philosophy. However,
many are in it for the money. Dependence has never been positive
for any producer, and it is even worse for small producers who
embark on the dream of exporting in order to try to improve their
economic condition. There are important experiences in Latin America
of small producers who have united in order to have access to
international markets, particularly in the case of coffee, sesame,
cocoa and bananas. Nevertheless, we should ask ourselves if in
these new alternative markets, the same injustices of conventional
markets are being repeated? Who takes the best slice? It is also
true that diverse organizations have organized to work with Fair
Trade seals, but it seems that the process of globalization, the
megamarkets and extreme utilitarianism are also affecting the
good intentions of fair trade or just markets.The need for American
Latin agencies The most effective way to lower costs of the certification
of organic products is to create agencies in the Latin American
countries. These national agencies can reduce, in good measure,
the costs of operation and charge salaries according to the rates
of each country. The best way to create these agencies could be
to seek the support and approval of known agencies who might be
willing to aid in permitting the access to the mentioned markets.
Another advantage of certi-fying with national agencies is that
the inspectors and certifying agencies are familiar with the crops
and the environments they must certify. This would avoid situations,
such as the well known case of foreign inspectors asking where
the coffee was in a co-ffee plantation. In order to maintain the
quality of an organic product, it is fundamental to know the particular
characteristics of the diverse ecosystems. It is very difficult
for a person who only is familiar with crops of a temperate climate
to inspect crops of the tropics effectively. The other typical
aspect of organic export products from tropical or subtropical
zones in Latin America is that the majority are in the hands of
organizations of small farmers. The certification of groups of
producers, that generally unite more than 200 families, requires
a particular system of certification. It is impossible for an
inspector to visit 100 percent of the farmers, as some agencies
demand. In those cases, the internal controls, the social control
and a good administration are fundamental. The problem consists
in how to obtain the international recognition of the consumers.
One way is for a recognized agency to support the agency and establish
a system of joint certification, giving continually more responsibility
to the national agency. During a period of time, the products
could carry the seal of both agencies involved, so that the buyers
of the products wold begin to recognize and trust the seal. The
difficult thing is to find agencies that are willing to support
this process. As many of the agencies are private enterprises,
they are not very interested in the quick establishment of national
agencies for the international markets. In Europe we can name
at least two agencies we know of that by their philosophy and
internal organization do have this ideal: KRAV, of Sweden and
the Soil Association, of England.Proposals and principles In 1992,
together with the Department of Agrarian Science of the National
University, the Fundación Güilombé carried out the first course
in Costa Rica on inspection and certification of organic products.
A commission emerged from that course that achieved a permanent
presence in the Department of Vegetable Health of the Ministry
of Agriculture, among whose duties it was to develop a proposal
of organic norms for Costa Rica. This proposal was later taken
up by a commission formed by the Government in 1995. Unfortunately,
serious changes were made to the original proposal. Given that
the problems regarding certification in the Mesoameri-can region
are similar, and that several initiatives to solve them exist,
Fundación Güilombé carried out a workshop in April of 1997, along
with the support of the Humanist Institute of Holland (HIVOS)
and of IFOAM, where 26 organizations participated. These came
from the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Central America and Colombia.
The majority of these organizations are ones who in their countries
promote and work for organic farming and certification, as well
as the commercialization of organic products. In that workshop
there were seve-ral very interesting results. Proposals were made
such as the redefinition of the principles of organic farming.
A joint de-claration was made with the proposal to create norms
that are more in accord with the productive, environmental and
social realities of the region. An action strategy for the creation
of national certification agencies was also defined. We synthesize
the principles that were agreed upon, with the aim that the spirit
that dominated the workshop may serve as an inspiration to continue
these processes and struggles to achieve sustainable lifestyles
and forms of production:
- The soil is a living and scared being.
- A holistic focus is necessary for the understanding of the relationships
be-tween humans and Nature.
- Respect and comprehension of biological and cultural diversities
is required.
- Environmental ethics inspired in the sense of belonging and in
the interdependence of the living community are important.
- Sustainable lifestyles and forms of production are sought.
- Social justice between generations and genders are also sought.
- Respect for human rights: laws and conventions regarding labor
relations are indispensable.
- Equality in the relations of exchange among those who participate
in organic farming: producers, certifiers, buyers, technicians
and others, is needed.
THE STRUGGLESON THE BANANA PLANTATIONS INHISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
AS SEEN BY"CALUFA"
That great banana plantation strike in 1934, so violent in its
last stage, and with such importance it had for the later development
of the Costa Rican anti-imperialist and revolutionary movement,
made the United Fruit Company retreat, and also consolidated the
labor union movement on the banana plantations. In this way the
combative Federation of Banana Plantation Worker of the Atlantic
emerged. Little by little, at the cost of long years of organized
struggle, the banana workers began achieving better treatment,
better salaries, and better living conditions.Carlos Luis Fallas,
Mamita Yunai
