Under a deal announced last Wednesday by trade representatives for each region, products certified as organic by either the US Department of Agriculture or the EU's Agriculture and Regional Development department are authorised for sale in either Europe or the US.
"To help reduce paperwork and expenses, the arrangement is simple in its aim: it recognises that the EU and the US have credible organic certification systems and that we share common perspectives about what constitutes the production of organic products," wrote Dacian Cioloş, the EU's agriculture commissioner, and Kathleen Merrigan, the USDA's deputy secretary, in an op-ed in the Guardian.
The arrangement further opens up the world's two largest markets for organic foods, which are together valued at about $50bn, according to the US Organic Trade Association. Prior to the new trade deal, organic growers and producers needed a second certification in order to sell their goods in the overseas market.
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