OBE Organic is fully certified organic.

About NASAA

The OBE Organic Beef System is accredited as organic under the National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia (NASAA) and OFC – the Organic Food Chain.

NASAA organic Certification is a total quality management system developed for organic production. NASAA organic certification allows the operator, who is inspected and approved by NASAA, to advertise and label their produce/products as meeting the NASAA standards. Our accreditation with NASAA also ensures that we meet all government to government requirements for exporting organic beef produce to our international clients.

About OFC

The Organic Food Chain Pty Ltd is accredited with the Australian Government – AQIS ( Australian Quarantine and Inspection Services) as an Organic Certification Body, accreditation number Q-271.

The Organic Food Chain Pty Ltd is accredited with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) for the USA as an organic accreditation agency.

Our farm and ranch properties are fully certified organic.

Prior to a producer being capable of supplying organic beef and lamb to the OBE system, the producer must become certified by an OBE approved certifying body. OBE has chosen to maintain dual certification with the two of the largest certifying bodies in Australia, NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture Australia LTD) and OFC (Organic Food Chain). Both certification organisations comply with the international standards set by IFOAM (International Foundation of Organic Agricultural Movements), the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) National Organic Program Standards. (USNOP)

Property certification is a process whereby the whole property is certified as being capable of producing organic products regardless of the product produced. The production standards specify the management practices, inputs and other processes that are allowable for each product to be produced as a certified organic product. They also specify a range of whole of property issues and processes that must be complied with.

Part of maintaining NASAA/USNOP organic certification is the preparation and adoption of an Organic Management Plan. Each property management plan is specific to that property and operator. It identifies idiosyncrasies pertinent to that property and defines specific management processes to manage the property within the standard. The organic management plan also stipulates minimum levels of record keeping and reporting that are required by NASAA.

Property certification, to full certification, takes up to three years. Once certified, each property is inspected annually and this external audit feature of the IFOAM system is a major component of the integrity that IFOAM standard certification delivers to an organic product.

The aim and principles of our organic certification scheme.

Organic agriculture is a holistic system built upon natural ecological processes. It values the welfare of both the producer and the consumer of organic food and fibre products, and is committed to conserving natural resources for the benefit of all future generations. Healthy soil is the prerequisite for healthy plants, animals and products. The maintenance of soil health by ecologically sound means is at the heart of organic production systems and consequently production systems not based on soil (eg hydroponic systems) are not acceptable under this Standard.

The aims of organic agriculture are:

1. To produce optimal quantities of food and fibre compatible with human and environmental needs;
2. To produce food of high nutritional value;
3. To work within natural systems in ways which enhance those systems;
4. To maintain and increase long term productivity of soil;
5. To promote wise use of land, water and vegetation and minimise off farm effects of agriculture on aquatic and terrestrial systems;
6. To foster local and regional production and distribution;
7. To use renewable resources as much as possible;
8. To maintain and increase long-term fertility and biological activity of soils using locally adapted cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to input reliance;
9. To maintain and encourage agricultural and natural biodiversity on the farm and surrounds through sustainable production systems and protection of plant and wildlife habitats;
10. To provide balanced nutrients, optimise opportunities to cycle nutrients within the farm, to recycle nutrients and energy that leave the farm or other farms in food and fibre products that are not consumed (ie organic waste containing energy and nutrients), with the aim of feeding the soil ecosystem;
11. To provide livestock with conditions which satisfy their behavioural and physiological needs;
12. To maintain or increase as appropriate the genetic diversity of domesticated and native plants, animals and other organisms on the farm (this precludes the use of Genetic Engineering);
13. To allow everyone involved in organic production a quality of life to cover their basic needs and obtain adequate return and satisfaction from their work, including a safe working environment;
14. To progress towards an entire organic production chain, which is both socially just and ecologically responsible; and
15. To recognise the importance of and protect and learn from, indigenous knowledge and traditional farming systems.

(*Section 1.4 NASAA Organic Standard, December 2004)

OBE Organic fully participates in Australia’s National Livestock Identification Scheme.

Food safety and product integrity are paramount to OBE customers. OBE producers participate in the National Livestock Identification Scheme, and therefore meet the requirements of our most demanding customers.

NLIS is Australia’s program for the identification and tracing of livestock. It is a permanent identification system that enables individual animals to be tracked from property of birth to slaughter. NLIS uses Radio Frequency Identification devices in the form of an ear tag or rumen bolus/ear tag combination to identify cattle. Every animal gets a unique electronic ID.

These electronic ID devices can be read as the individual animals move through the livestock chain. OBE producers are able to record each animal’s information on personal computers. This information is then downloaded and stored in the secure central NLIS database.

It is this centrally stored electronic history of an individual animal’s residency that enables rapid and accurate traceability.

OBE Organc producers interact with the NLIS database to provide full and accurate records of their livestock. This ensures domestic and international customers confidence in the integrity of our product.

OBE Organic is audited every year.

OBE Beef and Lamb properties are audited annually and the logistics of such an audit deserve special mention. An inspector makes his/her way to Charleville in Western Queensland, to join a pilot and light aircraft, especially chartered for the annual audits. An aircraft is considered the most efficient method of covering a total distance of 1678 nautical miles (3110)km. Over two weeks and thirteen hours flying time, the inspector travels from property to property.

Each OBE producer participates in a desk audit before an inspection of the property itself is completed. Generally two audits are scheduled per day, with both the auditor and pilot being accommodated en-route by way of the generous hospitality of the producer’s themselves.

Generally the audits are scheduled around the cooler months of September/ October. A number of factors make this time suitable. Cattle work is coming to end, meaning producers are available to receive the inspector. School holidays are complete and families have returned home after taking their children back to boarding school. Flying is considered much smoother in cooler weather.

Rain – welcome though it is to families in the outback – can alter the audit schedule quite dramatically. As almost all landing areas are dirt airstrips, only a small amount of rain is required to close an airstrip. It can take days to dry out, and once you have landed, there is no possibility of departing until the strip dries again! Swirling dust storms can also keep a plane grounded! In 2003, the audits had to be cancelled due to widespread rain, and performed later in the year.

Audits of properties within the Channel Country are performed by NASAA or OFC inspectors who recognize the extraordinary diversity in remote production regions. Natural resource management in these areas is closely controlled by government legislation. OBE producers work in harmony with legislation to ensure a sustainable future for OBE families.

OBE Organic’s certificates.

NASAA

The National Association for Sustainable Agriculture, Australia Ltd (NASAA) was incorporated in 1987 and was accredited as a certifier by the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service (AQIS) in 1994.

NASAA has been accredited by IOAS, the accreditation “arm” of IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) since 1994 and was the first IFOAM accredited certifier to be accredited by IOAS under its additional ISO65 program in 2004.

The key documents of NASAA’s certification process are the NASAA Organic Standard.

Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service Accreditation Certifiers

NASAA is one of 7 certifiers currently accredited to the federal government Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS). The numbers of licensees in Australia under licence to these certifiers is approximately 2500 including producers, processors, packers, exporters and retailers. Like the other certifiers, NASAA is a non-profit making company limited by guarantee, run along commercial lines and in competition with the others.

Accreditations for Japan and the United States

NASAA’s subsidiary company NASAA CERTIFIED ORGANIC Pty Ltd was accredited in October 2002 by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program to certify operators under the USNOP.

NASAA is accredited in August 2001 by the Japanese Ministry of Food and Fisheries (MAFF) to certify operators worldwide (excluding Japan) under the MAFF’s JAS program.

Legislative background

The Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service (AQIS) (part of the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) is deemed by the European Commission as the competent authority responsible for ensuring all inspection and certification bodies sending organic products to Member States comply with all production rules as set out in Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91) and with the requirements of EN45011 or its international equivalent ISO65.

AQIS and five of its approved Certifying Organisations, including the National Association of Sustainable Agriculture Australia Ltd (NASAA), PO Box 768, Stirling, South Australia 5152, are listed in the annex to Regulation (EC) 1566/2000 of July 2000 which amends Regulation (EEC) 94/92 (the regulation laying down the conditions for imports from third countries). Furthermore Regulation 2382/2002 has the effect to prolong the inclusion of Australia (AQIS and the five approved certifying organisations) in the Annex of Regulation 94/92 until 30 June 2008.

NASAA is audited annually by AQIS to ensure its procedures and standards are in compliance with the National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce (National Standard), the Export Control Act 1982 and the Acts derived Export Control (Organic Produce Certification) Orders 1997.

The National Standard was derived primarily from Codex Alimentarius and the first edition was implemented in 1992. The fourth edition was published in December 2002. The National Standard sets out the minimum requirements for organic agriculture in Australia. Its purpose is to provide minimum guidelines and reference points for the AQIS inspections and accreditation of existing and new certification organisations. The National Standard must be complied with before agricultural products can be labelled in a way which states or implies that they have been produced by organic farming systems which are in compliance with the National Standard.

For the purposes of Council Regulation (EEC) no 2092/91 of 24 June 1991, NASAA is acknowledged as an “inspection body” under Commission Regulation 1566/2000 amending Regulation (EEC) 94/92. In relation to ISO 65/EN 45011, NASAA has been informed by AQIS that it satisfies these requirements which are deemed as equivalent to the European System by EU officials.

Existing legislation in the form of the Export Control Orders controls any product being exported from Australia and requires that such product is produced and processed in the certification of an AQIS accredited body like NASAA.

This post is also available in: Chinese (Simplified)