Quality marks

The BIO label stands for products originating from organic farming since 2001. To bear the organic farming label, ingredients of agricultural origin must be at least 95 per cent organically grown. Organic farming is specifically designed for sustainability. It spares the use of natural resources wherever possible and has many positive effects on the environment. This agriculture is characterised by clear legislation and transparent production processes. It also contributes to the maintenance and preservation of the cultural landscape and the stability of the rural economy.

Producers, processors, traders and importers may place this logo on labels if their products meet the relevant requirements of EU organic farming legislation. This EU-wide legislation (see also BIO EU) guarantees uniform standards for organic farming. The organic mark guarantees organic production and animal welfare.

Basic principles of organic agriculture are:

- a closed food cycle;
- maintaining and increasing soil fertility;
- humane/respectful treatment of animals (animal welfare);

The following measures (among others) are emphasised in this regard:

- no application of genetic engineering;
- no application of plant protection products containing synthetic chemicals;
- no use of easily soluble mineral fertilisers;
- application of organically bound nitrogen mainly in the form of manure or compost;
- maintenance of soil fertility through humus;
- varied land use with plenty of crop rotation and intercropping;
- no use of synthetic chemical growth regulators or hormones;
- feeding animals with as much organic feed as possible;
- prudent use of antibiotics;
- no irradiation of food;
- strong restrictions on the use of additives.

Externe link: BIO keurmerk

The EU Organic logo guarantees compliance with the EU organic farming regulation. From July 2010, all pre-packaged organic food products in the European Union must bear this EU Organic logo. In addition, the logo may be used voluntarily on non-prepacked organic products from the EU or from third countries.

The new EU regulation (EC) 834/2007 on organic production and labelling of organic products has been in force since 1 January 2009.

It is well-structured legislation on organic farming and production and lays the foundation for sustainable development of organic production under common objectives and principles for all stages of production, preparation, distribution and inspection of organic products.

As under the old regulation, it is still only possible to classify processed food as organic if at least 95% of the agricultural ingredients are organic. Products containing GMOs cannot be labelled organic.

With regard to sustainable management, the new regulation includes three main objectives:

(1)
- respect for life cycles in nature that maintain and improve plant and animal health, soil fertility and water quality;
- a high level of biodiversity;
- responsible use of energy and protecting water, soil and air;
- high standards of animal welfare that meet the specific behavioural needs of the species.

(2)
Producing high-quality products for consumers

(3)
The production of a wide variety of food and other agricultural products through processes that do not harm the environment and the health and welfare of people, plants and animals.

The overall principles emphasise the importance of designing and managing organic production based on ecological systems with natural resources. They emphasise the importance of using resources that are already present rather than importing external resources from outside the system, which may be a farm or business. At the same time, the overall principles allow flexibility under certain conditions to ensure survival and development of the organic enterprise.

A set of specific principles for organic farming and organic food and feed processing provides a clear framework for adopting practical rules. Stewardship of nature, ecological balance, animal health and welfare, choice of adapted breeds are some catchwords from the specific principles for organic agricultural production. Organic ingredients, restriction of additives and processing aids, preservation of product authenticity and choice of organic, mechanical and physical processing methods are important principles for organic food and feed processing.

Externe link: EU keurmerk

The Antarctic Marine Conservation Commission (CCAMLR) was established by an international convention in 1982 with the aim of conserving Antarctic marine life. This was in response to increasing commercial interest in the presence of large quantities of krill, which is the cornerstone of the Antarctic ecological system.

CCAMLR is responsible for the conservation of this Antarctic marine ecological system, but does not exclude krill fishing, as long as it is carried out in a sustainable manner and takes into account the effects of fishing on other components of this ecosystem.

CCAMLR is an international commission currently representing 24 states and the European Union. The status of the convention is maintained by the depositary, Australia.

Externe link: CCAMLR

Ecocert is an inspection and certification body established in France in 1991. French agronomists became increasingly aware of the need to develop eco-friendly agriculture and the importance of potentially awarding companies that started to adopt these eco-friendly production methods.

From its founding, Ecocert has specialised in the certification of organic agricultural products.

Ecocert contributed to the expansion of organic farming in the 1990s by helping draft French and European regulations (see also BIO EU). Ecocert is still very much involved in promoting organic farming and works closely with French and international institutions in developing projects and products according to its ecological standards. These standards are used to carry out inspections based on technical criteria for:

- natural and organic cosmetics;
- natural cleaning products;
- natural and organic home perfumes;
- paint and coating products of natural origin;
- organic and ecological Spa;
- EFT (Ecocert Fair Trade) - Organic and fair trade products;
- Eve® (Ecological green spaces);
- raw materials considered for use in organic farming;
- environmentally friendly production of aquatic plants and their processing.

Externe link: Ecocert keurmerk

Minami Nutrition imposes on itself the strictest production standards in terms of purity and environmental friendliness. It strives to produce the best and purest omega-3 supplements in the world.

Minami Nutrition is certified under the EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (see also EMAS).

Meer info: Visolie kwaliteit Minami Nutrition

The EKO mark indicates that a product is controlled organic and comes from a company that pays extra attention to sustainability.

The EKO mark stands for:

Organic
The base is a certified organic product according to EU regulations (see also BIO EU);

Sustainable
According to the IFOAM-principes (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements) for organic farming: ecological, healthy, fair and caring;

Involved
The human behind the EKO product is an involved entrepreneur with his own responsibility and motives, who does more than the rules prescribe. This is how EKO products continue to live up to consumer expectations;

Reliable
The product has been independently verified by SKAL Biocontrole, the regulator of the reliability of organic products in the Netherlands...;

Known and transparant
The consumer knows what he is getting with the EKO mark: a truly organic product. All licence holders are listed on www.eko-keurmerk.nl.

Externe link: EKO keurmerk

The EU Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS) is a management tool for companies and other organisations to evaluate, report and continuously improve their environmental performance. The scheme has existed since 1995 and was originally intended for companies in industrial sectors, but is now (2001) open to all economic sectors (e.g. Minami Nutrition), including public and private services.

The European Commission itself is leading by example by reducing the environmental impact of its own activities through the implementation of EMAS. Main priorities are the efficient use of natural resources (mainly energy, water and paper), the reduction of overall CO2 emissions, waste prevention, recycling and reuse, green public procurements and sustainable mobility.

To receive EMAS registration, an organisation must comply with the following steps:

- performing an environmental assessment taking into account all environmental aspects of the organisation's activities, products and services, processes and methods applied, relevant laws and regulations and existing environmental conservation practices and procedures.

- adopting an environmental policy with the commitment to comply with all relevant environmental legislation and continuous improvement of environmental performance

- developing an environmental programme that includes information on specific environmental objectives and targets.

- the establishment of an effective environmental management system (EMS), which realises the intended environmental policy and enables the organisation to continuously improve its environmental performance. The management system assigns responsibilities, focuses on achieving objectives and feeds into operational procedures, training requirements and control and communication systems.

- conducting an environmental audit, testing in particular the environmental management system in relation to the established environmental policy and programme, as well as compliance with relevant environmental legal requirements.

- issuing an environmental statement on the organisation's environmental performance; descriptions of the results achieved against the environmental objectives and measures to be taken in the future with a view to continuous improvement of environmental performance.

- environmental analysis, an EMS, the audit procedure and the environmental statement must then be approved by an accredited environmental verifier. The validated statement must be registered with EMAS and made publicly available before an organisation can use the EMAS logo.

Externe link: Emas keurmerk

Friend of the Sea is a non-profit non-governmental organisation (NGO) whose mission is to conserve the marine environment.

Friend of the Sea was founded by Dr Paolo Bray, European director of Dolphin-Safe Project at the Earth Island Institute. The Dolphin-Safe Project has saved millions of dolphins from extinction as a result of becoming entangled in nets in the tuna fishery and can be seen as the beginning of the sustainable fishing movement.

Friend of the Sea is now one of the leading international certification projects for products from both sustainable fisheries and aquaculture. Its criteria derive from the FAO - Guidelines for the environmental certification of fish and fishery products. Only products based on species that are not overfished are eligible for certification (art. 30 FAO Guidelines).

Main criteria regarding wild catch are:
- species is not overfished;
- maximum of 8% bycatch / discards;
- no bycatch of endangered species;
- no damage to the seabed.

Main criteria with regard to farmed fish are:
- no damage to important habitats (e.g. mangrove, wetlands);
- prevention of escaped farmed fish / bycatch;
- a standardised water quality / sanitation;
- no genetically modified fish;
- no use of growth hormones.

In general:
- in compliance with laws and regulations (TAC, NO IUU etc.);
- socially responsible;
- the annual reduction of carbon footprint.

Externe link: Friend of the Sea keurmerk

De IFFO (International Fish meal and Fish Oil Organisation) is an international non-profit organisation representing fishmeal and fish oil producers and related professions around the world. IFFO's aim is to improve human and animal health and welfare (for livestock) by improving nutrition.

The increasing demand for fishery products and its impact on the environment requires the industry to responsibly source its raw materials and ensure safe production of its products.The IFFO has developed a Global Standard and certification programme for this purpose.

The 3 main pillars of the IFFO RS standard are:
- responsible catch of fishery products (not IUU / Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing) from fisheries that comply with the main principles of the FAO -Directives for responsible fishing;
- transparency regarding the origin of fishery products ( exclusively from fishing enterprises operating in accordance with the above-mentioned FAO directives);
- responsible production of fishery products.

Externe link: IFFO RS Assured keurmerk

The IFOS (International Fish Oil Standards Program) is an independent testing and accreditation programme for omega-3 fish oil products.

EPA and DHA products accredited by the IFOS meet the safety standards regarding permitted environmental contamination as set by the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) / de Global Organisation for EPA and DHA omega-3 (GOED) and de World Health Organization (WHO) and are considered for inclusion on the IFO's Programme website.

The IFO's Programme tests fish oil products for the presence of:

- Dioxins en furanesn (results in ppt)
- Dioxine-like PCB's (resultats in ppt)
- PCB's (results in ppt)
- Essential fatty acids (results in mg / g)
- Oxidation (peroxide, anisidine, total oxidation results in meq / kg)
- Mercury (results in 10 ppb)
- Cadmium (results in ppm)
- Lead (results in ppm)
- Arsenic (results in ppm)
- Acid value(results in KOH / g)

For each test category a product passes, one star is awarded (cumulatively) with a maximum of 5 stars.

category 1: The product complies with all CRN / GOOD / WHO tests
category 2: The amount of active ingredients matches the label
category 3: The oxidation is below 75% of the CRN / GOOD standard
category 4: The PCB concentrations are less than 50% of the CRN / GOOD standard
category 5: Dioxin levels are less than 50% of the WHO standard

Externe link: IFOS keurmerk

In 1999, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme) adopted the "Guidelines for the Production, Processing, Labelling and Sale of Organically Produced Food" (GL32-1999).

In the light of these developments, the Japanese Agricultural Standards (JAS standards) for organic plants and organic processed foods were established first and, at a later stage, also for organic animal products and feeds. The JAS standards for organic products have been implemented in line with the international Codex Guidelines, as also implemented in other countries such as the United States (see also USDA Organic) and the European Union (see also BIO EU) are defined and applied.

Externe link: Japanese Agricultural Standard

Naturland promotes organic farming around the world. With more than 53,000 farmers as members, it is one of the leading organic farming associations.

Naturland farmers and producers are working on the highest environmental standards that are stricter than those of the Bio label (see also BIO). They produce high-quality non-GM food - for the protection of the environment and consumers.

Naturland's standards extend beyond food production to many areas: manufacturing, beekeeping, aquaculture, forest use, sustainable fishing, processing, textiles, cosmetics, gastronomy, woodworking, Naturland Social Policy, Naturland Fair Guidelines, Naturland Organic worldwide.

Externe link: Naturland keurmerk

A pioneer in the organic industry for more than 20 years, Quality Assurance International (QAI) has become a leading advocate for certified organic products. It continually strives to increase consumer confidence in the value of organic label(s) and products, by:

- certifying products under the current federal (US) standard of the National Organic Program (see also USDA Organic);
- certifying organic growers, processors, traders and distributors;
- providing professional assistance and adequately implementing innovations in certification;
- acting proactively in the organic sector at the national level to respond permanently to changes in organic regulations;
- fostering a healthier planet.

Qai is accredited not only to the USDA Organic label from the US government, but to several international labels including the Bio Label see also BIO EU) of the European Union.

Externe link: QAI keurmerk

USDA (United States Department of Argriculture) Organic is a label that guarantees that the product has been produced using methods based on cultural, biological and mechanical practices that promote resource recycling, promote ecological balance and care for biodiversity conservation.

The main standards are:

Organic crops
- no use of irradiation, sewage sludge, synthetic fertilisers, banned pesticides and genetically modified organisms;

Organic livestock
-animal health and well-being;
- no use of antibiotics and growth hormones;
- 100% organic feed;
- animals with access to outdoor nature (pasture etc.).

Organic multi-ingredient food
- the product contains 95% or more certified organic content (international standard to qualify as organic (see also EU BIO))

Externe link: USDA keurmerk