National Organic Standard Bill 2024

19 November 2024 marked an important milestone in our industry’s pursuit of domestic regulation of the term ‘organic’, with the National Organic Standard Bill 2024 read into the Senate.

The Bill sought to establish the National Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce as the mandatory domestic certification standard for businesses selling organic products.

On 28 November 2024, the Senate referred the National Organic Standard Bill 2024 to the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Legislation Committee for inquiry and report. Industry bodies including the Organic Development Group (ODG) were among submitters to the enquiry, with the large majority of submissions supportive of organic domestic regulation being introduced in Australia.

The Senate Committee released their report on 11 February. The Committee recognised the benefits domestic regulation could deliver and while not endorsing the Bill in its current form, acknowledged the unfair burden on businesses which have gone through the process of certification.

“The Committee believes that a properly designed regulation could be beneficial for import and export markets along with the domestic market and could provide additional consumer confidence in Australian produce,” the Report said.

 Following this report, the ODG is working to engage all relevant political parties on the matter, seeking timeline commitments for the introduction of organic domestic regulation in Australia.