New Zealand passed laws which will require country of origin labeling on fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables, seafood and meat, including cured pork products. The regulations will come into force 18 months after they are signed, with a six month transition period for fresh foods and two years for frozen foods.

The state of Jharkhand in India intends to sign a memorandum of understanding with consumer goods company Patanjali Ayurved for marketing organic farm products of the state. The state government plans to set up organic production clusters in all 24 of its districts.

Woolworths Organic Fund will offer AU$30 million for interest-free loans to organic farms for land, facilities, and equipment. Farmers can also use the loans to convert to organic production. Demand for organic fruits and vegetables is growing about 20 percent annually. The market for organic products in Australia is estimated at AU$2.4 billion.

In simulated supermarket shopping scenarios online, people who chose organic products were more likely to buy a product if it was certified organic, locally sourced and in sustainable  packaging, with local having the largest bearing on the choice, says Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) PhD candidate Maria Massey. In addition, people buy organic products based on perceived health and environmental benefits, but were not clear on exactly what makes a product organic.

In Austalian Organic’s annual industry awards ceremony, Cleaver brand chicken nuggets were selected as organic food product of the year. Other new product award winners include:

• New Certified Organic Product of the Year – Soulfresh Lo Bros COLA Kombucha (Altona North, VIC)
• Certified Organic Non-Food Product of the Year – TOM Organic Female Hygiene (St Kilda, VIC)
• Certified Organic Alcoholic Beverage of the Year – Kalleske Wines (Greenock, SA)
• Certified Organic Non-Alcoholic Beverage of the Year – Bean Ground and Drunk of The Bean Alliance (Reservoir, VIC)
• Certified Organic Cosmetic Product of the Year – SATIVA Skincare (Bangalow, NSW)

According to the Prairie Organic Grain Initiative, organic sales in Canada grew an average of 8.4 percent annually from 2012 to 2017, but organic sales in Alberta averaged at 10.2 percent during that time period. Alberta’s market was worth CN$676 million in 2017, part of Canada’s CN$4.2 billion market (excluding alcohol sales). Meanwhile, he percent of people buying organic in Alberta at that time dropped from 82 percent to 76 percent.

To support organic production on Irish farms, the government there has re-opened its Organic Farming Scheme, which offers at least five years of payments for organic farmers or those switching to organic.

Following a detailed review, the Soil Association has updated its organic standards, and changes will become effective for Soil Association licensees in April 2019. The changes were made to make sure the standards are “straightforward, transparent and clear as possible” for licensees to use and for the public to understand.

Instead of five logos, changes to Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) logos will leave three logos for use. Previously, Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) logos differentiated 1) General JAS for the standardization of products, 2) organic production, 3) products with distinguishable qualities or features (such as aged ham, aged sausage, aged bacon, locally bred free-range chicken, and hand-stretched dried noodle), 4) production method information, and 5) distribution conditions (such as temperature control). The organic JAS logo will add the term “Organic” to the top of the existing logo. Meanwhile, a new logo replaces 3-5 above into a single logo that depicts Mt. Fuji and a setting sun. The new logo includes a space to indicate which specification, such as ‘sustainable aquaculture,’ applies.