www.ofa.org.au

AGM and Restructure
A historic meeting was held in Sydney on July 29 where OFA members and the majority of industry organisations voted in a new structure for the Organic Federation of Australia along with a new team of directors representing the whole industry.

This has been the result of 18 months of intensive consultations, discussions and industry meetings and it has been very rewarding to see the level of support we have received from both industry and government to achieve this significant milestone.

Most significantly we are pleased with the number of people who nominated for the various board positions in the restructured OFA. I would like to congratulate the new board members and thank the outgoing board members for all the hard work they did to ensure the success of this restructure.

The Chairs report along with names of the elected representatives can be found towards the end of this newsletter.

Industry Roundtable
Domestic Standard
The industry examined several issues. The most significant was to continue investigating the option of having a domestic standard under Standards Australia, however it is essential that the organic industry retains control over this process.

Research and Development
The roundtable endorsed RIRDC’s offer to pursue joint ventures in organic R&D. RIRDC proposed working in partnership with other research organisations to have jointly funded research projects. This could be an effective way to get organic research from some of the levies organic producers pay to other industries.

Levies
Both roundtable meetings have briefly touched on the issues of levies. It is important that the following issues are cleared up.

The OFA does not support a levy on producers. It has been tentatively proposed that a very small levy (1%) may be possible at retail, paid for by consumers. However there are quite a number of issues that need to be resolved to see if it is possible.

Any levy would not go to the OFA. It would be used for the benefit of whole organic sector for R&D and for the promotion of organic products and systems.

Organic Expo
Senator Richard Colbeck, the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry launched the restructured OFA and opened the Organic Expo at a cocktail party on the evening of July 29.

The Expo open days of Saturday and Sunday were a great success. The Organic Expo showcased the incredible diversity and quality of organic products to thousands of interested people. The organisers of this very professional event are to be congratulated and we look forward to seeing an even larger one next year.

Andre Leu
Chair

Organic Food is Free of Pesticides
Testing by the NSW government shows that certified organic food is free of pesticides according to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald. This confirms similar testing conducted in Victoria in 2003.

Roundup Is Killing Amphibians
A study published in this month's issue of the scientific journal Ecological Applications, showed that Roundup killed 98 percent of tadpoles during a three-week test in simulated shallow ponds. In a separate dry experiment, Roundup killed 79 percent of young frogs and toads after just one day. "It's much deadlier than we thought," ecologist Rick Relyea said.

Monsanto's response to the study was to state that Roundup should not be used near water and that this is clearly stated on the label. In Australia it is widely used along drains, creek banks, rivers and other areas of frog habitat.

Amphibians have declined drastically since the 1970s. A global survey conducted last year by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources showed that around 30% the world's amphibians are threatened.

90% of U.S. residents carry a mixture of pesticides in their bodies
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the Third National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals. The study found that more than 90% of U.S. residents carry a mixture of pesticides in their bodies.

Adverse health effects such as cancer, birth defects, hormone disruption, immune system damage and neurological problems have been attributed to many of these synthetic poisons.

Children had higher levels of some pesticides in their bodies than adults. This is of great concern as research shows that they are particularly vulnerable to amounts far smaller than currently permitted by regulatory authorities

Chlorpyrifos, a widely used organophosphate pesticide, was found at concentrations in children that were more than four times the level that the US EPA considers ‘safe’ for adults.

Home use of chlorpyrifos was banned in USA in 2001 because of research showing that it can cause nerve damage, particularly in children. It is still used in agriculture and the report showed that chlorpyrifos was found in more than 75% of the population. This would indicate that the main source of this neurotoxic chemical in body tissues is from residues in food.

In Australia this chemical is widely used in homes and agriculture so we could be carrying higher residues levels.

Sources: CDC National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals http://www.cdc.gov/exposurereport/

Newborn babies have 287 chemicals in their blood
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has released a study focusing specifically on chemical exposures infants received before they were born. EWG tested fetal cord blood of 10 healthy infants born at various locations around the U.S. in 2004, revealing exposures to a total of 287 chemicals. Many of these chemicals are linked to cancers, hormone disruption, low sperm counts, asthma, behavioral problems and a range of chronic health problems.

Body Burden, The Pollution in Newborns, Environmental Working Group, http://www.ewg.org/reports/bodyburden2/release_20050721.php

For more information Contact PANNA: http://www.panna.org

Chemical Contamination in Arctic Linked to Bird Droppings
In the 1980s, Scientists were astonished by test results showing that the breast milk of indigenous women in the Arctic carried high level of pesticides. The residue levels were so high it would be illegal to sell if it was cows milk.

Due to minimal pesticide use in the arctic, the scientist had expected that there would be virtually no residues, not excessive residues. It has been presumed that winds, sea currents and human activities were the cause of polluting the pristine Arctic with these chemicals.

A study by a group of Canadian researchers has found that the chemical residues in areas frequented by seabirds can be many times higher than in nearby regions. Researchers led by Jules Blais of the University of Ottawa have just published a study in the journal Science.

" Our study shows that sea birds, which feed in the ocean but then come back to land, are returning not only with food for their young but with contaminants as well. The contaminants accumulate in their bodies and are released on land," Blais said.

The area of the study is one of the most desolate on Earth and the local food chain is dependent on the guano from the seabirds. Their droppings encourage the growth of mosses and plankton in the ponds, which feed lots of insects, which in turn support small birds. If the seabirds were to disappear the whole ecosystem would disappear, Blais said. Source: Associated Press

World Conference
The World Conference is definitely shaping up to be the largest and most exciting organic industry event to ever occur in Australia. Registrations are exceeding expectations. 700 people have already registered from 40 countries. Bookings for accommodation are filling up fast.

One of the interesting highlights will be the IFOAM Organic Wine Conference. This event will feature leading organic viticulturists from around the world and Australia. It will examine wines from the best organic vineyards in the world. Tours to the famous wine production regions of South Australia will be available.

Evaluation and tasting of organic wines
Producers of certified organic wines are invited to submit their wines for judging by an expert international panel. The wines will be discussed in the final session of the Viticulture Conference and acknowledgments will be given to outstanding wines.

The wines will also be made available for tasting by conference delegates who attend the IFOAM World Congress Dinner on the evening of Thursday 22 Sept. Significant opportunity for public exposure of the wine entrants will be available in conference publications and an Organic Wine Display. Participation details are available from the conference organiser.

Registration and further information can be accessed via the website: www.ifoam2005.info

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Directory /closes 27th August 2005

Chairs Report to the AGM Stamford Airport Hotel Sydney July 29 2005
This is an exciting time for the organic sector. We are coming of age as a significant industry worth many hundreds of millions of dollars and employing thousand of Australians. We have the whole organic world converging in Adelaide in September. We are seeing a dramatic increase in the number and variety retail outlets stocking organic products. The number of producers and range of product continues to grow. We are seeing the beginning of dedicated organic trade shows and we have research showing 46% of Australian women consume some organic products.

Our enormously diverse sector that comprises the whole value chain from the paddock to plate is uniting today behind its peak industry body. We have been extremely pleased with the number of people and organisations who have joined the OFA in the last 18 months. Most significantly we are pleased with the number of people who have nominated for the various board positions in the restructured OFA.

This has been a very important year for the OFA. A mammoth effort has been put into transforming the OFA into the first peak industry organisation that represents the whole supply/value chain. This has involved two industry roundtables and extensive stakeholder consultation.

This AGM and the proposed motions will see the implementation of the restructure and the election of office bearers under this structure. We are changing from an Incorporated Association to a Company limited by guarantee based on professional advice that this is a better model for a national organisation. The non-profit status will be maintained.

The new structure allows for more stakeholder participation while ensuring that the organisation is overseen by a skills based board of directors organised on the current best practice models of corporate governance.

This will mean that the board members will be there to make decisions on behalf of the whole industry, not their sectional interests. The purpose of the nominations committee is ensure that the board members are selected for the skills that are needed to advance the organic industry.

The second tier comprises of 5 Advisory Boards. Most of the policy issues and priorities will be done at the Advisory Board level with the final responsibility resting with the Board of Directors.

5 Advisory Board groups will be:

• Producers
• Traders and Intermediaries (retailers, wholesalers, exporters, inspectors, input suppliers, service suppliers, advisers, consultants etc)
• Consumers
• Certifiers (all AQIS accredited certifiers will have a member on this board)
• Alliance: individuals and organisational supporters (includes, but not limited to, individuals, food and nutrition organisations, universities, TAFE colleges, schools, research organisations, conservation/NRM organisations, farming organisations and single issue organisations.)

Our sector currently faces a number of critical changes and decisions as we evolved from a niche to a significant part of mainstream Australia. It is important that we are united and have formal processes to deal with the myriad of issues that we will continuously face.

The Advisory Boards of the restructured OFA are designed to be both forums for industry issues, as well as a formal way of prioritising industry issues for action.

The Trust will be tasked with raising funds for R&D, Education and other projects

We have an unprecedented opportunity to increase R&D, marketing and promotion, ensuring the protection of the integrity of certified organic products. In the past we have missed out on many these things, such as the Organic CRC bid, due to the perception that we are fragmented. The Australian Government is prepared to work with an organic industry united behind its peak body. Today’s meeting is an example of this with governments both State and Federal taking a keen interest in the various outcomes. Most importantly the fact that this process is being facilitated by the Industry Partnership Program shows that we have the potential to work with Canberra for our common benefits.

Rather than competing for bigger slices of a small pie, we need to grow the pie so all our slices increase.

The current OFA board has been very active over the last year engaging in numerous activities on behalf of our industry to grow our pie. Examples of these are: