Since 2009, the United States has entered into international accords with Canada, the European Union and major Asian trade partners to promote the trade of organic products. But have these arrangements lived up to their promise? A new report released by the Organic Trade Association shows these trade understandings have significantly boosted overseas business for US organic.

In a relevant and timely study on the impacts of organic equivalency arrangements, these accords were found to have collectively increased annual U.S. organic exports by 58 percent during 2011-2014 over what exports would have been without any agreements in place. Conducted by Dr. Edward Jaenicke, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at Penn State University, the study for the first time singles out organic equivalency policy to scientifically evaluate whether the policy is having its intended results.

"OTA worked hard with U.S. officials and organic stakeholders to get these equivalency arrangements in place to benefit the American organic sector, and we needed to analyze if indeed they are performing," said Laura Batcha, OTA Executive Director and CEO.  "We're pleased to see this study shows that these trade arrangements have resulted in increased business opportunities for the American organic sector, and have also benefited our trading partners by introducing their organic products to U.S. consumers. Studies like this are critical tools to help guide policymakers."

In addition to finding that organic equivalency arrangements – which allow organic products certified in one country to be labeled and sold as organic in another country without additional inspections or paperwork and without compromising the organic integrity of the products – have strengthened exports of US organic products, the study's model also concludes that annual organic imports by the US during 2013-2014 were double what they would have been without any agreement.

Annual US organic exports are estimated at $3.2 billion. Since the implementation of the trade equivalency arrangements, US organic exports to the EU have risen by 44 percent, to Japan by 17 percent, and to Canada by 14 percent. In dollar value, organic apples, lettuce, grapes, spinach and strawberries are the top five organic exports, and organic coffee and soybeans are the top organic imports.

Using the study's methodology, the report found that the Canadian equivalency arrangement has generated a 455 percent increase in annual organic exports to Canada over the level projected without a trade arrangement, and a 371 percent increase in organic imports from Canada.

With Japan, the equivalency policy was found to result in a 220 percent increase in U.S. organic exports to Japan and a 267 percent increase in annual imports. The one-way arrangement with Taiwan was estimated to generate a 211 percent increase in annual organic exports to Taiwan.

The study found a neutral impact on annual organic exports to the EU, and a 91 percent increase in imports of EU organic products. Jaenicke explained the current HS codes only track single-ingredient items, so any value-added organic products like baking flours and snacks that are popular in the EU market are not included. That fact, plus the existence of other trade barriers not associated with organic, dampened the study's outcome for the EU, he said.

OTA has now spearheaded and underwritten two significant studies on organic trade in its effort to build a sound set of data for organic stakeholders and policymakers when they make their business decisions and design policy. A landmark report in April revealed key insights into organic global trade by compiling for the first time the officially tracked organic food products sold by US exporters and bought by US importers.