National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce

The National Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce (the National Standard) is Australia’s technical export standard for organic and bio-dynamic goods. The National Standard is owned and managed by the department and provides the basis for equivalence (government-to-government) arrangements with trading partners.

The National Standard provides the requirements for the labelling of goods which either state or imply they have been produced under organic or bio-dynamic systems. The National Standard includes requirements for production, processing, storage, transportation, labelling and importation of goods and aligns with the requirements of our international trading partners.

On 1 January 2022, the department resumed direct management of the National Standard and gained oversight of the National Standard Advisory Committee (NSAC). The NSAC is a technical committee that supports the department with technical advice and by making recommendations for amendments, revisions and updates to the National Standard.

Please visit the department’s National Standard Advisory Committee (NSAC) webpage for information on submitting an application to amend the National Standard.

National Standard Amendment Submissions

Any section of the National Standard is open for review. An application to amend the National Standard can be submitted online. 

Approved applications will be shared with industry for consultation via the departments ‘Have Your Say’ website. Any commercial-in-confidence information submitted as part of an application must be clearly marked. Where indicated, this information will remain with the department and the NSAC, and not be released to industry.

For more information on any open amendment proposals and to submit your feedback, please visit the departments Have Your Say webpage.

Questions on the content of, or an interpretation of, the National Standard

An online form is available to ask questions on the content of, or an interpretation of, the National Standard.

Questions will be provided to the NSAC for review. The use of this online form and the publishing of questions and answers will assist consistency in applying the requirements of the National Standard.

In NSAC’s initial review of a question, they will only decide if the question is valid for answer if it meets one or more of the following criteria (if yes, investigate further* if no, reject application):

• The question directly relates to Australia’s export standard being the National Standard for Organic and Bio-Dynamic Produce
• The question directly relates to the content of, or an interpretation of, the National Standard.

Questions will be provided to the NSAC in order of receiving and timeframes will vary depending on complexity.

All questions and answers will be publicly released.

Amendments to the National Standard for Organic and Bio-dynamic Produce

On 9 December 2022, Edition 3.8 of the National Standard was released by the department.

Edition 3.8 comes into force - 1 January 2023

Edition 3.8 has changes relating to the following:

• Section 1.15 – Amendment - Livestock Breeds and Breeding - semen sexing in livestock intended for milk production
• Section 3.1.6 – Amendment – Cosmetics and Skincare - Sodium Hydroxide may be used as a pH adjuster (and appendices)
• Section 3.2 – New commodity – Wine Production (and applicable appendices).

Edition 3.8 also has edits relating to administration changes, Machinery of Government changes, and structure changes for readability and access purposes.

Further information

Contact OrganicExports@aff.gov.au if you have any queries.