Why Certification is Important

If you make money from marketing produce that leans on a word (organic – in this case) credibility is challengeable.

Certification is about credibility.

Certification is measured, consistent and should eliminate subjective discrimination.

Credibility.
The whole concept of marketing a word puts the economic existence of the purveyor in jeopardy. Always the question is asked, “…so, what is organic?”.
If you are selling (for profit) to friends only or you are doing it for charity, there is a built in credibility.
But if you are selling to the public for profit and make claims about the goods, then you need third party, independent confirmation of your claims measured to a standard. When you have examinations in Grade 5 at school, you are judged to have reached a standard, if you pass of course.
If you go to university to be a doctor and pass all but your final exam, your friends may be happy to be treated by you, but you cannot claim the credibility that your fellows have by passing the test.
The same applies to sellers of organic foods. Trust their claims as you wish, but certification to a standard gives credibility to the level applied.
Roux Pecans has the right through annual scrutiny to use the term “organic” on our products if we pass the exam for each crop to EU and Swiss standards.
The EU standards are a minimum requirement agreed by all the people represented in the EU. We believe that that measurement gives Roux Pecans credibility.

Measured
Not all degrees or standards are acceptable to all.
Even Monsanto’s genetically modified seeds are organic – by the import of the word.
The standard required to use the Bio Suisse stamp of approval sets the bar higher than the EU does, and they are not the most stringent in their requirements.
Certification requires measurement
Check the websites of Ecocert and Bio Suisse to see the measure applied.
Roux Pecans are proud that we put our credibility to the test each year to be measured to those standards.

Consistency
The standards are the same for everyone every year with EU standard certification.
Can you imagine trying to get more than 20 countries to change the law that govern them all?
Roux Pecans likes our customers to know that we strive to maintain this consistent high standard.


Elimination of subjective discrimination.
Subjective discrimination is the root of many evils. Even if sometimes well intentioned
If produce being sold for profit coupled to the word “organic” has no credible, independent third party certification or verification, then the person or business selling the produce uses the word subjectively.

If you are serious about credibility you cannot justify the use of the word “organic” to label your products if the measure is personal opinion or subjectivity;
“I have known the grower for 21 years and he/she is such a nice person and dyed-in-the-wool organic farmer”
“they live way up in the mountains on a little farm.”
“ they are a Christian/Buddhist/Muslim/Jewish company/co-op/collective/kibbutz/person with a white/black/yellow/red skin colour”
“the produce is only watered at night using a bucket and water drawn from a stream” (maybe the stream is a factory polluted, feces carrying drain crawling through a slum)

The people selling the goods however well intentioned or of sound character and integrity, need to be measured to a standard to give credibility to their claims.
The same goes for the seller of those goods to make good the claims by having the “Certificates of Standard” on hand for scrutiny by the buying public.
That goes as much for Woolworths as it does a corner barrow vendor or a producer/farmer.

Roux Pecans make no claims about our character or integrity, but we are examined by a high standard to use the term “Organic” when selling our products.

If there is a claim made that the goods are organic,

ASK “BY WHAT STANDARD?”
IF THE STANDARD CANNOT BE MEASURED BY INDEPENDENT CREDIBLE THIRD PARTIES – DON’T BUY IT !!!