29 May 2012: The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) has accepted the Pacific Organic Standard (POS) in its Family of Standards, a tool to provide multilateral equivalence in international trade in organic agriculture. As part of the IFOAM Family of Standards, POS will be automatically approved as equivalent by all countries that participate in the Family of Standards process.

The POS was developed by the Pacific Organic and Ethical Trade Community (POETCom), with assistance from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Approval of the standard is based on an equivalence assessment against the Common Objectives and Requirements of Organic Standard, which draws the line between what can be considered organic production and what falls outside that realm. The POS assessment was conducted by the IFOAM Organic Guarantee System Department, reviewed by the IFOAM Standards Requirements Committee, and approved by the IFOAM World Board. [SPC Press Release (Organic Standard)] [IFOAM Family of Standards]