有機農業の内外動向と表示基準(有機農産物の流通問題,1993年度秋季研究例会報告)

Taking the development of organic agriculture in Japan, the USA and European countries into consideration, I focused on the marketing system of organic agricultural products of today and its problems, mainly on labelling and standards. Most of the standards in Japan are being influenced by market-oriented traders, producers and local governments. Theses standards aim at the distinction of products just after the amount of chemical use like pesticides. Furthermore, compared to those of the USA and European countries, the Japanese standards and even the guidelines made by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries have serious problems; they have definitions too ambigous in the whole. To adapt to the widespread market of organic agricultural products, the USA and European countries introduced a legislation of unified standards on the US and EC levels. In the process of the unification, it harmonized the level of standards but this brought new problems; the failure of the principle of organic agriculture and the relaxation of regulation for chemical use against diseases and insects. While production and supply of organic agricultural products have increased and the relationship between producers and consumers become more indirect in the expanding and borderless market, the premium of organic agricultural products is set lower than before and fake products are brought to the market. It is a common issue in Japan and the western countries how to create an appropriate distribution system to promote and expand organic agriculture. From this viewpoint, a community supported agriculture (CSA), a distribution system very similar to the "teikei" system in Japan, has come to call attention now. There are also various kinds of ways and challenges for "alternative marketing" as local market, farmers market, direct purchase and others. It indicates the future direction to the marketing system of organic agricultural products.