Organic agriculture is a system that produces agricultural produce while considering nature values and soil preservation. Organic agriculture contributes to the protection of the environment, to the improvement of air and water quality, and to the betterment of the soil and its fertility, without resorting to forbidden chemicals and synthetic substances. Conventional pesticides and fertilizers are not used in organic agriculture. Those requirements must be strictly complied with throughout all production, handling and transportation phases.
Independent control and inspection of all the cultivation, production, packing and storage processes of the organic produce are essential in order to maintain produce reliability.
The formal body in Israel that controls and inspects organic produce, and is recognized by the EU, is the Plant Protection and Inspection Services (PPIS), in the Ministry of Agriculture.
In the early Nineties of the 20th century, EEC regulation No 2092/91 was established by the EU in order to regulate certification and control procedures, so that sustainable organic agriculture is maintained, and a supply of reliable, high-quality, organic produce to consumers is ensured. In that regulation, rules were established for the accreditation of inspection and certification bodies in third countries. The PPIS have been recognized in that framework as a body certified to control and inspect organic produce and products intended for EU countries.
The Organic Inspection Unit provides inspection services to all stages along the production and marketing chain of organic produce (currently – only from plant origin). The Unit serves growers, packing houses, transit stations, compost producers, nurseries, seed producers, factories, cotton gins, and exporters.
A grower interested in growing organic produce for export must comply with the instructions of the Organic Inspection Unit.
Operators inspected by the Organic Inspection Unit may use the Organic Logo
Logo for Israeli Market Logo for Export
