Strict paper trail from farm to plate
There are no tests available to prove food is organic and so, for instance, if producers or retailers can pass off a conventionally-farmed chicken as organic, there could be a profit margin of more than 200%.
For this very reason, and because organic producers like to believe that trust is the hallmark of their relationship with customers, regulations are the linchpin of this sector.
Every organic producer has to take part in a paper trail which proves that his goods comply with the organic standards of one of three bodies, the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA), the Organic Trust or Demeter.
The Department of Agriculture is the competent authority in charge of organic food and farming in Ireland but it has approved these three bodies to inspect and certify to EU and national regulations.
In Ireland, the term organic is legally protected and so anyone using the term to describe foodstuff must comply with EU regulations. In the words of the Department of Agriculture, "organic food is quality food produced to strict, legally-backed, internationally-recognised standards".
"Organic farming represents a different view of farming systems, which puts a strong emphasis on environmentally friendly and sustainable farming practices, with particular concern for animal welfare. Organic farming avoids the use of synthetic fertilisers, chemicals and/or additives," a spokesman added.
However, it is only in the past two years that the department has really been given the teeth to tackle potential organic fraud.
Under a 2004 statutory instrument, the department now has the power to prosecute an operator who contravenes the regulations. A person found guilty of such an offence is liable on conviction to a fine of up to €3,000 or imprisonment for up to six months.
A Department of Agriculture spokesman said yesterday they hadn't prosecuted anyone yet but one case is pending. They refused to give any further information about the case for legal reasons.
As Organic Trust national co-ordinator Helen Scully explains, the regulations leading to certification are very thorough.
"For instance, an organic beef farmer is inspected every year at least once and additional inspections are random and unannounced.
"Every aspect of the management of the herd is inspected and queried, from the straw used to bed the cattle right through to the feedstuffs. All issues of animal welfare are also fully examined," she says.
"The abattoir used for the slaughter of the animal as well as the meat processing and labelling facilities are also inspected and audited by the Organic Trust. The distribution of the meat is also covered by strict criteria and the meat labelled as 'organic' is then placed on the supermarket shelf fully monitored from field to plate."
IOFGA, Demeter and the Organic Trust all believe that the regulations are tight enough to unearth any foul play.
IOFGA certification manager Paschal Gilliard says: "We have had a few cases where people have been abusing the organic sign but the department are normally down on them within the days. It's getting tighter and tighter.
"It can also be expensive for producers if they flout the law as, for instance, if they are in the fourth year of Department of Agriculture-run Rural Environment Protection Scheme (REPS), which has extra payments for organic farmers, they will have to give back grants received to date.
"They can add up to a considerable amount of money. We believe the department have a strong strategy in this area."
But Demeter scheme manager Michael Miklis says there will always be a few black sheep.
"There are very few out there and they are known. But there is the sense now though that many of the newcomers to organics are more money-driven than their predecessors.
"They're much less idealists. We have 218 pages of standards in our booklet and you'll see that they'll just pick out what they want and ignore the rest."
Some of the older organic farmers have also allegedly "lost faith in regulations" as they believed that the EU regulations, which began in 1999, were set "to the lowest common denominator".
Richard Auler from Cahir, Co Tipperary, an organic farmer of 25 years and an IOFGA member, says: "Many people believed that they were harmonised to the lowest possible standards.
The British Soil Association have set their regulations at a higher level and the three Irish groups tried but the department wanted to keep the gate open and not deter newcomers with higher regulatory standards.
"It also worries me with some of the newer converts that they could have a 'how much can I get away with?' attitude unlike others who, for instance, won't use any conventional feed while the newer people will use the maximum of what they are permitted. It's more about money and less about ideology."
The Department of Agriculture doesn't believe that there is any need to strengthen regulation but said: "As cases are prosecuted, the adequacy of the 2004 statutory instrument will be tested."
They also added that in the area of poultry and animal housing, they have aimed higher than the EU regulations.
"There are as many people complaining that the regulations are set too high as there are saying they are set too low," a spokesman added.
It's also worth noting that the department is targeting farmers' markets to ensure that stall holders are not falsely selling goods as organic. An inspector, solely looking after farmers' markets, is now employed by the department to check organic credentials.
But, if there is one area of the organic market that appears more open to abuse, it is clearly the import/export market.
EU Regulations provide that organic produce can be imported from third countries once that country is on a list of countries approved by the EU Commission who are deemed to have equivalent standards to the EU.
Countries with equivalent rules of production at present include Argentina, Australia, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland.
The Department of Agriculture may also authorise the importation of organic produce from third countries not included above. These are authorised on a case-by-case basis.
There are fears amongst producers that an increasing amount of 'organic' food is coming in from overseas, making it difficult to establish its exact origins.
Up to 70% of the fruit and vegetables in Irish supermarkets are imported largely because the likes of common fruits like oranges, grapes and bananas can't be grown locally. In many cases however, multiples can also secure a bigger mark-up and locate less single-minded producers abroad.
Last year, speaking at Britain's Nafferton Ecological Farming Group Research Centre, Professor Carl Leifert said that "most imported organics scrape the bare minimum of organic standards because it's all about cost".
"This produce is typically swathed in plastic packaging in order for it to withstand the journey from, say, Kenya or the US. A kiwi fruit from New Zealand will create five times its own weight in CO2 emissions."
Already, in the US and Canada, big business and the Organic Consumers Association have been at knife pont over moves by the Organic Trade Association, which represents big food names like Kraft, Dole and Horizon, to lobby the Senate to overturn a court ruling outlawing the use of synthetic substances in organic processing.
They say such changes would savage their margins.
Also last year, a British butcher was fined more than £6,000 (€8,742) for falsely labelling food. Andrew Portch, a Somerset farmer, was fined more than £3,000 for food-labelling offences and using organic certification without the right accreditation.
As organic food increases in popularity, more people are going to take advantage, the British Trading Standards Institute admitted afterwards.
Certainly, the issue of organic regulation is on course to become a more hotly-debated topic in and outside the organic sector as the number of producers swell, lured by lucrative REPS payments, the financial constraints of the Fischler reform and by growing consumer demand.
And, as larger food companies buy into this lucrative niche market, tensions are also bound to reach boiling point.
