The United States and Japan have agreed to make it easier to import each other's organic products, the latest step in a global effort that could give consumers more access to organic food. The Agriculture Department is planning to announce on Thursday that organic products certified in Japan or in the United States may be sold as organic in either country. The agreement will allow producers in both countries to sell their products without going through the lengthy process of getting certified to export there. "It's an equivalency arrangement," Miles McEvoy, Deputy Administrator of the National Organic Program at the US Department of Agriculture, said on Tuesday. "It accepts that the two countries are now accepting each others' organic programmes, so that if a product is certified under the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) Organic Standards here in the US, it can be sold as organic in Japan." The agreement is similar to a US deal with Canada in 2009 and a deal with the European Union in 2012. While the Canadian agreement has brought more organic grains to the United States, the European pact has seen more chocolate and pasta imports. The Japanese deal is expected to increase imports of organic green tea, sake and mushrooms. "We're looking to see that the certification process, how the country verifies that organic standards are being met, that that's equivalent," said McEvoy. "We want to see that the government has adequate oversight over the certifiers, to make sure that they're accountable to doing the job consistently." In agreeing to the deal, Japan dropped its objections to two substances allowed in US organic foods that are not allowed in Japanese organic foods. While most of the two countries' organic standards are the same, Japan has not allowed its organics to be produced with lignin sulfonate, a substance used in post-harvest fruit production, or alkali-extracted humic acid, a fertiliser used to help grow a variety of organic crops. The United States allows those substances. Agriculture officials say they are looking at agreements other with other countries, including South Korea, and possibly India, Brazil and Mexico which could also make it easier for US organic farmers to sell abroad in the future. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/442c36fb862b38ebb4426a13c7594108 Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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