Meat&Poultry - July 2012 - 17

• Consumers are buying fewer groceries to reduce spending. Forty-five percent of shoppers who reduced grocery spending in 2011 reduced their spending by simply buying less. This is almost the same as the number of people who reduced their grocery spending by using lists, coupons and buying private label products. • Natural and organic meat and poultry markets attracted new users in 2011 after several years of being flat. The percentage of shoppers who reported purchasing natural and/organic meat/poultry in the past three months increased to 24 percent from 20 percent.

new US-EU equivalency partnership eliminates a requirement that companies wanting to trade organic products had to obtain separate certifications to two standards, according to USDA. The old system created a double set of fees, inspections and paperwork. The partnership covers only products exported from and certified in the US or the EU. An organic import certificate must accompany all products traded under the agreement, USDA said. The certificate must show the production location, identify the certifying organization and verify that growers and handlers did not use prohibited substances and production methods. The certificates also allow traded products to be tracked, in addition to certifying that the terms of the partnership were met, the agency said. “This partnership will open new markets for American farmers and ranchers, create more opportunities for small businesses and result in good jobs for Americans who grow, package, ship and market organic

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• Household income directly impacts the frequency of meat and poultry consumption, as shoppers who experienced a drop in household income tend to eat meat and poultry less frequently at an average of 3.8 dinners a week vs. the average four dinners a week for most Americans. ■

products,” said Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan. “USDA will continue to work hard to expand opportunities for all US products, including organics. “Equivalency arrangements such as this are critical to growing the US organics industry — they require careful negotiation to ensure that we maintain existing US trade policies while ensuring that US agricultural products will compete on a level playing field in world markets,” she added. The US signed a similar partnership with Canada in July 2009, and additional equivalency arrangement conversations have begun with South Korea, Taiwan and Japan, according to USDA. ■

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Partnership broadens trade in organics
Organic products certified in the United States or European Union may now be sold as organic in either market starting June 1, the US Department of Agriculture announced June 4. A

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Meat&Poultry - July 2012

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