Latin America is an important regional supplier of organic products, although the president of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Commission for Organic Agriculture (CIAO), Juan Carlos Ramírez, believes that there are still "shortcomings to become international exporters."
For this reason, the eighth meeting of the Commission, held this week in Buenos Aires, focused on the need to strengthen the domestic market of the countries of Latin America, with the idea of making it possible to cater to the needs of consumers, who increasingly "demand more products with these features," stated Ramírez.
"We have the responsibility to improve the institutional regulations and control systems in place for the production, taking into account the perception of organic foods as healthier for people and more environmentally-friendly," he pointed out.
All countries in the region have "increased their exports to the international market," affirms Ramírez, who believes that organic production is a "challenge for the agriculture of the future" and that there is "horizontal cooperation between countries."
"Organics are value-added products and have a high social impact, as they require more control and unique care, which translates into a greater demand for employees than with GM food," he said.
Latin America accounts for between 17 and 20% of the world trade in organic food, with production growing in a "gigantic" scale, stressed Ramírez.
According to the expert, the world market for organic products has grown at a rate of almost 10% per year since 2008, with around US $ 80,000 million in turnover annually.
Ramírez noted that there are currently 2.2 million organic food producers worldwide, of which 400,000 are in Latin America.
"This is a more open market, where there is a direct relationship between producers and traders through fairs and markets. This is quite unlike the conventional market, which ends up being a funnel for international traders," he highlighted.
At the meeting, the United States was accepted as a member of the CIAO, while Spain attended as an observer and "with the desire to be a cooperating country" that can "complement the international supply together with Latin America and the Caribbean," concluded Ramírez.
