The IFOAM Organic Guarantee System (OGS) is a package of activities and services developed by IFOAM in order to assist, unite and lead the world of organic standards and verification systems.
The Family of Standards was launched on the 24th of January 2011. Major discounts are available to standard owners applying early! Learn more here.
The OGS Courier - the new free electronic newsletter about the IFOAM Organic Guarantee System
In November 2010, IFOAM launched The OGS Courier.
Click here to download the first issue (November 2010).
Click here to download the second issue (December 2010).
Click here to download the third issue (January 2011) - Launch of the IFOAM Family of Standard.
Click here to download the fourth issue (January 2011) - IFOAM Norms Consultation.
Click here to download the fifth issue (February 2011) - Launch of the Global Organic Mark and other OGS Logos.
Click here to download the 6th issue (March 2011) - Feedback of BioFach 2011 in Nuremberg.
Click here to download the 7th issue (June 2011) - COROS approval
Click here to download the 8th issue (August 2011) - membership approved COROS
Click here to download the 9th issue (December 2011) - Jump on the Family train and IFOAM standard motions
Click here to download the 10th issue (January 2012) - Upcoming opportunities at BioFach
Click here to download the 11th issue (May 2012) - New developments in various parts of the OGS.
Click here to download the 12th issue (August 2012) - IFOAM publishes the IFOAM Norms Version 2012.
Click here to download the 13th issue (December 2012) - The Global Organic Mark.
To subscribe to the OGS Courier, please write an email to
ogs@ ifoam.org, specifying your name and organization.
The New OGS at a glance
Download the new OGS brochure here to get a quick overview of the services available under the new IFOAM OGS.
The new services under the IFOAM OGS are:
- the IFOAM Family of Standards (for standard owners)
- the IFOAM Standard (for Certifiers)
- the Global Organic Mark (for operators)
- the IFOAM Accreditation (for certifiers, delivered by the IOAS)
- the IFOAM Global Organic System Accreditation (for certifiers, delivered by the IOAS)
The IFOAM Organic Guarantee System Revision
The Organic Guarantee system underwent a revision between 2003 and 2010. For further information please visit the OGS Revision Section of this website.
IFOAM Policies regarding the OGS
A number of policies (e.g. regarding standards revisions, interpretation of standards) are of relevance for the OGS. They can be downloaded from the OGS-Policies Library.
IFOAM comments on other organic standards and regulations
Click here to view the outcome of the comment process on the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) in 2010.
In 2010, IFOAM also commented on the draft CARICOM organic regulation, and on the Central American draft standard.
For more information, please contact ogs @ ifoam.org.