New Zealand's longest-running association devoted to organics is calling on the government to amend it's landmark Organic Products Bill to include a definition of organics.

Speaking to the Primary Production Select Committee today, Soil & Health Association Deputy Chair Jenny Lux said the lack of a definition risked undermining the whole enterprise.

"Organic production isn't currently defined in the Bill despite there being a clear international definition that our trading partners know and will understand.

"Leaving out a definition opens the organic sector up to misinterpretation. The definition of organics needs to be included in the Bill, not relegated to a national standard or regulation that can chop and change. It needs to be set out clearly in the law.

"We are advocating strongly for the government to pick up the internationally recognised standard agreed by IFOAM (the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements).

The Soil & Health Association is also calling for GMOs to be expressly ruled out under the bill, amongst other changes.

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