"It's a great honour to be supported by my colleagues from around the world," declared Andre Leu, Chairman of the Organic Federation of Australia (OFA), after his election in Italy, on June 28.

A total of 1700 experts, practitioners and producers from 108 countries met in Italy for the IFOAM Organic World Congress, with its special focus, climate change and food security.

The enormous range of topics included biodiversity, food safety, sowing, growing and harvesting techniques, market opportunities, verification methods, and technological innovations.

Andre Leu says, "This is a critical time for world agriculture, especially now that sales in organic products is the fastest growing area and worth over $50 billion.

"The areas of equivalence in organic standards and certification, and their harmonisation to facilitate fair trade in organic agriculture are key issues, plus climate change and the environmental benefits of organic systems."

Regarding Australia, Mr Leu said, "The draft of Australian Standard for Organic and Biodynamic Products will be ready for public comments this month.

"It should be ready for adoption around the end of this year."