**6. Organic certification**

The body, CODEX Alimentarius of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations aims to protect the health of the consumers and ensure fair prices in the international market. Internationally, organic certification is underway to facilitate international trade between countries. One such body is International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movement (IFOAM).

USDA organic certification confirms that the farm complies with USDA organic regulations. Farms are certified by State or Private entities which have been accredited by USDA. Any farm that produces over \$5000 annually through organic sales needs to be certified.

Land utilized for organic vegetable production must not have used chemical fertilizers, pesticides, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's) for atleast 3 years prior to growing for organic purpose. Whole farm or part of a farm can be certified as organic. It is particularly important for vegetable growers to document the last date of application of prohibited chemicals, particularly when crops like, Lettuce or Spinach is grown.

### **7. Organic certification in India**

Organic farming in India is showing steady increase. Farmers involved in organic farming are of three categories *viz.*, farmers of low input zones, traditionally doing organic farming, farmers who have shifted to organic farming as a result of realizing the ill effects of conventional farming and farmers who have ventured into organic practices to fetch premium price for their produce. In India, the National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) has provided the regulatory framework while National Project on Organic Farming (NPOF) is involved in providing support for expanding the area under certified organic production [12].

#### **8. Regulatory mechanism**

The National Programme on Organic Production (NPOP) offers regulatory mechanism to acts for domestic and export markets. NPOP under Foreign *Organic Vegetable Cultivation DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99744*

Trade Development and Regulation Act (FTDR) caters the export requirement and has been acclaimed by European Union, Sweden and USDA. Hence, any organic product certified by NPOP can be exported to Europe, Sweden and USA. Similarly, to meet the domestic demands, NPOP notified under Agriculture Produce Grading, Marketing and Certification Act (APGMC) comes to play lead role. Regulatory body of NPOP under FTDR is Agricultural and Processed Foods Export Development Authority (APEDA) under Ministry of Commerce and NPOP under APGMC Act is Agricultural Marketing Advisor (AMA) under Ministry of Agriculture. Accreditation of Certification and Inspection Agencies is being granted by a common National Accreditation Body (NAB) [12].
