**4. Regulation in developed and developing countries**

Rules and regulatory requirements for products in general are the effects of certain programs that are established by governments. The creation of these programs is due to a set of actions, within the public policies established by the governments, in compliance with certain sectors for the well-being of civil society. They are also the main instruments that the government uses to promote integration between sectors, standardize production criteria, establish means of supervision and control, etc.

Regulations arise from specific technical meetings of certain committees formed by specialized technicians. These committees meet for a certain time to discuss, evaluate, and establish what requirements and criteria should be followed by stakeholders. In the case of Brazil, the requirements and regulations for organic production were established within a National Organic Production Program, specifically in the Special Commission. This commission was initially formed to propose standards for the certification of organic products [7]. Technicians and specialists from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply participated together with the Federal Government. As a result, law 10.831/2003 was published [8], considered the legal framework of Brazilian organic agriculture. Law 10.831/2003 set up a framework for each theme in organic agriculture. This framework is made up of decree ordinances and specific normative instructions.

In the same manner, the United States forms its normative framework within public policy programs, also established by technicians and experts [9]. In the European Community, each member country had its own regulations. It was then necessary to align the regulations of each member country and standardize them so that the free trade in products between the member countries would comply with a single regulation. Currently, the European Council governs and is responsible for the management of the national organic production program [10].

The main regulatory requirements that are part of the regulations for organic products are described in **Table 1**. To illustrate the developing countries, Brazilian legislation was used as a reference because Brazil is a country with increasing growth in organic production. For developed countries, the United States is considered a country that has very strict legislation and is the largest market for organic products in the world, followed by the European Community, represented here as well.

Analyzing **Table 1**, basically, the described requirements are quite similar and congruent. Brazilian legislation is analogous to European legislation, while American legislation is more discerning and stricter.
