The Global Governance of Organic Agricultural Standards

Abstract

This article aims to unravel the topic of the global governance process of organic agricultural standards. It begins with an explanation of the global governance process in general and the framework derived from this part will be used in the second part when the author elaborates more on the global governance process of organic agricultural standards. The International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements or IFOAM, a non-state actor, has played a crucial role in the process and this shows that states are no longer the sole important actor in the process of global governance. The second part is further divided into three sub-topics. The first one touches upon the creation of body of knowledge in the field of organic agriculture prior to the existence of the global governance. The second one discusses the process that leads to the formation of the global governance of organic agricultural standards by emphasizing on the role of IFOAM and its collaboration with other actors in managing knowledge, developing norms, formulating and promulgating recommendations and institutionalizing ideas. The last sub-topic explains how the global governance of organic agricultural standards works amidst several diverse standards. In addition, this part also points out the continual role of the global governance process even after the formation of the global governance.