About IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements)

IFOAM, International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, was established in 1972 with the headquarters in Germany. Until the first half in 2000, IFOAM has 718 members from 105 countries, including full members (with voting right), associate members and supporing members (without voting right).

IFOAM aims to unite the members to contribute to development of the sustainable agriculture system which combined the ecology, society and economy as a whole. The purpose of IFOAM is also to worldwide promote the production of high-quality food and to protect the soil as well to increase soil fertility, and to minimize the environmental pollution and the consumption of the unrenewable resource. IFOAM is a global international organization to programme the strategic decision on the development of global organic agriculutre and to offer the corresponding support to the members who are difficult in funding and technology.

IFOAM was launched by developed countries, however, with the development and promotion of organic ariguclture, the acquaintance and acceptance of organic agriculure the developing countries is helpful for IFOAM to develop more members from the developing countries to expand the internation and aral agriculutre together. IFOAM may provide the members with the platform for communication on konwledge and conception among the members, and with the relevant information about production and development of international agriculture and about the standards on processing trade as well. IFOAM also gives the support on global or transnational cooperations or cross-regional cooperation through the way of formulating the uniform mark used by the certification organizations of IFOA and of establishing the arbitration court for Organic Agriculture Movements.

The business scopes of IFOAM are involved with rural development, public relations, authorized certification, coordination of certification, fair trade, assisting the development of developing countries, environmental career, education, training and extension of business, etc. IFOAM would like to provide the global organic agriculture with the important standard and to promote the further deveolpment of organic agriculture, which contributed to ensuring the correctness of direction of development of organic agriculture. In addition, IFOAM makes great contribution to coordination of the relations among the members and to the agricultural development, which causes IFOAM is regarded as the “umberlla” for global organic agriculture.

In 2003, CQM joined IFOAM and became one of the full members.