Thirteen senators last week wrote the Korean ambassador to the United States urging his government to keep the Korean market open to products certified organic pending completion of an equivalency agreement between the two countries.

The Organic Trade Association noted in a news release today that the United States and the Republic of Korea have been negotiating an agreement since 2009, but that the regulation has not yet been implemented.

All fresh/raw organic agricultural products and ingredients were shut out of Korea unless they were certified to the Korean standard on January 1, 2013, and on January 1, 2014, processed products will also be shut out of Korea unless they are certified to the Korean standard, thus closing the market to all U.S. organic products not certified.

“The U.S.-Korea Trade Agreement lays out a framework to address agriculture trade barriers as they arise. Members of OTA have called on the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative and USDA to work with Korean officials to find an immediate solution in the spirit of this agreement,” Laura Batcha, the OTA executive vice president, said in the news release.

Letter to Ambassador Ahn Ho-young