Press Release

Launching of Certification Alliance

22 February 2008, Biofach, Nuremberg , Germany

A small crowd gathered at stand 4- 430 in Biofach late afternoon February 22 nd 2008 to celebrate the historic launching of a one-stop inspection and certification service provider , the Certification Alliance .

Certification Alliance , a partnership of eight organic certification bodies, aims to provide a low cost all-in-one export certification service for operators to organic markets worldwide. Also known as Cert All in short, the service starting off in the Asian-Pacific will offer operators an Asian hospitality service experience.

The launch event kicked off with a brief announcement of CertAll's aspiration and vision as well as a description of CertAll's partnership arrangements, i.e. local based client management, common fee schedule for inspection & certification and peer review of partners' activity, to the audience. This was followed by the official unveiling of the certification alliance logo and a ceremonial signing by representatives of partner organizations present. The launch ended with congratulatory toasts from all present.

A few producers and traders from Thailand , Laos and Bhutan at the event expressed interest in Cert All's service. One potential client expressed "it was complicated and time consuming to communicate with a distant certification service. They don't fully understand our conditions and don't listen to us. They think they know everything. And when we send email to them, I have to send reminders before I get a reply. I really like the idea of CertAll combining professional certification with Asian service attention".

Cert All is now official opening its services. For more information, please visit www.certification alliance.org

Photo 1: Network partners of Certification Alliance at launching ceremony in BioFach 2008

Photo 2: Certification Alliance corporate logo with signature of its network partners