The organic market is confronted with hundreds of private sector standards and governmental regulations, two international standards for organic agriculture (Codex Alimentarius and IFOAM) and a host of conformity assessment and accreditation systems. Mutual recognition and equivalency among these systems is extremely limited. Discussions in a number of forums including FAO, IFOAM and UNCTAD, have indicated that the plethora of certification requirements and regulations are considered to be a major obstacle for a continuous and rapid development of the organic sector, especially for producers in developing countries.