The OECD Agricultural Codes and Schemes help unlock international trade by setting clear standards and harmonising certification processes across seeds, forests, tractors, fruits, and vegetables. By ensuring product integrity and simplifying import and export processes, they provide a solid foundation for national and regional certification systems and reinforce the global regulatory framework in agriculture.
OECD standards for agriculture
The OECD Codes and Schemes help streamline international trade and agriculture by simplifying procedures, reducing non-tariff barriers, promoting harmonised standards, and enhancing transparency. By supporting quality control, inspection processes and traceability, they build trust in global markets and contribute to stronger environmental protection.
Key messages
The OECD Codes and Schemes strengthen global market confidence by reducing technical barriers to trade and improving transparency across certification processes. By ensuring traceability and quality assurance for seeds, forests, tractors, fruits, and vegetables, they make it easier for countries to trade with confidence, knowing that agricultural products meet consistent international standards.
Since 1958, the OECD Codes and Schemes have brought together OECD and non-OECD countries as equal partners in shaping global trade standards. Through regular dialogue with governments, industry, and trade stakeholders, they remain responsive to evolving market needs and technologies. This inclusive, collaborative approach ensures that agricultural certification systems are accessible, up-to-date, and widely accepted across borders.
Context
OECD Seed Schemes help countries trade seeds with confidence through trusted certification
The OECD Seed Schemes offer an international framework for certifying agricultural seeds, helping countries participate in global trade with confidence. By promoting co-operation and trust among stakeholders, the Schemes bring several key benefits to participating countries:
Facilitating international trade and access to major agricultural export markets, including new seed varieties.
Supporting cross-border seed production through collaboration between countries and private sector partners.
Building trust via an inclusive, participatory standard-setting process and regular information exchanges among national certification bodies.
Ensuring varietal purity and identity through a robust certification system based on field inspections and control plot testing, with many countries incorporating OECD standards into national legislation.
Providing a reliable regulatory framework for the formal seed sector and encouraging constructive public-private co-operation.
These schemes help ensure seed quality and traceability while opening up opportunities for innovation, investment, and market access.
OECD Tractor Codes support safe and open trade by harmonising international testing standards
The OECD Tractor Codes provide a set of internationally recognised rules and procedures for testing agricultural and forestry tractors. By standardising how tractors and their protective structures are certified, the Codes ensure safety and reliability across borders. Their implementation increases transparency, simplifies trade procedures, and facilitates market access by making safety and performance criteria comparable worldwide. By aligning testing methods, the OECD Tractor Codes help open markets and promote safer, more efficient trade in agricultural machinery.
OECD Fruit and Vegetables Scheme strengthens trade through harmonised quality inspections and mutual recognition
The OECD Fruit and Vegetables Scheme offers an internationally harmonised quality inspection system used by 28 participating countries. It enhances trust and trade by enabling mutual recognition of inspections through structured peer reviews of national systems, regular meetings of national inspection heads, and hands-on workshops for inspectors. Frequent engagement among stakeholders ensures that the interpretation of international standards, set by bodies like UNECE and CODEX, is consistent, up-to-date, and effectively applied. This collaborative process helps streamline inspections, build confidence in product quality, and support smoother trade flows in fresh products.
OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme supports sustainable forestry through trusted certification of reproductive materials
The OECD Forest Seed and Plant Scheme promotes the production and use of forest reproductive materials (FRM), including seeds, plant parts, and plants, that are collected, processed, and distributed according to harmonised standards ensuring trueness to name.
Certified FRM supports a wide range of forestry and agroforestry goals, from timber, biomass, and resin production to biodiversity protection, climate change mitigation, and ecosystem restoration. Participating governments collaborate to develop and implement certification procedures that guarantee the accurate identification of FRMs and reduce uncertainty in afforestation and reforestation outcomes.
The Scheme is currently implemented by 30 countries, including those working to strengthen their capacity to certify and trade forest seeds and plants for sustainable land use.
