Applying for Demeter Certification

Demeter Application Documents

For anyone interested in Certification:

Please read the Guide to the Demeter Forms for Demeter Applicants and Licensees first.

Farmers and Growers:

Once you have read the Guide to the Demeter Forms your next step will be to complete the application documents, which are:

A Farm Profile which provides background information on your operation.

A Management Plan which describes management proposals for your operation.

The Declaration and Application Form.

The Annual Report Data Form. This is a fill-in form for reporting on-farm activity during the most recent reporting period.  New applicants should try to complete this for at least the past 18 months.

Reference to the Demeter New Zealand Standards for Primary Production will be essential.

Processors

If you do not already have a Demeter certification for primary production please complete the Declaration and Application Form.  For all those wishing to further process Demeter certified products please complete the following .

A Processing Plan to report on the procedures used for processing Demeter certified raw produce.  If you are wishing to certify wine, please use the Winery Report instead.

The Processing Annual Report Data Form will need to be completed for all processed products, including wine.  There is also a set of spreadsheets that may be used for calculating percentages of ingredients in recipes. It has space for four recipes – if you need more, insert a new worksheet and copy into it everything from an unused version of one of worksheets 1-4.

Existing licensees please note:

All the above documents are identical to the ones you use except that your Annual Declaration form has some information specific to you preprinted on pages 1,2 and 3. You should therefore make sure that you use only the preprinted versions of those pages.

Preparation Makers

If you are making biodynamic preparations you will need to record what you do. There are forms available for this . The preparation evaluation form is also supplied in Word format so you can type in it. Use a new copy for each preparation.

Wine makers

Once your winery has been approved for Demeter production, finished wine may be certified by the lot. A pdf version of the application form is available here. A Word version (1Mb) for electronic completion is available by email on request. For export to the USA additional information must be submitted to Demeter USA on this form.  Please consult Demeter New Zealand first.

Exporters

If you are contemplating export you should contact Demeter New Zealand to discuss the requirements. There are additional requirements for the export of Demeter produce to other countries. The International Demeter Biodynamic Standard has information on labelling which particularly governs the use of the Demeter co-brand symbol, the main Demeter logo used internationally, which will also be relevant.

Vegetable Growers

Some hybrid brassica seeds are not permitted in Demeter production because they are produced by a technique that is a form of (unregulated) genetic engineering. A list of permitted varieties may be viewed here. (This information is provided by Demeter Netherlands.)

Our contact details:

Demeter New Zealand
Postal: PO Box 356, Martinborough 5741
Telephone: 0-6-306 8582 (within NZ); +64-6-306 858 (international)
E-mail: demeter@biodynamic.org.nz