Moving from the idea of establishing local certification institutions of each country supported by the leading organizations of the organic sector, ETKO was established in 1996 as a local certification institution in central Izmir and conducts international audit and certification processes. Other countries it operates are: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ukraine, Korea, China, Denmark, Germany, Syria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kyrgyzstan, Serbia, Romania, Sweden, Bulgaria, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. In 1996, it started the certification process with the authorization of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, in 2003, USDA was accredited from the IOAS International Organic Accreditation Agency in 2005.