On Wednesday, the USDA National Organic Program previewed the Strengthening Organic Enforcement final rule. This update to the USDA organic regulations strengthens oversight and enforcement of organic products' production, handling, and sale.
The rule implements 2018 Farm Bill mandates, is a response to industry requests for updates to the USDA organic regulations, and addresses National Organic Standards Board recommendations.
“Protecting and growing the organic sector and the trusted USDA organic seal is a key part of the USDA Food Systems Transformation initiative,” said undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs Jenny Lester Moffitt, in a statement. “The Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule is the biggest update to the organic regulations since the original Act in 1990, providing a significant increase in oversight and enforcement authority to reinforce the trust of consumers, farmers, and those transitioning to organic production. This success is another demonstration that USDA fully stands behind the organic brand.”
The rule protects organic integrity and supports farmer and consumer confidence in the USDA organic seal by maintaining strong organic control systems, improving farm-to-market traceability, increasing import oversight authority, and enforcing organic regulations.
Key updates include:
• Requiring certification of more of the businesses at critical points in organic supply chains
• Requiring NOP Import Certificates for all organic imports
• Increasing authority for more rigorous on-site inspections of certified operations
• Needing standardized certificates of organic operation
• Mandating additional and more frequent reporting of data on certified operations
• Facilitating authority for robust recordkeeping, traceability practices, and fraud prevention procedures
The rule may affect USDA-accredited certifying agents, organic inspectors, certified organic operations, operations considering organic certification, businesses that import or trade organic products, and retailers that sell organic products. Those affected by the rule will have one year from the effective date to comply with the changes.
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