Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

livingontheland - [Livingontheland] USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud Is Increasing

livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Healthy soil and sustainable growing

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Tradingpost" <tradingpost@lobo.net>
  • To: livingontheland@lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: [Livingontheland] USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud Is Increasing
  • Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:31:34 -0600


Published on Friday, August 8, 2008 by CommonDreams.org
USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud Is Increasing
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/08/08/10887/

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP) announced
August 5 that 15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers they recently
inspected failed the USDA audit and will have 12 months to make corrections
or lose their accreditation with the NOP. Although the USDA euphemistically
calls their enforcement actions “renewal pending subsequent audit,” it is
clear that there are numerous violations of organic standards taking place in
the U.S. and across the world. A number of the violations noted in the
several hundred page audit related to Chinese imports certified by the
French-based organic certifier Ecocert and other certifiers.

Strangely enough, Quality Assurance International (QAI), the largest organic
certifier in the world, is not cited by the USDA, even though the Organic
Consumers Association OCA has recently reviewed documents that indicate that
QAI is indeed under investigation by the NOP. QAI has recently been in the
news for sourcing ginger, contaminated with a dangerous and banned pesticide,
Aldicarb, from its Chinese certification sub-contractors and then labeling it
as “USDA Organic.” QAI is also under public fire, along with other
certifiers, for certifying factory farm feedlot dairies supplying milk to
Horizon and Aurora Organic Dairy, who in turn supply Wal-Mart, Costco,
Safeway, and other organic private label organic milk brands.

For over six years the OCA, Cornucopia Institute, the Center for Food Safety
and others in the organic community have called upon the USDA to implement a
“Peer Review Panel” system, as required by law in the National Organic
Standards, so that respected members of the organic community can monitor the
USDA National Organic Program and police violations of organic standards on
the part of producers, importers, and certifiers. A 2005 ANSI (American
National Standards Institute) audit of the USDA’s National Organic Program
found numerous problems and irregularities, according to Jim Riddle, former
chair of the National Organic Standards Board.

As the USDA themselves have admitted “The National Organic Standards call for
the Administrator of AMS (USDA Agricultural Marketing Service) to appoint
members of a Peer Review Panel to evaluate the NOP¹s adherence to its
accreditation procedures and its accreditation decisions.” It’s time for the
USDA to stop dragging their heels and begin the public process to set up an
organic community “Peer Review Panel,” so can we can start policing organic
standards ourselves.

To Sign the Petition to the USDA for a Peer Review Panel go here.

Ronnie Cummins is the National Director of Organic Consumers Association.





  • [Livingontheland] USDA Report Indicates That Organic Labeling Fraud Is Increasing, Tradingpost, 08/12/2008

Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page