permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lfl@intrex.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        Re: [SANET-MG] Fw: USDA never sleeps- Organic better wake up
Date:   Tue, 20 Sep 2005 17:18:03 -0400
From:   Grace Gershuny <graceg@KINGCON.COM>
To:     SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

Dear SANET:

I'm pasting in below the Organic Trade Association's action alert on the
same subject but opposite position as that circulated by the Organic
Consumers Association (OCA).  Most of OCA's statements are flat out
lies, and if the results of the Harvey lawsuit are allowed to stand
there will be a dramatic loss of markets for organic farmers, as well as
products available to organic consumers.  Talk about reversing 35 years
of effort by the organic community--OCA's position is a classic case of
trying to cut off your nose to spite your face.  Check out the factual
information presented by OTA and decide for yourself.

Thanks for listening,

Grace Gershuny

P.S.  I have been working as a consultant to OTA for the past year or
so, most recently in helping its members with various strategies to
mitigate the damage done by Harvey.  But I am writing this on my own
nickel, as a longtime organic advocate, author, grower, teacher, and,
yes, former NOP staff member.

*Action Alert from the Organic Trade Association

Sept. 19, 2005

*

*Organic Trade Association Members: Contact Key Senators Today

*


After evaluating all regulatory and legislative options to keep the
national organic standards as they were prior to the final court
decision in the Harvey v. Johanns lawsuit, OTA is working with key
legislators to restore the existing National Organic Program
regulations. OTA members need to use OTA's Advocacy Action Center to
contact the following four Senators *today*:

Barbara Boxer (D-California)

Tom Harkin (D-Iowa)

Herbert Kohl (D-Wisconsin), and

Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont)

and indicate your support for OTA's proposal to Congress. Visit OTA's
Legislative Action Center at: *http://www.capwiz.com/ota/*
<http://www.magnetmail1.net/ls.cfm?r=21403223&sid=681189&m=122050&u=OTA_Com&s=http://www.capwiz.com/ota/>, 

and look for the Action Alert.



Time is of the essence. Send letters by close of business Monday. Take
two minutes now to help keep your organic business growing.



This /News Flash/ includes a summary of OTA's proposal to Congress. The
OTA Board of Directors has given its unanimous support. If you receive
inquiries about this issue from your customers, please use the
information OTA is providing in this /News Flash/ to clarify any
misperceptions or misunderstandings.



*OTA's stance: The Organic Trade Association Supports a Return to the
Status Quo and Requests that Congress Act after June 2005 Court Ruling.



*


    **


    Key Points**

    * **The federal rules authorizing the use of the USDA Organic seal
      on food products are five years old, and are the touchstone of
      mainstream consumer acceptance of organic products. **
    * **The current organic rules are the result of adoption by USDA of
      recommendations from a citizen advisory board created by Congress
      and 10 years of notice and comment rulemaking based on those
      recommendations. **
    * **As might be expected with a new federal program as comprehensive
      as the nearly 500-page organic rule, certain parts of the rules
      were found to be inconsistent with the statute. **

**


_The June 2005 Court Ruling Threatens the Booming Organic Market_* *

    * *The June 2005 court ruling impacted three parts of the federal
      rules. *
    * **First,* it effectively blocked the common use of harmless
      substances like baking soda, pectin, ascorbic acid, vitamins and
      minerals, etc., the so-called "allowed synthetics" in processed
      food products bearing the USDA Organic seal. *
    * **Second*, it required the rules relied upon by small dairy farms
      transitioning to organic management practices be revised, with the
      unintended result that making the change will be significantly
      more costly after the ruling. *
    * **Third,* it disallowed the procedure implemented by the
      Secretary's organic certifying agents for recognizing the
      commercial unavailability of organic agricultural products. *

*



*


  **The Court Preserved the Status Quo for One Year to Allow Congress to
  Remedy the Problem**

    * *To avoid consumer confusion and market disruption, the Court
      declined to immediately vacate the rules to allow Congress to
      consider its ruling. *
    * *Due to crop cycles and the lead time necessary for product
      formulation, labeling, and marketing of organic products to
      consumers, legislative clarification must be immediate. *
    * *The businesses that produce and market the majority of America's
      certified organic farm products will have to drop product lines or
      re-label them without the USDA seal by the end of 2005. *
    * *Some have estimated that up to 90% of the multi-ingredient
      products that today bear the USDA Organic seal will have to be
      removed or relabeled without using the USDA seal. *
    * *To compensate for the lower value consumers place on products not
      "organic enough" to carry the USDA seal, some companies may
      reformulate with less organic content or discontinue certain
      product lines. *

*


*_The Solution is to Clarify the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990_*_ _ *

    * *It is critical that Congress seize the opportunity created by the
      Court and act before the end of the year. *
    * *The necessary clarifications will stabilize the marketplace for
      farmers, and businesses that contract with farmers for organic
      agricultural commodities, and do nothing more than restore the
      status quo­an interpretation of the statute by the citizen
      advisory board that was created by Congress to advise the
      Secretary on organic matters. *

*


*_Read OTA's proposal that would restore the organic regulations:
http://www.ota.com/Restoring_Amendments.html
<http://www.magnetmail1.net/ls.cfm?r=21403223&sid=681190&m=122050&u=OTA_Com&s=http://www.ota.com/Restoring_Amendments.html>

_*

*_Get background information about the lawsuit_:
_http://www.ota.com/m/LawsuitHome.html_
<http://www.magnetmail1.net/ls.cfm?r=21403223&sid=681191&m=122050&u=OTA_Com&s=http://www.ota.com/m/LawsuitHome.html>_

_*

*_Need your member ID or password? Contact Amy Watts via:_
awatts@ota.com <mailto:awatts@ota.com> _.

_*

*
*/The News Flash is published by the Organic Trade Association as a
service to its members.  Copyright © 2005.

/



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