permaculture

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

Farmer Greg wrote:
> All,
>
> I was just  asked the following question and although I have wondered 
> this myself I don't have an answer for her.  Any ideas?
>
>
> > Lately, I have been seeing produce labeled "organic" from Mexico and 
> > Chile (predominantly).  Realizing that the U.S. government is very 
> > lax in policing produce in the states and imported, unlike meats, do 
> > you know if there are any guarantees the produce from other 
> > countries is, in fact, organic?

Since the NOP/USDA organic rule/standards are readily available and apply to any 
produce labelled "organic"
sold in the US, then Chilean organic produce must meet the US standards for 
organic.
Of course they probably labelled it organic in Chile and shipped it out thinking it would make it to the shelves of US 
stores w/wo secondary inspection/certification/checking the production audit trail. Technically the USDA is obligated to 
ensure that it meets the NOP standards, i.e. can be USDA certified organic.
If the USDA does not do this then they are possibly letting foreigh imports thumb their noses at the standards that US 
farmers must, by law, fully comply with.

For my money, this answers your question definitively.