permaculture

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

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [SANET-MG] Organic Standards Violations - Take Action
Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2008 07:23:50 -0700
From: Chrys Ostrander <chrys@THEFUTUREISORGANIC.NET>
Reply-To: Sustainable Agriculture Network Discussion Group              <SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU>, 
Chrys Ostrander <chrys@THEFUTUREISORGANIC.NET>
To: SANET-MG@LISTS.IFAS.UFL.EDU

From the
<http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1336>Organic
Consumers Association:
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1336
(Click the link above to go to an OCA page from which you can sign a
petition on this issue)

The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program (NOP)
announced on August 5th that 15 of the 30 accredited organic
certifiers they recently [completed inspections for], failed the USDA
audit and will have 12 months to make corrections or lose their
accreditation with the NOP. It is clear that there are numerous
violations of organic standards taking place in the U.S. and across
the world. (Read the August 5 NOP Audit Report
<http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/ams.fetchTemplateData.do?template=TemplateL&navID=NationalOrganicProgram&leftNav=NationalOrganicProgram&page=NOPNewsroomAdditionalAnnoucements&description=Additional%20Announcements&acct=nopgeninfo>here) 

[Ed. Note: There are 95 organic certifiers accredited by the USDA,
all of which are at some stage in the accreditation audit process.]

       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 OCA has
recently reviewed documents that indicate that QAI is indeed under
investigation by the NOP. [Ed. Note: QAI is, in fact, cited in the
Audit Report (p.3). QAI was approved for renewal on 4/29/2007 and is
noted in the Audit Report as "Renewal On-going" which means the jury
is still out on QAI]

       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." (Watch news video coverage of this issue
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_13803.cfm>here).
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. (Learn
<http://www.organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm>more)

       For six years the OCA and 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 and police violations of organic
standards on the part of producers, importers, and certifiers.

       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 NOP's 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. [Ed. Note: The USDA's most recent pronouncement
on the status of the Peer Review Panel, the one on their web site
today, is dated February, 2002!! The only reason mentioned for not
issuing a request for nominations was, in 2002, "The Office of the
General Counsel (OGC) must review the document and determine whether,
according to the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), we must place
a notice calling for nominations in the Federal Register." USDA
implies that they can't even post it to their web site until it's
determined whether USDA is required to post it in the FR. This is not
just foot dragging. This is a severed foot that has festered in the
halls of bureaucracy for six years. I just learned a new term that
I'm going to use from now on to characterize the G.W. Bush
administration: Idiocracy. Go to the OCA web site and sign the Peer
Review Panel petition.]
http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/642/petition.jsp?petition_KEY=1336


This message originated from or was forwarded by:
Chrys Ostrander
Chrysalis Farm @ Tolstoy
Organic Micro-permaculture
33495 Mill Canyon Rd.
Davenport, WA 99122
509-725-0610
chrys@thefutureisorganic.net
http://www.thefutureisorganic.net

"From each according to their ability, to each according to their needs"
Louis Jean Joseph Charles Blanc - "The organization of work" 1839
Karl Marx - "Critique of the Gotha Program" 1875

"The purpose of agriculture is not the production of food, but the
perfection of human beings"
Masanobu Fukuoka - "One Straw Revolution" 1978

"We will never have an organic future and a stable climate until we
pull all the troops out of Iraq
and redirect our annual $650 billion military budget to greening the
economy and guaranteeing
a sustainable environment and economic justice for everyone."
Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association
at the "Farms Not Arms" public forum and protest in Manhattan, September, 2007