The U.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Program previewed the Strengthening Organic Enforcement with the biggest update of its kind in three decades.
USDA announced the update in its organic regulations, aimed as strengthening oversight and enforcement of the production and the handling and sale of organic products, according to a Jan. 18 news release.
"Protecting and growing the organic sector and the trusted USDA organic seal is a key part of the USDA Food Systems Transformation initiative," Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory Programs Jenny Lester Moffitt said in the news release. "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 final rule would implement mandates in the 2018 Farm Bill, responds to industry requests for updates in the department's organic regulations and addresses National Organic Standards Board recommendations, according to the news release.
The Strengthening Organic Enforcement final rule would protect organic integrity and bolster farmer and consumer confidence in USDA's organic seal, the news release said. The final would will support strong organic control systems, improve farm to market traceability, increase import oversight authority and provide robust enforcement of the organic regulations.
Key updates in the final rule include certification requirements for more businesses such as brokers and traders at critical organic supply chain links, organic identification requirements on nonretail containers and more rigorous certified operations on-site inspections, according to the release. Other updates include additional and more frequent certified operations data reporting and more specific certification requirements for producer groups.
The new final rule could affect USDA-accredited certifying agents, certified organic operations, organic inspectors, operations that may be considering organic certification, import or trade organic products businesses and organic products retailers, the release reported.
