Organic Certification

(For a listing of USDA FIRST ROUND ACCREDITED CERTIFYING AGENTS , go here.
And for a good FAC on what the new U.S. National Organic Program standards mean, go here.)

Organic Crop Improvement Association (OCIA)
"The Organic Crop Improvement Association is an international program of certification to strict organic standards. With thousands of certified members in seventeen countries, OCIA is a respected voice in the international organic community. OCIA is an accredited member of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), is accredited to ISO-65 by the United States Department of Agriculture."

Organic Trade Association (OTA)
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) is the business association representing the organic agriculture industry in North America. Its 1,000 members include growers, shippers, processors, certifiers, farmers' associations, distributors, importers, exporters, consultants, retailers and others. OTA's industry advisory boards, which include Organic Certifiers Council, Organic Fiber Council, and Organic Suppliers Advisory Council, focus attention on and recommend service for their particular sectors of the organic industry. Founded in 1985, OTA encourages global sustainability through promoting and protecting the growth of diverse organic trade.

Certification is the key to the US National Organic Program. It assures that organic growers and handlers are, in fact, adhering to the law. After the final rule implementing the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) goes into effect, it will be a federal offense to label any product as "organic" unless it has been certified. All uses of the labeling term "organic" will be regulated.

The certification process focuses on the methods and materials used in production. There are three main requirements:

	the methods and materials used in production must meet organic standards
	there must be clear and ongoing documentation of these methods and materials
	there must be a paper trail tracing a product back to its production site, in order to verify the methods and materials used in its production.

Who must be certified?

With two exceptions, everyone selling products labeled as "organic" must be certified. This includes producers of organic livestock, food, and fiber crops, and "handlers" of organic products. A "handler" is any operation that "receives, processes, packages, or stores agricultural products." Some examples: a processing company that buys organic tomatoes and makes canned spaghetti sauce; any distributor who "substantially transforms, repacks or relabels organic agricultural products." This last distinction is meant to exclude brokering, warehousing or trucking operations that merely store or move finished processed products from place to place without altering them in any way.

The exceptions:

Growers who gross less than $5,000 annually are exempt from certification. NOSB recommends that these growers sign a declaration (available from certifying agencies) stating that they understand and are in compliance with OFPA, and that they have written an organic farm plan which can be made available to the public upon request. NOSB further recommends that growers falling under this "Small Farm Exemption" may not use the term "certified organic" when marketing their crops, and may market through direct sales only (farm stands, farmers’ markets, or direct sales to a retailer).

At present, retailers aren’t required to be certified. NOSB, however, recommends certification for retailers that engage in activities that qualify them as handlers (i.e., repacking bulk products such as dry beans or grain).

ISO Guide 65
The program uses the International Organization for Standardization's ISO 9000 series standards for documented quality management systems as a format for evaluating documentation to ensure consistent auditing practices and promote international recognition of audit results.

California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)
Products labeled "certified organic" have been grown and processed according to strict standards. CCOF annually inspects farms and facilities to ensure that no harmful chemicals have been used for at least three years, that foods are processed using sustainable methods, and that growers and processors keep detailed records of their practices.

CCOF was one of the first organizations to certify farms in North America, continually leading the way by promoting sustainable agriculture since 1973. CCOF's industry-setting standards helped pave the way for organic farming legislation like the California Organic Foods Act of 1990.

National Organic Program
SUMMARY: This final rule establishes the National Organic Program (NOP or program) under the direction of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), an arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This national program will facilitate domestic and international marketing of fresh and processed food that is organically produced and assure consumers that such products meet consistent, uniform standards. This program establishes national standards for the production and handling of organically produced products, including a National List of substances approved for and prohibited from use in organic production and handling. This final rule establishes a national-level accreditation program to be administered by AMS for State officials and private persons who want to be accredited as certifying agents. Under the program, certifying agents will certify production and handling operations in compliance with the requirements of this regulation and initiate compliance actions to enforce program requirements. The final rule includes requirements for labeling products as organic and containing organic ingredients. This final rule also provides for importation of organic agricultural products from foreign programs determined to have equivalent organic program requirements. This program is authorized under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, as amended.

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM)
The IFOAM Accreditation Programme is managed by the International Organic Accreditation Service Inc. (IOAS) under a licensing agreement with IFOAM. IOAS is a non-profit organization registered in the USA. IOAS operates independently from other activities of IFOAM.

The world's major certification bodies, working in many countries worldwide, have elected to become accredited with - or are currently being evaluated by the IOAS.

IFOAM Norms (Basic S tandards and Accreditation Criteria) are used as reference documents in the accreditation process. They are specifically designed to guide the implementation of organic certification worldwide.

International Organic Accreditation Service Inc. (IOAS)
The International Organic Accreditation Service (IOAS) provides accreditation services to certification bodies active in the certification of organic production and processing.

Among other activities, the IOAS operates the Accreditation Programme of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).