Organic Certification

Update from the USDA National Organic Program—March 2013 Fraudulent Organic Certificates

Fraudulent Organic Certificates

Falsely representing products as certified USDA organic violates the law and federal organic regulations. Using fraudulent documents to market, label, or sell non-organic agricultural products as organic is punishable by fines of up to $11,000 for each violation.

Certifying agents and organic operations should continue to guard against these practices and practice caution when purchasing products from suppliers. Anyone suspecting a violation of the regulations can report a complaint to the NOP Compliance and Enforcement Division.

Fraudulent certificates may have been created and used without the knowledge of the operator or the certifying agent named in a certificate. The posting of fraudulent certificates does not necessarily mean that the named operator or certifying agent was involved in illegal activity. If an operation named in a fraudulent certificate is certified, its certifying agent identified in the list of certified operations can provide additional information and verifications to the organic trade.

Fraudulent Certificates Reported to NOP

Shree Mahalaxmi Psyllium Pvt Ltd (announced March 12, 2013)

Operation name and location: Shree Mahalaxmi Psyllium Pvt Ltd; State Highway, At. & Po. Khali, Siddhpur 384151, North Gujarat, India
Products listed as certified: All organic products
USDA accredited certifying agent and location: IMO Control (Note: IMO Control has confirmed that the certificate is fraudulent and is NOT responsible for its production.)
Certificate issue location and date: No location listed, 14-8-2011

Xi’an Pengtime Corporation (announced March 11, 2013)

Operation name and location: Xi’an Pengtime Corporation, 36# Gaoxin 6 Road, Xi’an Shaanxi, China
Products listed as certified: Organic products listed on attachments to the posted certificate
USDA accredited certifying agent and location: Ecocert -L’Isle-Jourdain – France (Note: Ecocert has confirmed that the certificate is fraudulent and is NOT responsible for its production.)
Certificate issue location and date: Beijing, June 6, 2012

Oregon Tilth Online Certification Tool: MYOTCO

Oregon Tilth, the leader in organic certification with a focus on customer service, introduces MyOTCO, an online certification tool allowing clients 24-7 online access to their certification information including Certificates, Organic System Plans, Inspection reports, easy at-a-glance tracking of renewal and application status and more.

"As Organic Certification becomes more challenging and more sophisticated we want to provide increased customer service, and more clients are asking about online access. This is the first step in working towards providing clients increased access to their information as well as expanding assistance in working through the certification process," stated Connie Karr, Certification Director for Oregon Tilth. "We will continue to develop this tool to improve the ability to do more online through MyOTCO."

Future plans for MyOTCO include two-way interaction and the ability to submit documents, requests and certification items online. The release of MyOTCO to all Oregon Tilth Certified clients shows the commitment that Oregon Tilth has to their customers. Through increased accessibility and transparency OTCO continues to support the organic community, constantly striving to make certification more accessible.

Visit their website for more information, and to sign up.

Requirements for USDA Organic Certification
This is a process that must be completed yearly. If you keep good records and create a reliable template/plan the first year, record keeping will be much easier in the future:

Follow the USDA Organic Practices, for 3 years, beginning from the time that non-organic practices were discontinued.
Maintain records to substantiate these steps.
Maintain an organic farm plan. The goal is to to build organic matter and maximize soil coverage with crops or cover crops.
Contact an organic certifier of your choice (see resources below).
Once certification agency application is completed (including farm plan and documentation of actions to land) make an appointment for the certifier to send an inspector.
Inspector will come when there is a crop in the soil. This inspection will take from 3-8 hours, depending on the complexity of your farm.
Complete inspection with inspector. Make any required adjustments.
Pay fees to certifier (there is no longer a state registration fee or process).
Receive organic certificate, which now means that the produce can be sold with an organic label (including USDA Organic)

If you are a farmer looking to become USDA GAP Certified, follow the USDA Good Agricultural Practices and Good Handling Practices Audit Verification Checklist. To pass with a GAP Certification, make sure you will be able to pass all tests with at least an 80 percent. In addition, use the USDA GAP and GHP Audit User’s Guide.

If you are a farmer looking to assure safe food, without a USDA GAP Certification, use this Michigan’s Safe Food Risk Assessment - a voluntary and confidential food safety program for small, direct-market producers.

Resources

Getting to Organic: Profiles of How Michigan Farmers Made Their Transition to Organic Agriculture | MOFFA | Features stories from 5 farmers in Michigan describing their path to organic farming.
Transitioning to Certified Organic in Michigan: Learn about transitioning to organic farming and where to start? | by Vicki Morrone, Michigan State University
ATTRA Organic Farm Plan | Form to request organic crop/farm certification
How To Go Organic | Organic Trade Association
MOSES Organic Tree Fruit Certification | Consumer demand for tree fruit that is organically certified and locally grown is on the rise.
ATTRA Resource Guide to Organic & Sustainable Vegetable Production

Local Certification

International Certification

NEWS
Organic program steps up testing
[Source]
CORAL BEACH—Organizations that certify organic producers must conduct periodic residue tests each year on at least 5% of those farms beginning in 2013.

MI Dept. of Agriculture & Rural Development Accepting Pesticide Notification and Certified Organic Farm Registry Applications
[Source]
LANSING - The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (MDARD) Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division (PPPMD) annually publishes two registries intended to protect Michigan citizens—the Pesticide Notification Registry and the Certified Organic Farm Registry.