USDA Effectively Locks Co-ops out of Organic Certification
Posted by matt at about 1pm on Wednesday April 4, 2007
Just when you think that certification politics have reached a low ebb, they get a little lower.
The USDA recently announced that it is changing the requirements of grower cooperatives for their organic certification. In the past, because co-ops are often geographically dispersed and have hundreds of farmers with small plots of land, the USDA has allowed its affiliate inspectors to only physically inspect 20% of farmers' fields annually. They are now changing this requirement to 100% every year, if we at the JC co-op are interpreting their ruling correctly.
Growers have been loud and clear about the costs of organic certification. Their message is that even with only 20% of farmers being inspected, it is debatable whether many can recover their costs for added labor and certification expenses. Mulitply those costs by another 80% and you have effectively made certification unaffordable for the vast number of small growers.
So who will be able to afford organic certification? Only the largest cooperatives and plantations of course. This is, in my humble opinion, another example of how certification systems in general are being tilted to favor big business-- both in producer and consumer countries.
Concerned? please click here to contact the USDA and let them know your feelings. Unfortunately you will have to call or write because they list no e-mail contact.
My friend Rigo calls certification agencies "the new coyotes" meaning that they are now assuming the unjust role of the traditional middle-men that have long held the keys to markets outside of the farm gate in growing countries. That is simply devestating and demands us all to examine what has happened to FT and organic certification sytems.
More on this stirred hornets nest in the next few days, but by all means please chime in now...
Link to USDA decision
Here is the origional USDA decision to end certification of grower groups baced on internal controls and statistical inspections. It can be found at www.ams.usda.gov/nop/compliance/appealssummaries.sep05-mar07.pdf
6. Improper inspection procedures
Proposed Adverse Action: Denial of certification
SUMMARY: A denial of certification was issued to community grower group,
located in Mexico, for improper personnel structure of the Internal Control
System (ICS) and lapses in its administration. Specifically, the ICS failed to
detect the application of a prohibited insecticide by one producer and to provide
evidence that the use of empty fertilizer bags for crop storage was confined to one
producer. The appellant admitted fault, but contested that the severity of the
sanction was disproportionate to the frequency and extent of the noncompliances .
RULING: October 27, 2006. The appeal was denied. The findings demonstrated
that the operation's oversight mechanisms for maintaining compliance were
inadequate. Further, the certifying agent's policies and procedures for the
certification of community grower groups were deemed inconsistent with the
NOP and had been implemented prematurely prior to evaluation by the NOR In
conflict with the provision §205.403(a)(1), whereby each production unit must be
inspected, the agent selected a percentage of the producers within a community
grower group for on-site inspection. The internal inspection procedures, whereby
each production unit is inspected, was overseen by members of the grower group
who were not required to have sufficient expertise, be subject to an annual
performance review or to disclose conflicts of interest. The ruling established that
use of an internal inspection system as a proxy for mandatory on-site inspections
of each production unit by the certifying agent is not permitted. The appellant
waived the right to a hearing, and the denial of certification was final.
Devon Sampson
Food First
www.foodfirst.org