The issue at hand

According to the Organic Trade Association, organic product sales continue to trend upward, with consumer demand fueling $71.6 billion in sales in 2024 (a 5.2% increase from 2023 and double the growth rate of the total food marketplace). Greater demand, however, also results in increased opportunities for fraud.

 

As this market for organics has increased, the likelihood of fraud has increased; the USDA organic seal carries much more power than you would usually expect. This seal alone to a consumer is the only thing that they need to see. Which in the grand scheme, anyone could, in theory, throw an organic seal on anything, and well, the consumer would buy that it is an organic product without a second guess.

The USDA's Focus on the Problem

The USDA's main focus with this bill is to identify and close the gap in supply chains and the possible loopholes that could have been found before. This equates to changing the requirements to EVERYONE, yes, everyone, within the process of an organic product to be certified.  

How this Protects the Organic Lable

This bill is intended to establish rules and regulations targeting fraud and potential contamination in the organic supply chain. Before these sets of rules were in place, possible instances of contamination or fraud could be conducted without the distributor or buyer even knowing. This is due to improper documentation of the product since some sites, coolers, or warehouses were not previously certified. As well as fraudulent documentation that has been forged, to come across as organic, while most regulations have not been met. To maintain this gold standard that is organics, we need to create an honest and integral supply chain that can prove to growers, distributors, and most importantly the consumers, that everything being sold and or produced is maintained and grown correctly. 

The bill

The bill titled "Strengthening Organic Enforcement" was produced by the NOP (National Organic Program) in association with the USDA and the Agricultural Marketing Service, and was created to be a final rule set and an amendment to multiple sanctions already in place by the USDA, in the regulations of production, management, distribution, and sale of organic agricultural products. 

The need for this rulemaking amendment?

Today's organic market is a global powerhouse that produces larger sums of revenue than its conventional counterpart. These possible businesses within the supply chains within the organic market are non certified to the organic standard. This means that there is no oversight from the USDA or NOP confirming that these sites are truly using organic practices. 

What types of fraud are there

Some of the most common fraud that happens without organic certification is just mishandling. Due to negligence or even just incompetence, these mishandlings can happen anytime during the supply chain. This includes: production, distribution, transport, storage, or sale. 

Other than mishandling, there is just flat out fraud, this moslty is when someone or a company is attempting to sell their "non-organic product" as an "Organic product" to increase revenue 

What would count as mishandeling fraud?

Introduction or possible exposure to pesticides, fertilizers, fumigants, or cleaning agents that are not listed as organic accepted products that can be used in the organic system.

Why is outright fraud by to the organic market?

Back when organics became a thing, it was more of a localized market, so you could almost follow the entire supply chain that would carry a product. Now it is more of a full-blown global entity. This increase in the market has attracted a large number of new producers and sellers. Most of the organic market did not have any federal or direct enforcement has produced a large incentive to market non-organic products as organic to therefore increase the revenue of any poroduct would being labeled as "Organic".

Who does this bill require to be certified?

Within this bill it requires that anyone or any business or operation that handles any portion of the organic process. Handel in this case means anyone who will sell, produce, package, or transport. Really, any entity or organization that will have any possible relation to an organic product that is under the USDA organic seal.

What are the certification requirements for handlers

All certified organic handlers must follow the USDA organic regulations that they are a part of; as if they were a livestock organization, they must follow the livestock regulations. If they are only producing, say, vegetables, they only need to follow the agricultural organic regulations.

Who or what is exempt to this certification?

The USDA requires all handlers and producers to be certified, yet they provide some exemptions to these laws, such as small organizations or farms that operate at low-risk activities, which in turn are less likely to compromise organic integrity.

This could include a small local in-town farm that uses only organic practices.

How are these exemptions granted?

Exemptions are granted to small enough operations that create less than 5,000 USD annually. These operations are inspected and required to still produce sufficient documentation to continue being "organic" without being truly certified.

How does the bill affect imports?

Any organic product that is now imported into the United States must provide a valid NOP organic import certificate. If one is not provided or deemed to be incorrect, that product will not be granted the USDA organic seal. This ensures that the organic integrity of products entering the country is kept in check and is cleared before anything is sent for market. 

How is the record keeping changing?

Before this deal was implemented, you did not need to keep a full detailed record of where your product had been held or possibly transported. Part of this legislation is that now EVERYTHING and everywhere your product has been needs to be recorded to ensure that these locations will not possibly compromise the organic integrity of the product.

How are these locations inspected?

Locations that handle, distribute, transport, and sell organic products are now being put through unannounced audits. This ensures that the locations being inspected do not have time to possibly alter practices or how they handle products. This will help certifiers to either give an organic seal or have a true reason to know that the organic integrity has been broken. 

How is all this data compiled?

Before, we relied heavily on paper documentation, though this could be easily forged or possibly altered. Now the USDA and NOP require that all documentation and certificates be registered to the Organic Integrity Base. This makes it so that sellers, consumers, and certifiers can see if an organization or company has a valid certificate, is suspended, or has been flat-out discontinued due to a possible breach.

Expert Opinion

I had reached out to the USDA itself to ask the question, "Is the only issue now that we possibly do not have enough certifiers who can go onto any organic site to make sure that these rules are being followed?" 

Sadly, they did not respond. I would like to know if anything is holding this back from truly keeping the organic integrity from collapsing. Since this deal has created all the legislation and rules that need to be followed, do we have enough personnel to continue enforcing these rules? 

Citations 

Protecting organic integrity: understanding and mitigating high-risk
ingredient fraud. (2025). The Organic & Non-GMO Report.
https://non-gmoreport.com/articles/protecting-organic-integrity-unders
tanding-and-mitigating-high-risk-ingredient-fraud/

National Organic Program (NOP); Strengthening Organic Enforcement.
(2023, January 19). Federal Register.
https://www.federalregister.gov/d/2023-00702

USDA comes out swinging on organic enforcement. (2024). Farm
Progress.
https://www.farmprogress.com/organic-grower-summit/usda-comes-ou
t-swinging-on-organic-enforcement

Straus, M. (2023). How will USDA’s organic-regulation changes affect the
food and nutraceutical industries? Nutritional Outlook, 26.
https://www.nutritionaloutlook.com/view/how-will-usda-s-organic-regu
lation-changes-affect-the-food-and-nutraceutical-industries

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