U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) 

Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) 

National Organic Program (NOP) Update

Jennifer Tucker, Ph.D. 

Deputy Administrator

October 2018
Welcome to St. Paul, Minnesota! 

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program Certified Organic Farms & Businesses: 966 in Minnesota 2
Welcome to St. Paul, Minnesota! 

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program Certified Organic Farms & Businesses: 966 in Minnesota 3
USDA Principles for Organic

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 4

• Protect the integrity of the 

USDA organic certified seal. 

• Deliver efficient and effective 

oversight of organic production 

practices, to ensure organic 

products meet consistent 

standards. 
Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 Priorities

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1

2

4

3

Strong Organic 

Control Systems 

Trusted People, 

Processes, and Rules

Farm to Market 

Traceability 

Worldwide Supply 

Chain Integrity 

Robust

Enforcement 

A Level Playing 

Field for All 

Support the Standards; 

Collaborate with Community

Engagement and 

Transparency
Strong Organic Control Systems 

Trusted People, Processes, and Rules

• Released New Policy Memos, Letters on 

Fumigation, Prohibited Commodities 

• Collaborating with APHIS for Better Data

• Developing New Models for Risk-Based 

Oversight Using Diverse Data Sources 

• Ongoing Certifier Audits Worldwide 

• Advancing Enforcement Rule and Learning 

Management System 

6

1

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Strengthening Organic Enforcement Rulemaking 

• Eliminate Exclusions for 

Uncertified Handlers 

• Certification Expiration Dates

• Accreditation of Certifier 

Satellite Offices 

• Inspector and Reviewer 

Qualifications and 

Continuing Education 

• Unannounced Inspections 

• Federated Organic Certificate

• Increased Reporting to Organic 

Integrity Database

• Data to Support Import 

Certificates, Traceability 

• International Agreement 

Updates

• Appeals, Noncompliance 

Processes

• Grower Groups 

• Non-Retail Container Labeling 

Feedback? NOP.Guidance@ams.usda.gov
July 2018 Virtual Town Hall Feedback 

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Topic Area Chats

Excluded Operations .............................................121

Import Certificates/Traceability ............................78

Standardization of Inspector Qualifications ........64

Unannounced Inspections......................................51

Federated Certificates ............................................49

Noncompliance and Appeals .................................41

Satellite Offices ........................................................35

Trade Arrangements ...............................................32

Grower Groups ........................................................29

Attendance 

400

Chat Rate

14/minute

Proposed Rule Anticipated Spring 2019 | Monitor Organic Insider!
The Organic Integrity Learning Center 

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The Organic Integrity Learning Center 

• Online training to support the professional development 

and continuing education of organic professionals working 

to protect organic integrity. 

• Core audiences: organic certifiers, inspectors, and 

reviewers, and professionals serving a compliance and 

enforcement role in organic control systems. 

• Supports the USDA’s goals of fair and consistent organic 

certification and effective fair enforcement. 

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Join Us! November 15 Webinar 

• Learn more about the Organic Integrity Learning 

Center, ask questions, and provide your feedback 

about course topics for the Center. 

• Thursday, November 15

1-2 PM Eastern 

• More Details to be Posted: 

https://www.ams.usda.gov/reports/organic-insider

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• Published Report on Collaboration 

Opportunities and Technology Needs 

(Response to 2017 OIG Report)

• Worked with Customs and Border 

Protection to Scope Organic 

“Message Sets” Project

• Launched Electronic Export 

Certificate System

• Initiated Visioning for Global Organic 

Oversight and Traceability System 

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Farm to Market Traceability 

Worldwide Supply Chain Integrity 
Organic Integrity Through Technology 

• Published Technology Needs Assessment (August 2018)

• Technology Goals:

– Facilitate full organic supply chain traceability from farm 

to market, across multiple handlers and certifiers.

– Allow governing entities to quickly access, approve and 

verify that organic certificates and transactions are valid.

– Implement organic oversight control systems that are 

electronically-based and secure, with verified trusted 

users and secure authenticated data exchange.

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The Vision: One Unified Blockchain? 

Farms or Initial 

Consolidation 

Points

Handlers/Brokers

Organic Certifiers Confirm 

Transaction Authenticity National Organic Program: 

Full Visibility for Audits 

U.S. Entry: Data 

Transmitted into 

ACE Organic Import 

Certificate

Challenge: Connect Data & Product! 

DATA
Organic Oversight Blockchain

Fed By and Feeding Other Blockchains or Systems

The Vision: Connected Data Streams? 

Challenge: Connect Data & Product! 

Government

Supply 

Chain 
• Conducting Dairy Compliance Project: 

Unannounced Visits (Started in July) 

• Overhauled Complaint Intake Process 

• Awarded Contract to Expand 

Investigative Capacity by 5 People 

• Continue to Block Non-Compliant 

Imports with APHIS and CBP

• Building New Complaint Management System 

• Support Investigations by Federal Partners

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Robust Enforcement

A Level Playing Field for All 3
An Imports Case Study 

• Situation: Reports of new organic corn imports from Serbia, 

understandable fear of fraudulent imports in the community 

• NOP Actions: 

– Obtained trade data from federal agencies, contacted importer

– Contacted certifier to validate oversight of Serbian farm

– Analyzed market intelligence from Foreign Agricultural Service

• Our priority is ensuring organic integrity worldwide.

• There are both good and bad actors around the world. We are 

developing risk-based systems to detect the differences. 

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Import Investigations Strategy 

• Pursuing cases with sufficient evidence

• Continue to work specific cases with CBP-APHIS 

• Focused oversight of certifiers in Black Sea region 

• Focused oversight of surrendered operations in Black Sea region 

seeking recertification – focus on reconfirming yield

• Increasing emphasis on other geographic areas based on 

complaints and risk-based model

• Increasing certifier training on calculating crop yields and on 

noncompliance processes, evidence, and appeals 

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Core to All Enforcement 

19

Organic Foods 

Production 

Act

USDA 

Organic 

Regulations

Legally 

Defensible 

Evidence

Enforcement Depends on All 3

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program
Examples of Evidence: Often Gathered by NOP, Certifiers

• Pesticide residue testing results

• Documentation gathered during reviews and inspections: 

Deviation from OSP, photos, employee and third party 

statements, documented admissions from operator

• Documented traceability gaps, mass balance calculations, 

phytosanitary certificates, detailed production records 

• Third-party complaints or allegations 

• Record of communication with operation

• Written statements

• Official investigative findings from other state or federal agencies

• Official records from other government agencies

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How You Can Help: Complaint Submittals 

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WHO? WHAT? WHEN & WHERE? 

• Brand Name 

• Operation Name 

• Manufacturer 

• U.S. Importer

• Certifier 

• Any information 

you have about 

the supply chain

• Product Packaging, Label 

• Product Lot Numbers 

• Photographs, Invoices, Bills of 

Lading 

• Certificates (Check scope for 

alignment with complaint): 

Example: A handling 

certificate is not evidence of 

an uncertified crop

• Specific regulatory violation

Provide details of:

• When you observed 

the alleged violation 

(date and times)

• The location it 

occurred (webpage 

or specific store)

• Specific ship, port if 

known
Special Topics: 

• National List Rulemaking 

• Technical Reports for NOSB 

• Material Inquiries and Conflicts 

–NOP Update: Paper Pots 

• Consultation with American Indian Tribes

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Support the Standards; Collaborate with Community

Engagement and Transparency 4
ANSI Peer Review 2018 

• Focus of 2018 Peer Review:

–USDA oversight process for 

certifiers audited in 2017

– Specific focus on noncompliances, 

complaints, and fraud

–USDA processes for assessing risk 

in the current management system

– Areas for system improvements

–Gaps in current system compared 

to the new ISO17011:2017

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ANSI Peer Review: 

Opportunities for Improvement and Recommendations

• NOP Organizational Chart does not have a Quality Manager

• NOP should develop a document summarizing its relationships with other 

organizations to document ways we avoid conflicts of interest

• The NOP does not have an sufficient number of auditors

• Certifier satellite offices are not audited frequently enough

• Procedures for residue sampling are not clearly understood or followed by 

international certifiers and satellite offices

• Insufficient NOP personnel to handle complaints and enforcement actions 

• NOP should establish stronger quantitative objectives and key 

performance indicators to effectively measure and monitor goals

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 24
ANSI Peer Review: 

Opportunities for Improvement and Recommendations

• Several documents did not comply with document control procedure

• The accreditation certificate does not identify all premises from which 

key activities are performed and the certifiers’ physical addresses

• Terms of Accreditation do not contain specific terms describing use of 

the seal. NOP does not have a separate license agreement for the seal.

• NOP should provide additional training opportunities to NOP staff and 

auditors in the areas of risk assessment and investigative methods for 

fraud prevention. 

• Certifier audit trail exercises do not always provide adequate detail to 

verify and fully document the audit trail including full supply chain.

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 25
ANSI Peer Review: NOP Actions 

• Many FY 19 Goals Will Address Peer Review Observations: 

–Hiring a Quality Manager (Approved)

–Hiring Additional Auditors (Approved) 

– Launching Learning Management System: Will include 

import oversight topics (audit trails, trace-back, mass 

balance); residue sampling, testing, and analysis topics 

– Risk-Based Oversight Model: Will help better target audit 

priorities and emerging risk areas 

– Continuing to refine audit planning based on available 

resources 

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 26
FY 19 Goals: Strong Organic Control Systems 

1. Publish the Strengthening Organic Enforcement 

Proposed Rule 

2. Populate and launch Learning Management System 

for organic certifiers and inspectors 

3. Conduct face-to-face training sessions with certifiers 

4. Develop a risk-based certifier oversight model

5. Maintain and negotiate organic equivalency with other 

governments, emphasizing oversight and enforcement 

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1. Contract with Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to 

program organic message sets into CBP Automated 

Commercial Environment (ACE) 

2. Institutionalize business processes for fumigation data 

analysis, investigations, and industry notifications 

3. Develop concept of operations and architecture for a 

global organic oversight and traceability system

4. Complete Memorandum of Agreement for access to 

CBP-ACE across all Harmonized Trade Codes

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2 FY 19 Goals: Farm to Market Traceability
1. Launch new Compliance and Enforcement Database 

System 

2. Resolve 90% of appeals within 180 days

3. In FY 2019, resolve 80% of complaint cases opened in FY 

2017 and earlier. By end of FY 19, be trending towards 

resolving 75% new complaints within 180 days

4. Complete 2018 Dairy Compliance Project; 

Initiate 2019 Dairy Compliance Project

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3 FY 19 Goals: Robust Enforcement
1. Institutionalize streamlining actions to 

reduce National List rulemaking timeframe 

2. Recruit highly qualified individuals for NOSB 

vacancies and for key NOP staff positions

3. Host two NOSB meetings in FY 2019 

4. Host public engagement events and engage 

the community for feedback and input

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service | National Organic Program 3030

4 FY 19 Goals: Standards and Collaboration
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ACCREDITATION & 

INTERNATIONAL ACTIVITIES 

STANDARDS

OFFICE OF THE DEPUTY 

ADMINISTRATOR

COMPLIANCE & ENFORCEMENT