Administrator’s Decision 

 

APL-025-22

 

 

 

 

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

AGRICULTURAL MARKETING SERVICE 

BEFORE THE ADMINISTRATOR 

) 

) 

 )

 ) 

) 

 ) 

In re:

Stuart Newcomer 

Seville, Ohio 

 )

This Decision responds to an Appeal (APL-025-22) of a Notice of Proposed Suspension 

of National Organic Program (NOP) certification issued to Stuart Newcomer (Newcomer) of 

Seville, Ohio by USDA-accredited certifying agent, Global Organic Alliance (GOA). The 

operation has been deemed not in compliance with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 

(Act)1

 and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic regulations.2 

BACKGROUND 

The Act authorizes the Secretary to accredit agents to certify crop, livestock, wild crop, 

and/or handling operations to the USDA organic regulations (7 C.F.R. Part 205). Certifying 

agents also initiate compliance actions to enforce program requirements, as described in section 

205.662, Noncompliance procedure for certified operations. Persons subject to the Act who 

believe they are adversely affected by a noncompliance decision of a certifying agent may appeal 

such decision to the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) pursuant to §205.680 

1

 7 U.S.C. 6501-6522 

2

 7 C.F.R. Part 205 

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Adverse Action Appeals Process – General, and § 205.681, Appeals of the USDA organic 

regulations. 

FINDINGS OF FACT 

1. On September 27, 2016, Newcomer was certified organic for crops, specifically yellow 

corn. 

2. On December 28, 2017, GOA issued a Notice of Noncompliance. 

3. On February 12, 2018, GOA issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension. 

4. On March 7, 2018, Newcomer filed an Appeal and Case APL-025-18 was opened. 

5. On August 1, 2018, GOA issued a Notice of Noncompliance. 

6. On August 14, 2018, NOP and Newcomer entered into a Settlement Agreement for Case 

APL-025-18. 

7. On August 24, 2018, GOA issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension. 

8. On September 24, 2018, Newcomer filed an Appeal to the August 24, 2018 Notice of 

Proposed Suspension and Case APL-044-18 was opened. 

9. On October 9, 2018, NOP issued a Notice of Noncompliance and Request for Corrective 

Action to Newcomer after GOA reported a breach of the NOP August 14, 2018 

Settlement Agreement. 

10. On April 1, 2019, NOP and Newcomer entered into a 2nd Settlement Agreement for Case 

APL-044-18. 

11. On December 15, 2021, GOA issued a Notice of Noncompliance. 

12. On January 20, 2022, GOA issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension. 

13. On January 25, 2022, GOA rejected Newcomer’s mediation request. 

14. On February 9, 2022, Newcomer filed an Appeal which is the current case, APL-025-22. 

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DISCUSSION 

The USDA organic regulations at 7 C.F.R. §205.103, Recordkeeping by certified 

operations, state that, “(a) A certified operation must maintain records concerning the 

production, harvesting, and handling of agricultural products that are or that are intended to be 

sold, labeled, or represented as “100 percent organic,” “organic,” or “made with organic 

(specified ingredients or food group(s)).” The regulation further states, “(b) Such records must: 

... (2) Fully disclose all activities and transactions of the certified operation in sufficient detail as 

to be readily understood and audited ... (4) Be sufficient to demonstrate compliance with the Act 

and the regulations in this part.” 

The regulations at §205.201, Organic production and handling system plan, state that, 

“(a) The producer or handler of a production or handling operation ... must develop an organic 

production or handling system plan that is agreed to by the producer or handler and an accredited 

certifying agent... plan must include: ... (1) A description of practices and procedures to be 

performed and maintained, including the frequency with which they will be performed ... (4) A 

description of the recordkeeping system implemented to comply with the requirements 

established in §205.103 ... (6) Additional information deemed necessary by the certifying agent 

to evaluate compliance with the regulations.” 

The organic regulations at §205.400, General requirements for certification, state that, “A 

person seeking to receive or maintain organic certification under the regulations in this part must: 

(a) Comply with the Act and applicable organic production and handling regulations of this part; 

(b) Establish, implement, and update annually an organic production or handling system plan 

that is submitted to an accredited certifying agent as provided for in §205.200; ... (d) Maintain 

all records applicable to the organic operation for not less than 5 years beyond their creation and 

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allow authorized representatives of the ... certifying agent access to such records during normal 

business hours for review and copying to determine compliance with the Act and the regulations 

in this part, as provided for in §205.103; ... ” The organic regulations at §205.406, Continuation 

of certification, state that, “(a) To continue certification, a certified operation must “... submit 

the following information, as applicable, to the certifying agent: (1) An updated organic 

production or handing system plan which includes: (i) A summary statement, supported by 

documentation, detailing any deviations from, changes to, modifications to, or other amendments 

made to the previous year’s organic system plan during the previous year; ... (4) Other 

information as deemed necessary by the certifying agent to determine compliance with the Act 

and the regulations in this part.” 

On December 15, 2021, GOA issued a Notice of Noncompliance to Newcomer, stating 

that several noncompliances were found at the October 4, 2021 inspection, and also noting that 

Newcomer’s 2021 Organic System Plan (OSP) was incomplete, and a statement was needed 

regarding chicken manure used on the Sandy 1 Field. At the inspection, GOA also noted that 

harvest and sales records were not available for 2020 and 2021, as well as seed records and 

missing lot numbers. Newcomer’s records, which are generally hand-written notes in a small 

notebook, were found to insufficient in numerous areas of the operation. On January 10, 2022, 

Newcomer submitted a reply to the noncompliance notice, stating there weren’t any crop sales in 

2021 as the 2021 crop hadn’t yet been sold; submitted sales documents for the 2020 corn; said 

the soybeans are awaiting sale; and identified the supplier of the chicken manure. However, 

GOA found the reply insufficient and issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension on January 20, 

2022 reiterating the missing records, incomplete OSP, and lack of a statement on the manure. 

GOA subsequently GOA rejected Newcomer’s mediation request on January 25, 2022. 

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-

Newcomer filed an Appeal on February 9, 2022, stating the 2020 crop wasn’t sold until 

2021, so wasn’t in the 2020 records but would try to find some financial documents, and said he 

gave GOA the sales record for selling 2020 corn to 

(b) (4)

; stated the 2021 OSP is the same as 

the 2020; and the Sandy 1 Field isn’t organic (though GOA said Newcomer had put it on the 

OSP and it was certified). However, the noncompliances are recordkeeping matters and are, 

hence, correctable. Therefore, NOP offered a Settlement Agreement to Newcomer on June 29, 

2022. The proposed agreement included a number of terms to bring Newcomer into compliance, 

such as responding to all certifier requests on time; taking specific steps to improve the 

recordkeeping system; maintaining and having records available at inspections; and completing 

timely OSP updates. 

Per the letter sent with the offered settlement, Newcomer was given 15 days to consider 

and return the signed agreement if he wished to enter into the Settlement Agreement with NOP. 

After Newcomer failed to respond to the NOP settlement offer, NOP emailed a reminder to 

Newcomer on July 12, 2022. On August 3, 2022, NOP again emailed Newcomer, and extended 

the deadline in which to return the signed agreement to August 8, 2022. A last reminder was 

sent to Newcomer on August 9, 2022. However, Newcomer has failed to respond to any of 

NOP’s communications. Therefore, NOP finds that Newcomer has rejected NOP’s good faith 

offer to resolve the January 20, 2022 Notice of Proposed Suspension issued by GOA. 

Newcomer has had a history of recordkeeping and other noncompliances since prior to its 

certification on September 27, 2016. GOA and NOP have provided Newcomer multiple 

opportunities to come into and remain in compliance with the organic regulations. On August 

19, 2016, GOA conducted the initial inspection of Newcomer for potential organic certification 

as a producer of yellow corn. The 2016 Crop Inspection Report noted the lack of recordkeeping 

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is a concern, and Newcomer needed to set up records/logs. However, on September 27, 2016, 

Newcomer was certified organic for crops, specifically yellow corn, despite the Certification 

Assessment noting noncompliances and stating that harvest, storage, transportation, and sales 

records must be maintained and readily accessible. 

On November 4, 2017, GOA issued a Request for Additional Information to Newcomer, 

stating that field activity, harvest, transportation and sales records were not available at the 

August 19, 2016 inspection and the lack of records remains unresolved. Subsequently, on 

November 15, 2017, Newcomer resubmitted his Organic Farm Plan which has an original date of 

April 11, 2016, and second date of July 14, 2016. Newcomer also added the date of November 

15, 2017 to the signature line after the notations for April 11, 2016 and July 14, 2016. At the top 

of the first page of the Plan, handwritten notes state, “Procedures done before 2016 corn harvest. 

SN 11/15/17.” This is an example of Newcomer’s re-using documents, and only changing the 

dates, further discussed below. 

On December 28, 2017, GOA issued a Notice of Noncompliance, stating that while they 

had requested specific records from Newcomer, he had merely put dates in the various sections 

of the Organic Farm Plan and described the practices and procedures. GOA reiterated the 

various records that need to be maintained. Subsequently, on February 1, 2018, GOA received 

from Newcomer a copy of some desk flip-calendar pages with notes, i.e. “June 6 planted Gourley 

organic beans,” and a Straight Bill of Lading of October 24, 2017 showing the shipping of 

soybeans from Newcomer, but not showing the receiver/buyer and the Contract/Ticket Summary 

of 

(b) (4)

 dated October 25, 2017 didn’t match with the Straight Bill of Lading. 

Therefore, on February 12, 2018, GOA issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension stating 

that recordkeeping noncompliances hadn’t been resolved. On March 7, 2018, Newcomer filed 

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an Appeal and Case APL-025-18 was opened. As the recordkeeping noncompliances were 

correctable, NOP entered into a Settlement Agreement with Newcomer on August 14, 2018, 

whereby Newcomer agreed to maintain and submit, within 60 days of execution of the 

Agreement, field activity, harvest, transportation, sales, cleaning and lot description records to 

GOA. Newcomer also agreed to submit to GOA all records for the corn grown and harvested in 

2016, and the soybeans grown and harvested in 2017. Newcomer also agreed to undergo an 

unannounced inspection within the following year. As discussed below, Newcomer 

subsequently breached this agreement. 

Concurrently, GOA issued Notice of Noncompliance on August 1, 2018, stating that 

Newcomer had failed to submit an updated OSP and supporting documentation, as well as 

certification fees, for the 2018 renewal of his certification. GOA noted that these materials and 

the fee were due April 17, 2018; and reminders had already been sent to Newcomer on June 4, 

2018 and July 16, 2018, with no response from Newcomer. Newcomer was instructed to submit 

the documentation and fees by August 15, 2018 or surrender his organic certification. On 

August 24, 2018, GOA issued a Notice of Proposed Suspension after not receiving any response 

to the August 1, 2018 Notice of Noncompliance. 

On September 24, 2018, Newcomer filed an Appeal to the August 24, 2018 Notice of 

Proposed Suspension. The Appeal is the same letter which Newcomer sent as an Appeal to the 

February 12, 2018 Notice of Proposed Suspension. Upon receipt of the new Appeal, Case APL044-18 was opened. Newcomer submitted numerous documents with the appeal letter. These 

documents were sent to GOA, which confirmed they were responsive to the Notice of 

Noncompliance and Notice of Proposed Suspension regarding Newcomer’s failure to submit 

2018 renewal documentation. 

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However, on October 2, 2018, Newcomer submitted his response to the documentation 

requirements set forth in the August 14, 2018 Settlement Agreement with NOP. The response is 

the same letter which Newcomer sent as an Appeal to the February 12, 2018 Notice of Proposed 

Suspension, and the same letter which he sent as an Appeal to the August 24, 2018 Notice of 

Proposed Suspension. GOA determined the documentation didn’t meet the requirements in the 

NOP Settlement Agreement and reported a breach of the agreement. Therefore, on October 9, 

2018, NOP issued a Notice of Noncompliance and Request for Corrective Action to Newcomer 

for his failure to submit the documentation for the production, sale and harvest of the 2016 and 

2017 corn and soybeans respectively, as required under the Settlement Agreement, and which he 

had agreed to submit to GOA within 60 days of execution of the Settlement Agreement. 

Nevertheless, on April 1, 2019, NOP and Newcomer entered into a 2nd Settlement 

Agreement in regard to case APL-044-18, as the recordkeeping noncompliances were correctable 

and in the hopes that Newcomer would come into compliance and abide by the prior agreement. 

The settlement acknowledged that Newcomer had resolved the August 24, 2018 Notice of 

Proposed Suspension, but he breached the August 14, 2018 Settlement Agreement. Per the April 

1, 2019 agreement, Newcomer agreed to pay a reduced civil penalty of $500 for the failure to 

maintain sufficient documentation on the corn and soybean shipments in 2016 and 2017; agreed 

to maintain and submit when requested all required records to GOA; and agreed to undergo an 

unannounced inspection, the scope of which would be determined by GOA, as Newcomer had 

displayed an inability to have required records available at inspection. GOA didn’t report a 

breach of the April 1, 2019 Settlement Agreement. However, as discussed above, Newcomer 

was found at the October 4, 2021 inspection to have again failed to maintain required and 

sufficient records of the activities and transactions of its organic operation. This resulted in the 

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current Notice of Noncompliance of December 15, 2021 and the Notice of Proposed Suspension 

of January 20, 2022, which Newcomer appealed. 

CONCLUSION 

The USDA organic regulations assure consumers that products with the USDA organic 

seal meet consistent, uniform standards. Key to these standards is that products with the USDA 

organic seal are produced and handled in accordance with the organic regulations. However, the 

evidence substantiates that Newcomer violated the organic regulations at 7 C.F.R. §205.103, 

Recordkeeping by certified operations; 7 C.F.R. §205.201, Organic production and handling 

system plan; 7 C.F.R. §205.400, General requirements for certification; and 7 C.F.R. §205.406, 

Continuation of certification. Specifically, Newcomer’s 2021 OSP was incomplete; he failed to 

submit a statement regarding chicken manure used on the Sandy 1 Field; harvest and sales 

records were not available for 2020 and 2021, nor were seed records and seed search 

documentation; and in general, recordkeeping was found be deficient in numerous areas of the 

operation. 

NOP made a good faith effort to resolve the pending proposed suspension and offered 

Newcomer a Settlement Agreement to resolve the recordkeeping noncompliances. However, 

Newcomer failed to respond to NOP’s offer despite numerous reminder/follow up contacts by 

NOP. Records are a key component of an operation’s organic control system. Having a 

compliant recordkeeping system, maintaining records that comply with that system, and 

effectively communicating with the certifier are essential for demonstrating compliance with the 

USDA organic regulations. Due to Newcomer’s failure to accept the NOP’s attempts to resolve 

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y _________________________________ SUMMERS 

this case, and Newcomer’s history of recordkeeping noncompliances, and inability to remain in 

compliance, AMS finds that Newcomer can’t remain certified. 

DECISION 

Newcomer’s February 9, 2022 Appeal is denied, and the January 20, 2022 Notice of 

Proposed Suspension is affirmed. Newcomer’s organic certification is to be suspended. 

However, pursuant to the organic regulations at 7 C.F.R. §205.662(f), Newcomer may request 

reinstatement of its certification at any time, though is required to submit documentation 

showing the correction of all cited noncompliances. 

Attached to this formal Administrator’s Decision denying Newcomer’s Appeal is a 

Request for Hearing form. Newcomer has thirty (30) days to request an administrative hearing 

before an Administrative Law Judge. If Newcomer waives the hearing, this Administrator’s 

Decision suspending Newcomer’s certification will become final. 

Done at Washington, D.C., on this _____ 6th 

day of ________________, 2022. September

Digitally signed by BRUCE

BRUCE SUMMERS 

Date: 2022.09.05 17:03:08 -04'00' 

Bruce Summers 

Administrator 

Agricultural Marketing Service 

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