Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

National Organic 

Program Report

National Organic Standards 

Board meeting

Louisville, Kentucky

October 28, 2014
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

The National Organic 

Program (NOP)

• Mission: 

Ensure the integrity of USDA organic products in the 

United States and throughout the world

• Vision: 

Organic Integrity from Farm to Table,

Consumers Trust the Organic Label 

• Core Role: 

Implement the Organic Foods Production Act and 

the USDA organic regulations 
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

USDA National Organic Program

Implement Organic Foods Production Act:

• USDA Organic Regulations

Crops, livestock, handling, wild crops, labeling, 

certification, accreditation, National List

• Accreditation and Oversight

~80 authorized certifying agents worldwide

25,000 certified organic operations

• Compliance and Enforcement

Complaints, investigations, civil penalties, appeals

• National Organic Standards Board
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Quick Facts About NOP 

Staffing: 

• 43 employees in three Divisions and the 

Office of the Deputy Administrator 

• New staff include Chief of Staff, Cost Share 

Manager, three new compliance officers, 3 new 

accreditation managers, new assistant director 

of Accreditation, and additional administrative 

staff

• Budget: 

FY 2012: $6.919 million

FY 2013: $6.369 million 

FY 2014: $9.04 million

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Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Clear 

Standards

Market 

Access

Consumer 

Protection

Information 

Technology

NOP’s Strategic Plan
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

10 Points of Organic Integrity

1. Clear/enforceable 

standards

2. Communication

3. Transparency

4. Certification

5. Complaints

6. Penalties

7. Market 

surveillance

8. Unannounced 

inspections

9. Periodic residue 

testing

10. Continual 

improvement
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

1. Clear/Enforceable Standards

• Publish clear standards

• Address gray areas

• Continue to collaborate with 

National Organic Standards Board 

• Implement NOSB recommendations
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

1. Clear/Enforceable Standards

• FDA proposed produce food safety 

rules + organic standards

• The use of brand or company 

names containing the word 

“organic”

• “Made with organic” Labeling 

category final guidance 
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

2015 Rule Priorities 

In Clearance

• Origin of Livestock Proposed Rule 

• Aquaculture Proposed Rule 

• Pet Food Proposed Rule 

Other rules in progress: 

• Sodium nitrate

• Animal Welfare 

• Apiculture

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Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Other standards projects

Final Guidance

• Classification of Materials

• Materials for Organic Crop Production

• Post Harvest Handling

Draft Guidance, Policy

• Responding to pesticide drift

• Nanotechnology

• Material Clarifications

• Materials for Organic Livestock Production

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Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

2. Communication

• Organic Literacy Initiative

• Organic Integrity Newsletter

• NOP Organic Insider 

• Fact Sheets (GMOs, Labeling at Farmers 

Markets, Sunset)

• NOP website improvements

• Presentations and conferences 
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

3. Transparency

• List of certified operations now includes 

updated list of suspended + revoked 

operations

• Posting fraudulent certificates

• Certifiers audits and corrective action 

reports

• NOSB subcommittee notes

• In FY15 plan to post adverse actions 

(cease and desist notices, settlements, 

etc.)
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

4. Certification

Quality Verification Process

– Organic system plans {thorough, 

complete} 

– Inspections {sales and yield audits, feed 

audits}

– Inspection of non-organic areas of 

operation

– Timely notices by certifier 

– Continual monitoring
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Certification

• NOP Accreditation and International 

Activities Division oversees the work of 

more than 80 certifying agents

– Audits, audit report reviews, notices of 

noncompliance, corrective action 

reviews

• In FY 2014, certifiers were in full 

compliance with 95% of the accreditation 

criteria, and have implemented corrective 

actions for all deficiencies. 

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Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

5. Complaints

189

66%

56

20%

41

14%

FY14 Incoming Complaints by Type

Uncertified Operations

Labeling Violations and

Fraud

Prohibited Substances

and Methods
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

In FY 2014, NOP

o Closed 285 complaint investigations.

o Received 411 complaints (a new record).

o Initiated 162 initial enforcement actions, 

including 66 Notices of Warning, 29 

Notices to Cease and Desist and 54 

investigation referrals.
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

6. Penalties

o In FY14, the NOP levied of nine civil 

penalties for $81,000. 

o On October 9, 2014, an Administrative 

Law Judge (ALJ) upheld an AMS decision 

to revoke the organic certification of a 

Pennsylvania operation. 
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

7. Market Surveillance

• Residue testing 

surveillance in 

progress

• 2011 residue 

testing of six 

organic 

commodities
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

8. Unannounced Inspections

• 2011 NOSB recommendation on 

unannounced inspections

• NOP 2609 Unannounced Inspection 

Instruction: 5 percent of certified 

operations have unannounced 

inspections

• Unannounced inspection requirement 

implemented by certifiers in 2013

NOSB
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

9. Periodic Residue Testing

• Final rule implemented in 2013

• 5% of operations tested each year. 

• Has led to enforcement actions for 

violations of organic standards.

• NOP provides instructions and training 

on responding to positive residues, 

selecting labs, targeted prohibited 

pesticides list.
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

10. Continual Improvement

• Accreditation audits

– Auditor evaluations

– Certifier feedback

– Annual review of accreditation audits

• Internal Audit

• Management Review
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

10. Continual Improvement

• Peer Review

• OFPA Section 2117

• National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST) conducted peer 

review in 2011

• American National Standards Institute 

(ANSI) completed peer review in 2014

• NOP drafting peer review process – will 

collaborate with NOSB
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Clear 

Standards

Market 

Access

Consumer 

Protection

Information 

Technology

NOP’s Strategic Plan
Market Access - International

• The United States has trade arrangements with several 

nations to facilitate the exchange of organic products 

and provide market opportunities for organic producers. 

• Equivalency Agreements: 

– U.S.-Canada – Launched in 2009 

– U.S.-European Union – Launched in June 2012 

– Japan – Effective in January 2014

– South Korea – Effective July 2014

• Recognition Agreements: 

– India, Israel, New Zealand

• NOP works closely with the Foreign Agricultural Service 

(FAS) and the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR).

National Organic Program | Agricultural Marketing Service 
Market Access – Sound and Sensible

How to maintain organic integrity in a sound and 

sensible manner. Certification that is Affordable, 

Accessible and Attainable for all operations.

• Affordable – Reasonable fees, reasonable 

compliance costs

• Accessible – Certifiers and technical assistance 

available locally

• Attainable – Clear and understandable 

standards, plain language, reasonable record 

keeping requirements
Sound and Sensible Certification Projects

• Purpose: Encourage the initiation and roll-out of new 

organic certification approaches, training, technical 

assistance, and outreach programs and materials. 

• These projects will:

– Help USDA and all certifiers develop and implement 

sound and sensible organic certification processes 

– Provide training modules, technical assistance, or 

outreach programs concerning different aspects of 

organic agriculture or organic certification 

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About the Projects Awarded 

• Awards: 14 projects were awarded to 13 organizations

• Total value of awarded projects: $1,516,562 

• Geographic coverage of projects: Southeast/Gulf States; 

New England; Northwest; California; Mid-Atlantic

• Awards have a lot of diversity: certification tools 

(producers and inspectors), training and outreach, 

technology development, technical assistance, inspector 

mentoring 

• Timing: Projects will be completed between now and 

September 2015; work products will be available through 

NOP website and other public websites for use by all. 

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ALBA Streamlining the Interface of Organic and Food Safety Practices Requirements

CCOF Build Effective and Replicable Tools to Increase Organic Certification

Florida Certified Organic 

Growers and Consumers

Increase Direct Market Farmer’s Likelihood, Success, and Benefit from 

Becoming Certified Organic

IOIA Toolbox for Change: Expanding the Learning Opportunities for Sound and 

Sensible Organic Certification Models and Outreach

Massachusetts Independent 

Certification Inc.

Information Barriers Preventing Organic Certification

NCAT Educate Farmers and Ranchers in the Gulf States Region; Develop Easier and 

Efficient Guidance Publications on Organic Transition Certification Process

NOFA-VT Major Barriers to Organic Certification

OEFFA Address Obstacles to Certification Faced by Plain Farmers

Oregon Tilth Growing Organic: Helping Farmers Choose and Succeed with Organic 

Certification

Organic Services Development of a Guidance Manual for Setting-up, Administering, and 

Managing Internal Controls

PCO 2 Sound and Sensible Certification System to Eliminate Excessive and Redundant 

Recordkeeping for Certified Operations and Certified Agents

WILL Interactive Organic Farming: Reducing Process-Related Barriers To Organic Certification

WSDA Achieve Higher Levels of Understanding of, and Participation in, Organic 

Certification for Direct Marketing Farmers
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Clear 

Standards

Market 

Access

Consumer 

Protection

Information 

Technology

NOP’s Strategic Plan
Current Certified Organic Operations List

• One of our popular tools for the public is 

our list of certified organic operations. 

• Updated once a year with data provided by certifying agents: 

– Out of date as soon as it is posted 

– Flat spreadsheet format with poorly structured/validated 

data elements

• Key constraints: Variable data on Excel sheets from 80+ 

certifying agents, regulatory text about data fields, and 

frequency of collection 

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The Organic Integrity Database

• The 2014 Farm Bill provided $5-million funding for 

technology investments for the National Organic Program.

• We have launched the project planning phase to build a 

modernized Organic Integrity Database: 

– Hired a full-time IT project manager

– Convening a certifier user group to be engaged 

throughout development process (15 diverse certifiers 

have volunteered) 

– Developing a list of key requirements, project timeline, 

and contracting strategy 

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Key Capabilities for a New System 

• Capture all elements in the current list of operations 

• Track operations and changes in certification status over 

time

• Enable certifying agents to update data manually, in batch 

uploads, or in real time

• Permissions management to allow NOP staff, certifying 

agents, and the public to appropriately see and edit data

• Standard structured fields for commodities 

• Mapping capabilities to locate operations 

• Reporting capabilities to support trend analysis, supply 

chain research 

• OPTIONAL certificate generation module

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Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Farm Bill
Farm Bill – NOP provisions

• Improved enforcement authority for the NOP 

to conduct investigations.

• $5 million for a technology upgrade of the 

National Organic Program; 

• $11.5 million annually for certification costshare assistance
NOSB
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Joe Dickson, Jay Thank you Joe Dickson

Feldman, John Foster, 

and Wendy Fulwider –

THANK YOU!!!

Corn Steep 

Liquor
Agricultural Marketing Service USDA National Organic Program

Thank You

Organic Integrity from

Farm to Table, 

Consumers Trust the

Organic Label