Title: Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2018
Policy area: Agriculture and Food

Summary:
Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2018
This bill modifies Department of Agriculture (USDA) requirements and procedures for imported organic agricultural products.
The bill modifies requirements and procedures regarding:
The bill also requires USDA and the Department of Homeland Security to jointly establish an interagency working group to facilitate coordination and information sharing regarding imports of organically produced agricultural products.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 2927 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

<DOC>






115th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 2927

     To amend the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to increase 
 interagency cooperation in the enforcement of standards for importing 
         organic agricultural products, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 23, 2018

Ms. Baldwin (for herself and Mr. Tester) introduced the following bill; 
  which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, 
                        Nutrition, and Forestry

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
     To amend the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to increase 
 interagency cooperation in the enforcement of standards for importing 
         organic agricultural products, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Organic Farmer and Consumer 
Protection Act of 2018''.

SEC. 2. EXCLUSIONS FROM CERTIFICATION.

    Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, the 
Secretary of Agriculture shall issue regulations to limit the type of 
operations that are excluded from certification under section 205.101 
of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations), and 
any other corresponding sections.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    Section 2103 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
6502) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (3)--
                    (A) by striking ``The term'' and inserting the 
                following:
                    ``(A) In general.--The term''; and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(B) Foreign operations.--When used in the context 
                of a certifying agent operating in a foreign country, 
                the term `certifying agent' includes a certifying 
                agent--
                            ``(i) accredited in accordance with section 
                        2106(b)(1); or
                            ``(ii) accredited by a foreign government 
                        that acted under an equivalency arrangement 
                        negotiated between the United States and the 
                        foreign government.'';
            (2) by redesignating paragraphs (13) through (21) as 
        paragraphs (14) through (22), respectively; and
            (3) by inserting after paragraph (12) the following:
            ``(13) National organic program import certificate.--The 
        term `national organic program import certificate' means a form 
        developed for purposes of the program under this title--
                    ``(A) to provide documentation sufficient to verify 
                that an agricultural product imported for sale in the 
                United States satisfies the requirement under section 
                2106(b)(1); and
                    ``(B) which shall include, at a minimum, 
                information sufficient to indicate, with respect to the 
                agricultural product--
                            ``(i) the origin;
                            ``(ii) the destination;
                            ``(iii) the certifying agent issuing the 
                        national organic program import certificate;
                            ``(iv) the harmonized tariff code, if a 
                        harmonized tariff code exists for the 
                        agricultural product;
                            ``(v) the total weight; and
                            ``(vi) the organic standard to which the 
                        agricultural product is certified.''.

SEC. 4. DOCUMENTATION AND TRACEABILITY ENHANCEMENT; DATA COLLECTION.

    Section 2106(b) of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 
U.S.C. 6505(b)) is amended--
            (1) by striking ``Imported'' and inserting the following:
            ``(1) Standards for imported products.--Imported''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(2) Fraudulent or misrepresented products.--The 
        Secretary, to the maximum extent practicable, shall reduce the 
        risk of fraudulent or misrepresented organic products entering 
        the United States and being marketed for sale in the United 
        States.
            ``(3) Import certification.--
                    ``(A) Import certificates.--For an agricultural 
                product being imported into the United States to be 
                represented as organically produced, the Secretary 
                shall require the agricultural product to be 
                accompanied by a complete and valid national organic 
                program import certificate, which shall be available as 
                an electronic record.
                    ``(B) Tracking system.--
                            ``(i) In general.--The Secretary shall 
                        establish a system to track national organic 
                        program import certificates.
                            ``(ii) Integration.--In establishing the 
                        system under clause (i), the Secretary may 
                        integrate the system into any existing 
                        information tracking systems for imports of 
                        agricultural products.
            ``(4) Modernization of trade tracking and data collection 
        systems.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall modernize 
                international trade tracking and data collection 
                systems of the national organic program established 
                under this title.
                    ``(B) Activities.--In carrying out subparagraph 
                (A), the Secretary shall modernize trade and 
                transaction certificates to ensure full traceability 
                without unduly hindering trade, such as through an 
                electronic trade document exchange system.
            ``(5) Reports.--
                    ``(A) In general.--On an annual basis, the 
                Secretary shall submit to Congress and make publically 
                available on the website of the Department of 
                Agriculture a report providing detailed quantitative 
                data on imports of organically produced agricultural 
                products accepted into the United States during the 
                year covered by the report.
                    ``(B) Requirements.--The data described in 
                subparagraph (A) shall be broken down by agricultural 
                product type, quantity, value, and month.
                    ``(C) Exception.--Any data that is specific enough 
                to be protected as confidential business information 
                shall not be provided in the report under subparagraph 
                (A).''.

SEC. 5. ACCREDITATION PROGRAM.

    Section 2115 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
6514) is amended--
            (1) by redesignating subsection (c) as subsection (d);
            (2) by inserting after subsection (b) the following:
    ``(c) Oversight of Satellite Offices and Foreign Operations.--As 
part of the accreditation of certifying agents under this section, the 
Secretary shall oversee any certifying agent operating in a foreign 
country.''; and
            (3) in subsection (d) (as so redesignated)--
                    (A) by striking ``section shall'' and inserting the 
                following: ``section--
            ``(1) subject to paragraph (2), shall''; and
                    (B) in paragraph (1) (as so designated), by 
                striking ``Secretary, and may'' and inserting the 
                following: ``Secretary;
            ``(2) in the case of a certifying agent operating in a 
        foreign country, shall be for a period of not to exceed 1 year, 
        as determined appropriate by the Secretary; and
            ``(3) may''.

SEC. 6. INVESTIGATIONS.

    Section 2120(b) of the Organic Foods Production Act (7 U.S.C. 
6519(b)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Information sharing during active investigation.--In 
        carrying out this title, all parties conducting an active 
        investigation under this subsection (including certifying 
        agents, State organic certification programs, and the national 
        organic program) shall share confidential business information 
        with Federal and State government officers and employees and 
        certifying agents involved in the investigation as necessary to 
        fully investigate and enforce potential violations of this 
        title.
            ``(4) Expedited procedures for foreign operations.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish 
                expedited investigative procedures under this 
                subsection to review the accreditation of a certifying 
                agent operating in a foreign country under any of the 
                circumstances described in subparagraph (B).
                    ``(B) Expedited procedures.--The Secretary shall 
                promptly carry out expedited investigative procedures 
                established under subparagraph (A) to review the 
                accreditation of a certifying agent operating in a 
                foreign country if--
                            ``(i) the accreditation of the certifying 
                        agent is revoked by a foreign government--
                                    ``(I) operating an organic 
                                certification program described in 
                                section 2106(b)(1); or
                                    ``(II) that acted under an 
                                equivalency arrangement negotiated 
                                between the United States and the 
                                foreign government; or
                            ``(ii) the Secretary determines that there 
                        is a sudden and substantial increase in the 
                        rate and quantity of imports of an individual 
                        organically produced agricultural product from 
                        the foreign country, in which case the 
                        expedited investigative procedures shall be 
                        carried out with respect to each certifying 
                        agent of that agricultural product in that 
                        foreign country.''.

SEC. 7. DATA ORGANIZATION AND ACCESS.

    Section 2122 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
6521) is amended by adding at the end the following:
    ``(c) Data Relating to Imports of Organically Produced Agricultural 
Products.--
            ``(1) Access to data documentation systems.--The head of 
        each Federal agency that administers a cross-border 
        documentation system shall provide to the head of each other 
        Federal agency that administers such a system access to 
        available data from the system, including--
                    ``(A) the Automated Commercial Environment system 
                of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; and
                    ``(B) the Phytosanitary Certificate Issuance and 
                Tracking System of the Animal and Plant Health 
                Inspection Service.
            ``(2) Data collection and organization system.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall establish a 
                new system or modify an existing data collection and 
                organization system to collect and organize in a single 
                system quantitative data on imports of each organically 
                produced agricultural product accepted into the United 
                States.
                    ``(B) Access.--The single system under subparagraph 
                (A) shall be accessible by any agency with the 
                authority to engage in--
                            ``(i) inspection of imports of agricultural 
                        products;
                            ``(ii) trade data collection and 
                        organization; or
                            ``(iii) enforcement of trade requirements 
                        for organically produced agricultural 
                        products.''.

SEC. 8. ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT IMPORTS INTERAGENCY WORKING GROUP.

    The Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 is amended by inserting 
after section 2122 (7 U.S.C. 6521) the following:

``SEC. 2122A. ORGANIC AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT IMPORTS INTERAGENCY WORKING 
              GROUP.

    ``(a) Establishment.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary and the Secretary of 
        Homeland Security shall jointly establish a working group to 
        facilitate coordination and information sharing between the 
        Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
        and the Food and Drug Administration relating to imports of 
        organically produced agricultural products (referred to in this 
        section as the `working group').
            ``(2) Members.--The working group--
                    ``(A) shall include--
                            ``(i) the Secretary (or a designee);
                            ``(ii) the Commissioner of Food and Drugs 
                        (or a designee); and
                            ``(iii) the Secretary of Homeland Security 
                        (or a designee); and
                    ``(B) shall not include any non-Federal officer or 
                employee.
            ``(3) Duties.--The working group shall facilitate 
        coordination and information sharing between the Department of 
        Agriculture, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the Food 
        and Drug Administration for the purposes of--
                    ``(A) identifying imports of organically produced 
                agricultural products;
                    ``(B) verifying the authenticity of organically 
                produced agricultural product import documentation, 
                such as national organic program import certificates;
                    ``(C) ensuring imported agricultural products 
                represented as organically produced meet the 
                requirements under this title;
                    ``(D) collecting and organizing quantitative data 
                on imports of organically produced agricultural 
                products; and
                    ``(E) reporting to Congress on--
                            ``(i) enforcement activity carried out by 
                        the Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs and 
                        Border Protection, or the Food and Drug 
                        Administration in the United States or abroad; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) barriers to preventing agricultural 
                        products fraudulently represented as 
                        organically produced from entry into the United 
                        States.
            ``(4) Designated employees and officials.--An employee or 
        official designated to carry out the duties of the Secretary, 
        the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Commissioner of Food 
        and Drugs on the working group under subparagraph (A) or (B) of 
        paragraph (2) shall be an employee or official compensated at a 
        rate of pay not less than the minimum annual rate of basic pay 
        for GS-12 under section 5332 of title 5, United States Code.
    ``(b) Reports.--On an annual basis, the working group shall submit 
to Congress and make publically available on the websites of the 
Department of Agriculture, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the 
Food and Drug Administration the following reports:
            ``(1) Organic trade enforcement interagency coordination 
        report.--A report--
                    ``(A) identifying existing barriers to cooperation 
                between the agencies involved in agricultural product 
                import inspection, trade data collection and 
                organization, and organically produced agricultural 
                product trade enforcement, including--
                            ``(i) U.S. Customs and Border Protection;
                            ``(ii) the Food and Drug Administration;
                            ``(iii) the Agricultural Marketing Service; 
                        and
                            ``(iv) the Animal and Plant Health 
                        Inspection Service;
                    ``(B) assessing progress toward integrating organic 
                trade enforcement into import inspection procedures of 
                U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Food and Drug 
                Administration, and the Animal and Plant Health 
                Inspection Service, including an assessment of--
                            ``(i) the status of the development of 
                        systems for--
                                    ``(I) tracking the fumigation of 
                                imports of organically produced 
                                agricultural products into the United 
                                States; and
                                    ``(II) electronically verifying 
                                national organic program import 
                                certificate authenticity; and
                            ``(ii) training of U.S. Customs and Border 
                        Protection personnel on--
                                    ``(I) the use of the systems 
                                described in clause (i); and
                                    ``(II) requirements and protocols 
                                under this title;
                    ``(C) establishing outcome-based goals for ensuring 
                imports of agricultural products represented as 
                organically produced meet the requirements under this 
                title;
                    ``(D) recommending steps to improve the 
                documentation and traceability of imported organically 
                produced agricultural products;
                    ``(E) recommending and describing steps toward the 
                goals of--
                            ``(i) achieving complete compliance with 
                        the requirements of this title for all 
                        agricultural products imported into the United 
                        States and represented as organically produced; 
                        and
                            ``(ii) ensuring accurate labeling and 
                        marketing of imported agricultural products 
                        represented as organically produced by the 
                        exporter;
                    ``(F) providing a timeline for implementing the 
                steps described in subparagraph (E);
                    ``(G) identifying additional resources needed to 
                achieve any unmet goals; and
                    ``(H) describing staffing needs at U.S. Customs and 
                Border Protection, the Food and Drug Administration, 
                and the Department of Agriculture to achieve the goals 
                for ensuring organic integrity described in the report.
            ``(2) Report on enforcement actions taken on organic 
        imports.--A report--
                    ``(A) providing detailed quantitative data (broken 
                down by commodity type, quantity, value, month, and 
                origin) on imports of agricultural products represented 
                as organically produced found to be fraudulent or 
                lacking any documentation required under this title at 
                the port of entry during the report year;
                    ``(B) providing data on domestic enforcement 
                actions taken on imported agricultural products 
                represented as organically produced, including--
                            ``(i) the number and type of actions taken 
                        by United States officials at ports of entry in 
                        response to violations of this title; and
                            ``(ii) the total quantity and value of the 
                        agricultural products that were the subject of 
                        the actions, broken down by product variety and 
                        country of origin;
                    ``(C) providing data on fumigation of agricultural 
                products represented as organically produced at ports 
                of entry and notifications of fumigation actions to 
                shipment owners, broken down by product variety and 
                country of origin; and
                    ``(D) providing information on enforcement 
                activities under this title involving overseas 
                investigations and compliance actions taken within that 
                year, including--
                            ``(i) the number of investigations by 
                        country; and
                            ``(ii) a descriptive summary of compliance 
                        actions taken by certifying agents in each 
                        country.''.

SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

    Section 2123 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
6522) is amended--
            (1) by striking the section heading and inserting 
        ``funding'';
            (2) in subsection (b), by striking paragraphs (1) through 
        (7) and inserting the following:
            ``(1) $15,000,000 for fiscal year 2018;
            ``(2) $16,500,000 for fiscal year 2019;
            ``(3) $18,000,000 for fiscal year 2020;
            ``(4) $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2021;
            ``(5) $22,000,000 for fiscal year 2022; and
            ``(6) $24,000,000 for fiscal year 2023.''; and
            (3) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(d) Modernization of Trade Tracking and Data Collection 
Systems.--
            ``(1) In general.--Of the funds of the Commodity Credit 
        Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out section 
        2106(b)(4) $5,000,000 for fiscal year 2019, to remain available 
        until expended.
            ``(2) Additional amount.--The amount made available under 
        paragraph (1) shall be in addition to any other amounts made 
        available to carry out section 2106(b)(4).''.
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