The USDA is taking steps to prevent fraud in organic ag. That’s coming up on This Land of Ours. The Organic Trade Association applauded the USDA and the National Organic Program for the new “Strengthening Organic Enforcement Rule.” Tom Chapman, CEO of the Organic Trade Association, says the new regulation will do a lot to detect organic fraud and protect …
USDA Seeking Dismissal of OTA Lawsuit
The Department of Agriculture wants a federal district court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging the department’s delay of the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices final rule. USDA claims it’s challenger, the Organic Trade Association, “lacks standing because it pleads no facts” in showing the delay has resulted in the suffering of its members because of the USDA action, according to …
Organic Trade Association Suing USDA Over Livestock Standards
The Organic Trade Association is suing the U.S. Department of Agriculture over the USDA decision to withdraw the Organic Livestock Standards proposed and endorsed by most in the organic industry. Nate Lewis, farm policy director for the Organic Trade Association, says the USDA broke the rules when withdrawing the standards without public comment. Lawsuit Lewis says the decision to withdraw …
Organic Trade Association Responds To Jump in Organic Sales Data
A recent report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture found a 23 percent jump in organic sales from 2015 to 2016. Laura Batcha, CEO of the Organic Trade Association, says that’s very good news for the industry. She says the market has been growing faster in recent years at the consumer level than the base number of organic acres and …
OTA Files Lawsuit Against USDA Over Organic Livestock Standards
The Organic Trade Association announced a lawsuit against the Department of Agriculture over its failure to advance new organic livestock standards. The suit alleges USDA violated the Organic Foods Production Act, and unlawfully delayed the effective date of the final livestock standards. The trade association further contends that the Trump Administration’s regulatory freeze order issued to federal agencies in January …
Organic Trade Associations Applauds USDA for Revoking Organic License
The Organic Trade Association welcomed a move by the Department of Agriculture aimed at stopping fraudulent organic products from entering the United States. USDA this week revoked the organic certificate for a Turkish firm for shipping nonorganic ingredients to the United States labeled as organic, according to the Hagstrom Report. The Organic Trade Association said “fraud cannot be tolerated in …
Organic Industry to Create Anti-fraud Task Force
A task force started by the Organic Trade Association will work on best-practices to verify international organic products. The anti-fraud task force will create guidelines for the private sector to use in verifying its international supply chains. The task force follows news of a shipment of fraudulent organic corn and soybeans that entered the United States from Turkey. The task …
OTA Applauds Organic Research Investment Legislation
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) applauded a bill introduced in the U.S. House that would create new investments into the Department of Agriculture Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative. The Organic Trade Association says the investments included in the bill would meet the research needs of the growing organic sector. The Organic Research Act of 2017 would increase annual funding …