Agricultural News
Strengthening Organic Enforcement Proposed Rule: Public Comment Period Opens
Tue, 04 Aug 2020 12:25:45 CDT
The USDA National Organic Program's (NOP) Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) proposed rule will publish in the Federal Register on August 5, 2020.
This proposed rule significantly updates the USDA organic regulations to strengthen oversight and enforcement throughout the organic supply chain. It proposes changes that implement provisions in the 2018 Farm Bill and addresses recommendations from the National Organic Standards Board and the USDA Office of Inspector General.
Deadline for public comment--October 5, 2020 at 11:59pm Eastern.
Public review and comment is encouraged.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) proposes amending the USDA organic regulations to strengthen oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic agricultural products. The proposed amendments are intended to protect integrity in the organic supply chain and build consumer and industry trust in the USDA organic label by strengthening organic control systems, improving farm to market traceability, and providing robust enforcement of the USDA organic regulations.
Topics addressed in this proposed rule include:
applicability of the regulations and exemptions from organic certification;
import certificates;
recordkeeping and product traceability;
certifying agent personnel qualifications and training;
standardized certificates of organic operation;
unannounced on-site inspections of certified operations;
oversight of certification activities;
foreign conformity assessment systems;
certification of grower group operations;
labeling of nonretail containers;
annual update requirements for certified operations;
compliance and appeals processes;
and calculating organic content of multi-ingredient products.
Submit Comments (Comment period opens when proposed rule publishes in the Federal Register):
To read more on the rule, click here:
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