Court Rules in Favor of USDA in Organic Case
The latest court ruling in the case brought against the USDA by blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey means that NOP standards will remain the same regarding use of synthetic materials and food contact substances and thus business can go on as usual.

In November, the U.S. District Court, District of Maine, granted USDA’s “motion for relief from judgment.” The court denied Harvey’s “motion to enforce judgment.” In seeking this motion, Harvey claimed that USDA had not properly implemented the court’s June 9, 2005, consent decree in the first lawsuit he brought, involving the use of synthetic materials in processed organic products. USDA claimed that a November 2005 congressional amendment to the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) corrected the language in the act and relieved USDA from complying with the consent decree on that issue. The court, in this latest decision, agreed with USDA, declaring that the final judgment issued on June 9, 2005 was rendered moot by the amendments to OFPA.

The other issue in Harvey’s motion asked the court to order USDA to revoke or revise a 2002 policy statement permitting the use of food contact substances in organic foods without what Harvey considered proper review. The court in part rejected Harvey’s argument on food contact substances as part of the decision that the final judgment is moot. The court also agreed with the USDA position that Harvey's request regarding food contact substances was neither encompassed by the consent decree nor the original lawsuit. The court therefore declined to render a decision.

A New Tool to Communicate to Consumers the Benefits of Organic Cotton
The Organic Fiber Education Initiative (OFEI), which exists to educate consumers and organizations on the facts about organic textile fibers, recently developed a tri-fold pamphlet that is being used by many companies and organizations to give consumers a basic introduction to organic cotton and the reasons it is a good choice. There is also a 50-page booklet that goes into further depth on the history and issues of organic cotton.

Currently, OFEI is working on developing an information website, www.AboutOrganic Cotton.org, as well as education kits to be used by schools and businesses.

OFEI is supported through donations of money and time by foundations, companies and individuals, and is always open to more support. If you would like to support this initiative, or access the materials being produced, please contact Anne Gillespie, Organic Fiber Education Initiative project coordinator, at anne@continuumtextiles.com.

New Board Members Appointed to the NOSB
In December, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) named four new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to serve five-year terms. The new appointees are Tracy Miedema, consumer/public interest member; Tina Ellor, environmentalist member; Steve DeMuri, handler member; and Katrina Heinze, scientist member. Their terms begin Jan. 24 and run through Jan. 24, 2012.

Each appointee brings to the NOSB a broad spectrum of scientific, environmental and food quality control expertise from the U.S. organic handling and consumer sectors.

Miedema is the national sales and marketing manager for Stahlbush Farms in Oregon, a Food Alliance certified farm using environmentally friendly and socially responsible agricultural practices. She has also served as an adjunct professor in consumer behavior at Western Washington University, and created an organic learning center for retailers and stakeholders within Small Planet Foods.

Ellor is the technical director of Phillips Mushroom Farms and has been active in small farm and rural development in Pennsylvania.

DeMuri, senior manager for commercialization and improvement for Campbell Soup Co. in California, is the technical expert and manager of their organic production. He also has served on the California Organic Products Advisory Committee. Prior to joining Campbell’s, Steve was the Director of Quality Assurance for Muir Glen Organic Tomato Products, and its original parent company Sierra Quality Canners. He was also a member of the start-up team for this very successful organic food products manufacturing and marketing company.

Heinze has a doctorate degree in chemistry and is the manager of global regulatory affairs for General Mills, responsible for food safety and regulatory matters.

The NOSB has 15 members representing all sectors and interests of organic producing, handling, and consuming (four producers, two handlers, one retailer, three environmentalists, three consumers, one scientist, and one certifying agent).

Controversial Reform of EU Organic Standards Underway
The market for organic food and drink in Europe has changed dramatically since the first organic legislation made its way onto the statute books in 1991. There is far more organic food being grown today than ever could have been envisioned 15 years ago. Also, the organic industry has developed beyond pure agriculture and into food processing, beauty products, textiles, cosmetics and catering, so most commentators accepted that a review and revision of the EU 2092/91 organic regulation was a good idea. However, many of the proposals that have come out of the review have been controversial, with two in particular eliciting a strong negative response from much of the organic community. First, the EU is proposing that genetically modified (GM) material should be permitted in organic food up to a level of 0.9%. The second proposal would make it illegal for certification bodies to voluntarily operate at a higher level than the baseline EU standard; the EU organic legislation would then become both a “floor” and a “ceiling.” Were this proposal to become law, private certifiers such as the UK’s Soil Association would no longer be able to, for example, limit the size of organic chicken flocks to 2,000 in a house (EU 2092/91 currently permits up to 4,800). If these proposals become law, consumer confidence and organic integrity would be at risk, potentially derailing the bouyant Northern European market for organic food. Opposition to these changes is being coordinated by Francis Blake of the IFOAM EU Group. Providing no decision is taken before the Germans assume the EU presidency early in 2007 it is hoped that some sort of compromise can be reached.
For more information, see www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/around_world/eu_group/eu_group.

—Submitted by Simon Wright, founder of O&F Consulting www.organicandfair.com

GOTS Gets Going
Sales of organic cotton alone are estimated to reach $2.6 billion by the end of 2008 as more and more retailers and brands make new commitments to sustainable textile production. With this growth and the fact that the sourcing and manufacturing of textiles is so globally interlinked, international standards are more important than ever.

Under development during the past four years, the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) will now enable textile manufacturers to have their products certified to a standard recognized throughout the world and thus will further the marketing of organic textiles.

OTA partnered with the Soil Association, the Japanese Organic Cotton Association, and the International Association Natural Textile Industry (IVN) as part of an International Working Group (IWG), formed at the International Conference on Organic Textiles (InterCot) conference in 2002, to create this global organic standard for textile processing.

The aim of the standard is “to define requirements to ensure organic status of textiles, from harvesting of the raw materials, through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing up to labeling in order to provide a credible assurance to the end consumer”. This new and unique tool enables textile manufacturers to qualify their organic fabrics and garments with one certificate accepted in all major world market—an important step toward harmonisation and transparency of textile labels.

According to the long-term plan for implementing the global standard, OTA will adopt, promote and recognize GOTS while continuing to post its Fiber Processing Standards, which serve as good guidance for GOTS. Thus far two certifiers have been approved by the GOTS Working Group, IMO (Institute for Marketology) and Control Union (formerly SKAL). Oregon Tilth is in process of getting approved.

OTA has posted for members only the GOTS standard and some related information at www.ota.com/m/communities/ taskforces/gots.html. General information about GOTS can be found at www.global-standard.org.

Canada Becomes First Country in the World to Track Organic Imports
On December 22, Canada published federal regulation for organic food and livestock feeds. “Consumers will now be assured that when they purchase food that is labeled ‘Canada Organic’ it means that it was produced in compliance with a strict set of national standards for certification,” said Stephanie Wells, the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA) Canada Liaison. “The regulation will help ease the way for organic trade between provinces and with other countries.”(See the regulation at canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2006/20061221-x6/html/extra-e.html.)

Since 1999 Canada has had an organic standard regulated by the organic sector itself. This new regulation means the standards will now be enforced by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

In addition, Canada will be the first country in the world to track organic products moving across its border. Although all import and export commodities are tracked with Harmonization System Codes (HS Codes), they only have been coded by type (for instance, tomatoes are identified as roma or cherry), not by method of production. As of January 2007, HS Codes in Canada will also add the certified organic designation to HS Codes to track an initial list of 41 imported organic products ranging from dairy to fruits and vegetables.

“These two developments are good news for farmers, businesses and shoppers in Canada,” said Caren Wilcox, executive director of OTA. “Farms and other businesses will have useful data thanks to the HS Codes, and consumers will know that products labeled organic meet stringent federal requirements.”

Organic Acreage Continues to Grow in the U.S., Says USDA Report
More than one million new acres were devoted to organic agriculture production in 2005, according to statistics released in December 2006 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In addition, for the first time all of the 50 states in the U.S. reported having some certified organic farmland.

All in all, U.S. organic production totaled over 4.0 million acres of farmland, 2.3 million acres of cropland and 1.7 million acres of rangeland and pasture. California remains the leading state in certified organic cropland, with more than 220,000 acres, mostly for fruit and vegetable production. Other top states for certified organic cropland include North Dakota, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Texas and Idaho. More than 40 states also had some certified organic rangeland and pasture in 2005, although only four states—Alaska, Texas, California and Montana—had more than 100,000 acres.

USDA lifted restrictions on organic meat labeling in the late 1990s, and the organic poultry and beef sectors are now expanding rapidly, according to the USDA report. The statistics are posted at www.ers.usda.gov/data/organic.

While adoption of organic farming systems showed strong gains between 1992 and 2005, the overall adoption level is still low—only about 0.5 percent of all U.S. cropland and 0.5 percent of all U.S. pasture was certified organic in 2005. The USDA states that obstacles to adoption by farmers include high managerial costs and risks of shifting to a new way of farming, limited awareness of organic farming systems, lack of marketing and infrastructure, and inability to capture marketing economies. Still, many U.S. producers are embracing organic farming in order to lower input costs, conserve nonrenewable resources, capture high-value markets and boost farm income.

However, the government still needs to do more to encourage farmers to switch to organic production, said Caren Wilcox, executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA). “Given the strong consumer desire for organic products, USDA should do more to invest in organic agriculture and to remove the hurdles currently facing farmers who want to make the transition. Organic farmers need access to the same resources USDA provides to conventional farmers—research, market data, risk management tools and import/export information,” Wilcox said.

“That is why OTA is asking Congress to make the critical investments needed in the upcoming Farm Bill to advance organic agriculture,” she added. OTA’s recommendations focus on four priorities:

1. Foster transition to organic agriculture and trade by providing technical assistance to aid in the conversion of farmland from conventional to organic.

2. Eliminate hurdles to organic agriculture and trade by creating appropriate risk management tools and developing an organic export policy and strategy.

3. Initiate and fund organic agriculture and economic research because privately funded research is limited and there is much to be learned about the fundamentals of organic production.

4. Maintain and enhance current agency programs so that the National Organic Program (NOP) and other parts of USDA can keep pace with the growing organic sector. Credibility of the organic standard is critical to organic farmers, handlers and all others in the organic trade, and that credibility is tied to the capabilities and funding of NOP.

OTA’s comprehensive plan is available at www.ota.com/DraftFarmBill Outline.html.