Reorganization at USDA National Organic Program
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) of USDA announced on February 4th organizational and structural changes for the National Organic Program (NOP) after five-plus years of program implementation.

The NOP is reorganizing into three branches: standards development and review; accreditation, auditing and training; and compliance and enforcement. Deputy administrator for transportation and marketing programs, Barbara Robinson, will assume overall leadership for the NOP in addition to her other duties, while Mark Bradley will assume leadership for the accreditation, auditing and training branch, and Richard Mathews will head up the standards development and review branch. No decision has been made for leadership of Compliance and Enforcement at this time.

Also underway is the creation of an electronic reading room, where all NOP records that can be made publicly available will be accessible on the web, including a new Q&A site to provide answers to questions posed to the NOP. Only answers posted on the Q&A site will constitute an official response from the NOP. The Q&A site will be a component of a reorganized NOP site called “NOP-AQSS” (Answers to Questions on the Standards by the Staff).

According to USDA, these changes will help NOP continue to accomplish its goals—ensuring the integrity of the USDA organic seal, applying regulatory consistency and providing transparency to its stakeholders.


All Things Organic 2008 Trade Show Coming Up in April
The 2008 All Things Organic Conference and Trade Show is to be held April 26-29 at McCormick Place in Chicago. This years conference keynote speakers include John Moore, marketing mastermind behind Starbucks and Whole Foods Market, as well as, Bobby Flay, chef/restaurateur, cookbook author and Food Network television personality. The show will also feature five Organic 101 conference sessions to help those new to the industry. Presented by the Organic Trade Association in partnership with Diversified Business Communications, this year’s event teams with two other trade shows—the Spring Fancy Food Show, and the U.S. Food Export Showcase—in an event billed as “The Global Food and Style Expo”. For more information go to www.organicexpo.com.


New Organic Cotton Standards
Organic Exchange (OE) has now completed their new standards that will support companies in making fiber-only claims about the organic cotton content of their products. The OE 100 and OE Blended standards track the purchase, handling and use of organically grown cotton fiber as it moves through the production process into yarns, fabrics and finished goods. The OE 100 standard tracks the use of 100 percent organic fiber and the OE Blended standard tracks fiber content in products where the organic cotton is blended with other fiber types. For more information, go to www.organicexchange.org.


2008 Non-GMO Sourcebook Available
As genetically modified crops increase worldwide, food producers are concerned about the availability of non-GMO supplies to meet consumer demands. The “2008 Non-GMO Sourcebook” features more than 700 suppliers of non-GMO products and services, including: non-GMO and organic seeds, grains and ingredients; experts in GMO testing, identity preservation, and organic certification; and an easy-to-use index by product. Subscribers to The Organic & Non-GMO Report newsletter receive “The 2007 Non-GMO Sourcebook” as a free bonus. To purchase or for more information go to www.non-gmoreport.com.

Organic Processing Magazine Welcomes Seeds of Change’s Shapiro to Our Board
Organic Processing Magazine is excited to welcome Howard-Yana Shapiro to our editorial board. As a co-founder and a vice president at Seeds of Change, as well as the global director of plant science and external research at Mars Incorporated, Shapiro brings a wealth of expertise and insight to the table. Shapiro was the first to bring organic seeds to market and was also responsible for helping create a world renowned organic research farm, as well as helping develop the Seeds of Change brand. Over the years he has become known as one of the foremost experts on sustainability and last year he was awarded Organic Trade Association’s Organic Leadership Award.


Update on the Canada Organic Office and Regulation
In February, a Canadian delegation including representatives of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade met in Washington D.C. with U.S. officials and begun talks on equivalency between the two countries’ regulatory programs. Discussions were positive and a next meeting is expected to be scheduled in April 2008. The Canadian standards are amended by a consensus process and written and voted upon by representatives of the Canadian organic sector. The next meeting of this Committee on Organic Agriculture is scheduled for March 31-April 2 in Ottawa. Although the implementation date is set for December 14, 2008, a revised standard is not likely to be published until early 2009.

The Permitted Substances List working group is progressing at an impressive pace. Unlike the U.S. National List, the Canadian Permitted Substances List is a positive list of what materials are available for use in organic production and processing. Therefore, each substance has to be specifically identified for use. It is very important that all producers and processors review the PSL in light of their current practice and identify any gaps that may exist. Any new items received will be prioritized in time for the April 2008 meetings or placed on a future work list. The current PSL and a form for submitting a new substance for review by the PSL working group are both available on the OTA in Canada web page on Canadian standards and regulations. www.ota.com/standards/canadian.html. Processors may also want to check out the Canadian Quality Management Systems (QMS) manual, which is now available for public consultation. The first consultation meeting was held in Guelph, ON during the Guelph Organic Conference. The consultation included very little new information but questions raised by industry clearly indicated there remains a strong need for a transition policy, as questions still exist.

If you would like a copy of the QMS manual, please contact kdimatteo @organicspecialists.com.

Published in Wolf, DiMatteo + Associates “News and Policy Updates For the Organic Industry” newsletter. For more information go to www.organicspecialists.com.


Report on Dangers of Cloning
The Food and Drug Administration recently declared cloned meat and milk safe for human consumption and what’s more, they are not even requiring these products to declare this on their labeling. However, consumers concerned about products from cloned cows have the option to choose organic products, as cloned animals are not permitted in certified organic foods.

There are profound scientific, regulatory, food safety, trade and cultural issues wrapped up in cloning—including animal welfare issues, as many attempts at livestock cloning still end in fatal birth defects and animals that are often unhealthy. This is discussed in “Is the FDA’s Cloning Proposal Ready for Prime Time?” report, available at www.organic-center.org. James Riddle of the University of Minnesota, discusses why epigenetic changes in cloned animals are important in animal health and food safety and exposes the lack of a scientific basis for the FDA’s standard for judging that a cloned animal is safe to eat.


Methods Proposed to Verify the Integrity of Organic Production
A study just published in the Journal of Environmental Quality describes a nitrogen isotope tracer methodology that one day might be used to test organic food to determine whether conventional fertilizers were applied.

They describe a successful application of the method to sweet pepper production. Commercial fertilizer is made mostly from atmospheric nitrogen, which is composed almost solely of the 14N isotope. Organically acceptable manure and compost-based fertilizers, on the other hand, contain a significant share of the 15N isotope, leading the team to use the 14N to 15N ratio as a basic indicator of whether commercial fertilizers had been applied.

The team was able to distinguish between peppers grown with and without commercial fertilizers, by analyzing the ratio of nitrogen isotopes. They conclude that the method might one day be used routinely by certifiers to check organic integrity.

Such applications, however, are almost certainly a long way off, because it remains difficult to determine where to draw the line in the ratio values between fields treated and not treated with commercial fertilizers. Several factors are known to impact the ratio including irrigation, past fertilizer use, soil type and climate.