SOE Series #4: Safeguarding the Organic Supply Chain

USDA Agricultural Marketing Service sent this bulletin at 08/21/2020 11:22 AM EDT
USDA Agricultural Marketing Service national organic program organic insider

Safeguarding the Organic Supply Chain

This is the fourth update in our six-part series highlighting changes outlined in the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) proposed rule and explaining how they apply to members of the organic community, from farm to table. 
 

Part Four: Improved Recordkeeping and Fraud
Prevention for Accredited Certifiers

Like organic farms and businesses, certifiers share responsibility for fraud prevention and traceability. To safeguard the integrity of global organic supply chains, farm to table, SOE requires USDA-accredited certifiers to:

  • Develop criteria for identifying products, businesses and farms at a high risk of organic fraud.
  • Conduct supply chain audits to trace high-risk organic products they certify.
  • Share compliance-related information about certified operations with other certifiers.

Full supply chain audits required by SOE will allow certifiers to verify the origin and chain of custody of organic products, detect fraudulent products and trigger enforcement action. These audits—combined with risk-based reviews and compliance-related information sharing—support robust and consistent certification practices for all organic farms and businesses. This will assure consumers that legitimate organic products will be delivered to the marketplace.

Make Your Voice Heard

Let us know how these proposed changes will impact you and see what others are saying at Regulations.gov, linked from the AMS web page for SOE.

 

Deadline for public comment

October 5, 2020 at 11:59pm Eastern

AMS Web Page for SOE

Includes links to the Federal Register announcement and other resources.
 

Effective commenting

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Up Next—Part Five of Six:
On-Site Inspections, Organic Inspectors, and Grower Groups