USDA official: We are shutting the door on fraudulent organic imports

NOP’s Jennifer Tucker is confident organic fraud is being stopped, but organic grain supplier is skeptical

In the wake of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) recent warning to organic certifiers about possible fraudulent imports of organic soybeans and soybean meal from West Africa, an NOP official says her agency is “shutting the door” on illegitimate shipments of organic commodities.

Jennifer Tucker, NOP deputy administrator, told Farm Progress that “up to 95% of NOP import certificates that are coming in are valid.”

Since implementation of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule last March, the NOP has uncovered several incidents of fraudulent imports and is prosecuting guilty parties.

“We are certainly finding product that has been sent to the United States that cannot be sold as organic in the United States, and we are stopping that,” Tucker said.

SOE rules require that grain buyers and distributers must now be certified organic.

“We are at the point where everybody in the supply chain needs to be certified,” Tucker said.

This has helped stop illegitimate imports, according to Tucker. “We really closed the gap on products coming into the United States without an import certificate,” she said. “We really closed the door on illegitimate shipments.”

This past October the NOP issued a warning to organic certifiers about possible fraudulent imports of organic soybeans and soybean meal from West Africa, specifically from Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria, and Togo. The NOP has directed certifiers to enforce stricter oversight of such imports with increased on-site inspections, traceability, sampling and testing for pesticide residues, and unannounced inspections, among other actions.

U.S. organic processors, particularly poultry processors, have become increasingly reliant on organic soy supplies from West Africa. According to Argus, 42% of U.S. organic soybean meal imports and 11% of whole soybean imports were sourced from west African countries through September of this year. This up from just 3.6% two years ago.

While Tucker is confident that the NOP is stopping organic fraud, Lynn Clarkson, CEO of Clarkson Grain, is not as convinced.

“It is another case of whack-a-mole in which the NOP tries the control fraud without the tools needed. Outside the U.S., the NOP lacks the authority to determine the truth and punish criminal behavior. That is a perfect invitation to fraud. Warnings issued by NOP will not stop the fraud. We are burdened by one rule for the world but enforcement only in the U.S. That is amazingly unfair to U.S. organic farmers, players and consumers,” he says.

Additional sources article: USDA, Argus, Farm Progress

To view additional source article, visit:

https://www.farmprogress.com/organic-grower-summit/usda-comes-out-swinging-on-organic-enforcement

Organic & Non-GMO Insights December 2024