22
Oct
(Beyond Pesticides, October 22, 2010) Miles McEvoy, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) deputy administrator for the National Organic Program (NOP), said that USDA has implemented 12 of the 14 recommendations for improving organic oversight by the USDA Inspector General (IG), following an audit of the program’s management from October 2003 through July 2009. In an interview at last weekend’s Natural Products Expo East with the trade publication The Packer, Mr. McEvoy said he’s pleased with the NOP’s progress and expects the last two recommendations to be implemented by the end of the year. The deputy administrator said the NOP has strengthened pesticide residue testing and stepped up accreditation, compliance and penalization of violators, and added that the overriding goal is protecting organic integrity.“We’re in the process of implementing a very comprehensive worldwide program to make sure that organic integrity is protected all the way from the farm to the marketplace,” Mr. McEvoy told The Packer. “There’s still a lot to do, but we’ve made a lot of progress and have done a lot the last year.” While the NOP with rigorous standards and certification procedures unparalleled in chemical-intensive agriculture, it was criticized for straying from its legal requirements during the […]
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25
Sep
(Beyond Pesticides, September 25, 2009) On September 24, 2009, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the appointment of five new members to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), including Beyond Pesticides executive director Jay Feldman. Beyond Pesticides thanks Secretary Vilsack, as well as the individuals, farm, health and environmental organizations and members of Congress that supported his nomination. “I believe that the environmental community must be at the NOSB table to advance the vision and core values of organic management practices, which replace unnecessary and polluting chemical-intensive farming methods that are linked to adverse health and environmental effects, including global climate change,” said Mr. Feldman. “I am honored to be named to the NOSB and will use my seat to represent the grassroots environmental community while ensuring the integrity and growth of organic practices.” USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service oversees the National Organic Program (NOP) and the NOSB. The NOSB includes four producers, two handlers, one retailer, three environmentalists, three consumers, one scientist and one certifying agent. The Board is authorized by the Organic Foods Production Act and makes recommendations to the Secretary of Agriculture regarding the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for organic operations. The […]
Posted in Alternatives/Organics, Announcements, National Organic Standards Board/National Organic Program, National Politics | 2 Comments »
12
Aug
(Beyond Pesticides, August 12, 2008) The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) announced August 5, 2008 that 15 of the 30 accredited organic certifiers it recently inspected failed the USDA audit and will have 12 months to make corrections or lose their accreditation with NOP. The non-profit Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is calling for an NOP “Peer Review Panel” to evaluate its adherence to its accreditation procedures and its accreditation decisions. Show your support for strong organic certification procedures by signing the OCA petition  below. A number of the violations noted in the several hundred page audit related to Chinese imports certified by the French-based organic certifier ECOCERT and other certifiers. However, OCA points out that Quality Assurance International (QAI), the largest organic certifier in the world, is not cited by the USDA, even though OCA recently reviewed documents that indicate that QAI is indeed under investigation by NOP. QAI has recently been in the news for sourcing ginger, contaminated with the highly toxic and restricted insecticide, aldicarb, from its Chinese certification sub-contractors and then labeling it as “USDA Organic.” QAI is also under public fire, along with other certifiers, for certifying factory farm feedlot dairies supplying […]
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