The US Department of Agriculture says consumers will
see tougher policing of the organic food market. That’s after the
USDA recently revoked the accreditation of a company that certified organic products. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
Transcript
The US Department of Agriculture says consumers will
see tougher policing of the organic food market. That’s after the
USDA recently revoked the accreditation of a company that certified
organic products. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:
The Ag Department kicked a Wisconsin certifier out of the
National Organic Program for apparent conflicts of interest. That marks the first time
the department has revoked an organic certifier, but the agency says
other investigations into rule-breaking have been done and some
certifiers have left voluntarily when they knew the government was
scrutinizing them.
Barbara Robinson oversees the USDA’s Organic
Program. She says the learning curve of the four-year old effort is
over and tougher enforcement is on the way:
“Ignorance is no longer a good excuse. Now, enough time has passed to
say, okay, we can get a little tougher.”
People who break the organic certification rules can be booted out for up to
five years and face fines.
For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach