The US Organic Trade Association (OTA) has launched an anti-fraud task force, targeting false certification of organic food.
The action comes after large shipments of uncertified soybeans from Turkey reached Californian shores in late 2016, falsely documented as organic. In addition to substantially inflating the cargo’s commercial value, the false certification prompted a wider investigation into imports, which sit in violation of U.S. organic regulations.
The case was the subject of a major Washington Post investigation in May, which generated a raft of negative media headlines around the world.
“We are taking a broad approach to the issue,” said Gwendolyn Wyard, OTA’s vice president of regulatory and technical affairs, stating that such fraudulent activity de-values the organic food supply chain and should not be tolerated.
The Global Organic Supply Chain Integrity Task Force aims to tackle the problem from a “regulatory perspective, a legislative perspective and a private sector perspective,” said Wyard. It will endeavour to identify weaknesses in how claims of organic status are substantiated, thus safeguarding consumer confidence.
Representing the entire organic food industry – from farmers and manufacturers, through to certifiers, brokers and retailers – the task force intends to eliminate the possibility for fraudulent certification of “USDA Organic” labelled foods, and is preparing to present a draft version of its best practices guide during the Natural Products Expo East event in September.
Rosie Greenaway