Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE)

Portions of operations that are exempt from certification still need to follow the organic standards and maintain records to show that they are complying, but they do not need to be certified. Exempt operation types include:

• An operation that receives, stores, and/or prepares for shipment, but otherwise does not handle sealed, tamper-evident packaged organic products that stay in those same packages. This would include some storage facilities and warehouses.
• An operation that only buys, sells, receives, stores, and/or prepares for shipment, but does not otherwise handle, organic products already labeled for retail sale that are enclosed in sealed, tamper-evident packages or containers. These products must stay in those same packages.
• Transporters (trucks/trains/barges) that just move products. Loading/unloading unpackaged products or splitting/combining loads is not “transport” and requires certification.
• Retailers – final sale to consumer. Must have a “brick and mortar” physical location for customers to visit to be considered a retailer. Processing at point of sale (like a grocery store making smoothies or drip coffee onsite, made-to-order) is allowed under the exemption.
• Customs broker that only conducts customs business (no ownership or physical possession), but may file Import Certificate data.
• Logistics broker that arranges for shipping/storage/transport/movement but someone else owns/is responsible for the product.
• Operations that handle only products with less 70% organic content or only list “organic” on information panel (such products can’t be used as ingredients by other handlers).

SOE includes new labeling and traceability requirements for non-retail (bulk or wholesale) containers that are used to ship or store organic products. Nonretail containers include produce boxes, bulk bags, boxes, crates, cartons, trailers, tanks railcars, vessels, cargo holds, grain elevators, grain bins, or other methods of transport or storage.

• Bulk or wholesale products must be labeled with the production lot number, shipping ID, or other unique information that links to production and handling “audit trail” records.
• The labels and/or signage must also identify the product as organic.
• Audit trail records, linked to the lot number or other unique ID, must span the time of purchase or acquisition, through production, to sale or transport and be traceable back to the last certified operation.

Refer to OEFFA’s Organic Labeling Fact Sheet for more information.

Certified operations need to keep records tracing products back to the previous certified operation in the supply chain to show that organic integrity was maintained. If a certified operation is sourcing from an uncertified (exempt) operation, records must show how that exempt operation, and any other uncertified operations who handled the product since the previous certified operation, maintain organic integrity. Audit trail documents, such as sales receipts, purchase records, and transport records, must also identify products as organic.

• Records must show the source, transfer of ownership, and transportation of products.
• “Internal” documents must also easily identify products as organic using explicit “organic” identification, lot code, batch number or other designation that is clear and auditable.
• For imports, the first certified operation to receive an imported product needs to keep a copy of the NOP Import Certificate corresponding to each imported shipment. Importers enter data from Import Certificates into the Customs & Border Protection “ACE” system and must keep records showing that organic integrity was maintained (e.g. no fumigation or irradiation).
• Exempt operations must keep records for the audit trail (traceability, quantities, and identity) that will be passed along to their buyers.

Under SOE, all operations must describe how they ensure organic integrity in the products they purchase and the suppliers that they work with. There is a Fraud Prevention section in each of OEFFA’s Organic System Plans (OSP) to detail this information. In addition to completing this section, handlers with complex supply chains must develop a Fraud Prevention Plan and describe it in their OSP and importers must describe their system to verify the integrity of imports. SOE also requires that certifiers conduct supply chain audits to investigate high-risk operations and commodities to help deter and detect organic fraud.

The Organic Integrity Database (OID), USDA’s public database of certifiers and organic operations, plays a critical role in certification and fraud prevention. Under SOE, organic certificates will be generated on OID. This means most operations will now get two certificates: a general certificate from OID and a more specific addendum from their certifier that contains details such as brands, international equivalencies, and extra detail about certain products. NOP Import Certificates, which must be used for all organic products imported to the U.S., will also be generated on the OID by the exporter’s certifier and exporters will be listed in OID.