The
rules of the USDA National Organic Program:
- Which
operations must be certified?
Subpart B
describes what operations must be certified in order to be
qualified to produce organic products (such as seed). If your
gross agricultural income from organic sales is $5,000 or less
annually, you are exempt from required certification. You may
choose, however, to become certified regardless of gross
organic sales. If you choose to not be certified due to the
sales exemption, then you may not use the USDA organic seal.
Except for operations exempt due to size, all other
agricultural operations (production and handling) must become
certified if they intend to sell or label product represented
as "100 percent organic," "organic," or "made with organic
ingredients."
The important
point to remember is that exempt or not, anybody selling a
product as organic must comply with NOP regulations and
maintain records (for 3 or 5 years) to demonstration such
compliance.
The last part of this section deals
with "allowed" and "prohibited" substances, methods and
ingredients in organic production and handling. It refers the
reader to the lists of synthetic and nonsynthetic substances
and prohibited processes. |
