[Vision2020] U.S. Organic Standards Threatened by Last Minute Spending Bill Rider

[Garrett Clevenger]

Action Alert: U.S. Organic Standards Threatened
February 24, 2003

The new U.S. organic standards, which went into effect in October of 2002,
are in serious danger of being weakened. Originally the standards required
organic livestock to be raised on 100% organic feed. Recent changes will
allow the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to certify meat, chicken
and eggs as "organic" even if the animals have been fed on conventionally
produced grain. A last minute amendment to a spending bill passed by the
U.S. Congress on February 13, 2003, would not require enforcement of the
100% organic feed requirement if the USDA confirms that organically
produced feed costs more than twice as much as conventional feed. Organic
advocates urge U.S. voters to contact their representatives and urge them
to support a repeal of these changes.

The New York Times reports the rule change was added to the massive
spending bill at meeting held behind closed doors with only Republicans in
attendance. The rider was slipped in at the request of Representative
Nathan Deal, a Republican from the state of Georgia, who received US$4,000
in campaign contributions from employees of a poultry producer seeking an
exemption to feed his chickens a mix of conventional and organic feed.

"The language is a threat to the organic label," said spokeswoman Holly
Givens of the Organic Trade Association, which consists of organic
suppliers and sellers. "And the fact that it was done in an underhanded way
should not be allowed to stand as a precedent for other people to try."

When the changes were made public, Senator Patrick Leahy, (D-VT) one of the
authors of the 1990 "Organic Foods Production Act," announced that he would
introduce a bill to reverse the change after Congress re-convenes February
24, 2003. Leahy asserts, "Getting the organic standards that are behind the
ëUSDA Organicí label right was a long and difficult process, but critically
important to the future of the industry. Along the way, some tried to allow
products treated with sewer sludge, irradiation, and antibiotics to be
labeled ëorganic.í The public outcry against this was overwhelming. More
than 325,000 people weighed in during the comment period. The groundswell
of support for strong standards clearly showed that the public wants
"organic" to really mean something. Those efforts to hijack the term were
defeated, and this one should be too."

In the days since the changes were slipped through Congress, major food
firms with organic products such as General Mills and Tysonís Foods have
denounced the rollback in the standards, but officials at USDA attending
the closed-door session remained neutral. "This department did not take a
position on this" said Alisa Harrison, spokeswoman for Agriculture
Secretary Ann Veneman. "The department is ready to enforce the clause. We
have to meet the will of Congress, so we will add a price component to a
study that we began last year on the availability of organic feed."

"I think this jeopardizes the whole organic industry in the Unites States,"
Representative Sam Farr (D-CA) said of the provision. Senator Leahy and
Representative Farr are drafting legislation to repeal the changes that
will need a wide number of sponsors in both the Senate and House in order
to pass.

The National Campaign For Sustainable Agriculture and the Organic Trade
Association Organic are asking people to urge their legislators to sign on
to a repeal of Section 771 of the Omnibus Appropriations Bill.

Contact your legislators through a direct link at the Organic Trade
Association website at http://www.ota.com.



Sources:

Weakening of Organic Standard Is Considered, New York Times, Feb. 14, 2003,
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/02/14/politics/14ORGA.html.

National Campaign For Sustainable Agriculture press release, February 14,
2003, http://www.sustainableagriculture.net/organicRelease.php.

Agri-Business Examiner, and Associated Press, Even Bush Administration and
Producers Back Away from Organic Standards Bill Change While USDA Remains
"Neutral," Issue 223, February 22, 2003.



Contact:

National Campaign For Sustainable Agriculture, P.O. Box 396, Pine Bush, New
York 12566; phone (845) 744-8448; fax (845) 744-8477;
http://www.SustainableAgriculture.net, email
contact@sustainableagriculture.net.

Organic Trade Association, http://www.ota.com.



"What are we doing to our Home?!:("




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