Fake Organic Food: A Growing Global Problem

• U.S. organic farmers are facing challenges from low-priced organic imports, especially from developing nations where grower/producer groups are not held to the same rigorous annual inspections required by the USDA.
• This situation has allowed some large-scale commercial farms in these countries to operate without adequate oversight, with only a small fraction being inspected each year.
•  Consequently, U.S. organic turmeric and hazelnut farmers are struggling to compete with imports that may not adhere to the same strict organic standards but are offered at lower prices.
• Legal actions, including complaints and lawsuits, have been directed at the USDA, questioning the legality of the grower group certifications and urging for more stringent enforcement of organic standards.
• Moreover, fraud within the organic industry is a significant issue, with recent notable cases involving millions of dollars worth of conventionally grown produce being fraudulently labeled and sold as organic.

U.S. organic farmers are being driven out of business by low-priced organic imports, which may not be grown to the organic standards you’d expect. The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 is a U.S. federal law that was enacted to establish national standards for the production and handling of organic foods.

The act requires that agricultural products labeled as organic be overseen by an independent third party that’s supervised by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The process comes with additional costs and requirements for U.S. organic farmers, which should theoretically be offset by the higher prices commanded for organic foods.

However, uninspected organic imports are flooding the U.S. market from grower/producer groups in developing countries, which are not being subjected to annual inspections — with the USDA’s permission.

USDA Protects Industiralized Agribusiness at the Expense of US Organic Farmers

In certain developing countries, the USDA has allowed the formation of grower/producer groups. These groups are often used for crops like coffee, nuts, chocolate, tea and herbs, and while they started out as a way to help small farmers or indigenous groups in developing countries, the loophole is now putting U.S. organic farmers and organic standards at risk.

Although there is no legal provision for the exemption, decades ago certifiers started allowing cooperatives, small villages, or groups of indigenous peoples, producing high-value, specialty crops, like coffee, chocolate, or spices, to be grouped together in ‘peer-supervised’ producer groups.