Strengthening Organic Enforcement

If you are currently certified organic you may expect more clarity and accountability for safeguarding the integrity of the organic supply chain. Organic producers will be required to: 

• Improve record-keeping and have records readily available for onsite traceability and mass balance events
• Deliver a fraud prevention plans explaining how your operation mitigates fraud and protects the organic integrity
• Provide additional information with updated Organic System Plans; including but not limited to:
  • Producers:
    • If formed as a group to market product, Producer Groups must comply with increased oversight of their Internal Control Systems
  • Handlers:
    • Comply with nonretail labeling requirements to ensure auditability and traceability of nonretail organic products Utilize a new equation for the calculation of organic percentage
• Verify products sourced from foreign countries are accompanied by a NOP Import Certificates upon entering the United States
• Ensure key components of the organic supply chain that were previously exempt are seeking certification to avoid disruption in the organic supply chain

Under SOE, a very important update to strengthen the organic supply chain  requires previously exempt and other new entities to be certified organic. If your operation is part of the organic supply chain, please talk to OTCO about organic certification.

• Production 
• Sellers 
• Loaders 
• Unloaders 
• Storage 
• Home Delivery 
• Processing 
• Packaging 
• Exporters

If you are currently offering the above services, you are required to become certified organic. Please email us at getcertified@tilth.org or call (541) 201-8042.

The new SOE holds certifying agents accountable to prevent fraud. At OTCO, we are implementing the new SOE with a focus on safeguarding the organic supply chain by:

• Supporting operations with implementation of the new SOE regulations,
• Ensuring our human capital is calibrated with appropriate qualifications and skills for providing premier organic certification services,
• Increasing surveillance of complex supply chains to prevent risks to the organic integrity by performing additional inspections, sampling events, unannounced inspections, risk assessments and investigations.
• Improving our certification process with new policies for adverse actions, including mediations, standardized issuance of organic certificates and much more.
• Tightening our relationships with other certifiers to safeguard the traceability of the organic supply chain.