The National Organic Program (NOP) introduced new regulations that will be implemented on March 19, 2024. Operations that will require certification under this rule must be certified by this date. The new regulations, known collectively as the “Strengthening Organic Enforcement” rules, or “SOE,” limit the number of operations that can continue to go uncertified by closing gaps in the organic supply chain, requiring brokers, traders, distributors of products in non-tamper evident packaging, importers to the US, and exporters to the US to seek organic certification.
The new rules still allow certain types of operations to remain exempt from certification, although they may seek certification voluntarily if certification would benefit their business. Operations that handle organic products under the exemptions, but don’t seek certification are still required to maintain traceability documentation for a minimum of three years. The following types of operations may claim an exemption from certification under the SOE regulations:
- Producers and handlers with sales under $5000 annually who do not use “Certified organic” or the USDA logo to market products
- Retailers who don’t process foods (ex. grocery stores and food delivery services)
- Retailers that do process, but only at the point of sale (ex. deli counters, on-site coffee roasting)
- Handlers that only handle products with less than 70% organic ingredients who only make organic claims in the “Ingredients” statement of their products’ labels
- Operations that only receive, store, and prepare for shipment products which are received in and remain in sealed, tamper-evident packaging (ex. warehouse that stores packaged ingredients for further manufacturing)
- Operations that only buy, sell, receive, store, and/or prepare for shipment products that are already labeled for retail sale that remain enclosed in sealed tamper evident packages or containers (ex. grocery distribution center)
- Customs brokers that only conduct customs business and do not otherwise handle the product (handling includes activities like selling, processing, packaging, or labeling)
- Operations that only arrange for the shipping, storing, transport, or movement of organic agricultural products but do not otherwise handle (handling includes selling, processing, packaging, or labeling) (ex. logistics firm)
The new SOE regulations clarify that handlers (other than the exempt handlers listed above) must be certified. The regulations include a revised version of “handling” that further clarifies who must be certified and what processes are considered “handling” activities.
“Handling” is defined as, “To sell, process, or package agricultural products, including but not limited to trading, facilitating sale or trade on behalf of a seller or oneself, importing to the United States, exporting for sale in the United States, combining, aggregating, culling, conditioning, treating, packing, containerizing, repackaging, labeling, storing, receiving, or loading.” The definition of “handling” includes processing, which is further defined in the regulations as, “Cooking, baking, curing, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, slaughtering, cutting, fermenting, distilling, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, chilling, or otherwise manufacturing and includes the packaging, canning, jarring, or otherwise enclosing food in a container.”
The preamble to the new rules cautions that this list of handling activities and processes isn’t exclusive, and that “handling” includes any activity where there may be physical contact with organic products including activities that may be synonyms for words included in the definitions of “processing” and/or “handling.” The preamble also cautions the reader that some activities where no contact with organic products occurs, like brokering, trading, importing, exporting, and ingredients sourcing, also fall within the definition of ‘handling’ because they may involve the selling & marketing of organic products where the traceability of organic products through the supply chain may be affected.
The new SOE rules also includes new definitions of “importer” and “exporter.” An importer is defined as, “the operation responsible for accepting imported organic agricultural products within the United States and ensuring NOP Import Certificate data are entered into the U.S. Customs and Border Protection import system of record.” Under the new regulations, all imports into the United States must arrive with an NOP Import Certificate signed by the organic certifying agent responsible for certifying the exporter.
“Exporter” is defined as, “the final certified exporter of the organic agricultural product, who facilitates the trade of, consigns, or arranges for the transport/shipping of the organic agricultural product from a foreign country to the United States.” The organic exporter is responsible for obtaining the signed NOP Import Certificate from its certifying agency prior to exporting organic goods to the United States.
Both importers and exporters of organic products are required to become certified by the March 19, 2024 deadline along with the previously mentioned classes of handlers–brokers, traders, and certain distributors.
Those required to seek certification should do so as soon as possible to avoid interruptions to their business’s ability to continue handling organic goods. For more information on how to become certified, visit https://onecert.com/packets/. If your business physically handles any organic products, choose the Handler Packet for processors and manufacturers when completing the form. If your business does not physically handle any organic products, choose the Handler Packet for brokers and traders. After completing the brief contact form, a packet of all the certification information you need to get started will be sent to the email address you provide.
To read more about the SOE and the other requirements of the new organic regulations, stay tuned to OneCert’s blog at https://blog.onecert.com/ or visit the full text of the rule on the Federal Register website here: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/01/19/2023-00702/national-organic-program-nop-strengthening-organic-enforcement