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Proposed rule strengthens organic enforcement
An ag economist says USDA’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement Proposed Rule for the first time would add specific language around organic imports in the national organic standards.
Ryan Koory with Mercaris tells Brownfield, “It does everything we’ve been needing done for the organic industry for quite some time, it’s an extremely crucial step for organic transparency.”
He says the proposed rule would essentially make every operation within the organic supply chain become certified globally, require import certificates and provide more transparency.
“So that we understand if they’re exporting X and their production looks like Y, is there a discrepancy or not, so making it harder to cheat.”
Koory says a gap in organic feed commodity supplies in the U.S. has led to nearly 80 percent of organic soybeans and nearly 30 percent of organic corn to come from imports.
Mercaris is a market intelligence provider and online trading platform for organic, non-GMO, and certified commodities.