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USDA investigators uncovering fraudulent organic certificates
 
By JIM RUTLEDGE
D.C. Correspondent
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In the past few months investigators from the USDA have uncovered more than two dozen companies using fraudulent organic food product certificates made by an unauthorized source.
 
The discovery by inspectors from the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service’s National Organic Program (NOP) has prompted officials to hunt for the maker of the phony documents. In a separate investigation several years ago, investigators discovered a phony certificate mill in South Africa.

To obtain a legitimate organic certificate, farmers and food processors must pay for the services from an independent USDA-licensed certification company that sends out inspectors to verify their organic products. In recent months, this method has come under scrutiny, with critics calling for the program to be taken over by the USDA itself to prevent fraud.

The USDA warns users of fake certificates and those who market, label or sell them that they face penalties of $11,000 per violation.

Of eight companies found in May of using the fake certificates, three were U.S. entities: Rand Express Purity Ltd. of Bountiful, Utah, producing organic vanilla powder; JEM Enterprises of Baltimore, Md., marketing rosehip oil; and Erin’s Faces, a Woodside, N.Y., company manufacturing “wild crafted natural organic ingredients” used in food production. Erin’s Faces does not have an authorized certification agent and thus is not certified as an organic food producer, the USDA said. All the firms were certified by licensed USDA agents, except Erin’s, and all acknowledge their certificates were fraudulent but “not responsible” for producing the fake documents, the USDA said. The other companies cited this month were based in Mexico, Thailand, Canada, India and Ukraine, but their products were distributed throughout the United States.

During April, seven companies were found to have the phony document, three from the U.S. In a email  warning on May 15 to consumers and others, the USDA made clear that “the posting of fraudulent certificates does not necessarily mean that the named operator or certifying agent was involved in illegal activity.” The USDA announced in April the organic industry is enjoying wide acceptance in the U.S. and around the globe, with the number of new companies increasing more than 13 percent domestically to 24,650 certified organic operations. Worldwide, there are now 37,032 organic producers.

The number of organic-related complaints climbed to 121 for the first quarter of the year, a jump of 57 from the previous quarter. It’s a relatively low number, the USDA enforcement summary stated, claiming the success of compliance oversight by the NOP.

Within the past month, the national food and farm policy watchdog group The Cornucopia Institute has complained to the USDA about shortcomings it has found in the agency’s NOP program, specifically pointing out the organic certification.

And across the Corn Belt, one of the most successful organic certification programs is the Midwest Organic Services Assoc. listed among more than a dozen such programs the USDA authorizes to provide required certificates across the country.

For a complete understanding of the NOP, the government provides free to the public the National Organic Farming Handbook. And with regard to companies complying with the program, the USDA maintains the Organic Integrity Database at http://organic.m.usda.gov/integrity

To see the complete list of companies cited over the past year cited with fraudulent organic certificates, visit www.ams.usda.gov/services/enforcement/organic/fraudulent-certificates 
5/25/2017