Foreign Organics

Foreign organic sources raise concerns for small-scale domestic organic farmers and consumers expecting a safe and superior quality product free of chemicals.  Outsourcing organic ingredients, which many times are available at a fraction of the cost of domestic products, hurts US farmers as a whole but is most harmful to small-scale family farms. 

The lack of adequate enforcement of the current regulations, especially regarding organic imports, also raises questions concerning the quality of organics certified by the USDA.  The OFPA requires organic imports to come from a USDA certified program or a country of equivalent standards. (1)  In October 2006 Mark Bradley, Associate Director of the NOSB staff, stated in a report that at that point in time the USDA had not visited any of the certification agencies or organic producers in China. (2) This lack of oversight is especially troubling considering the country’s poor control over industrial pollution of the Yellow River and other tributaries used for farm irrigation, as well as China’s history of using human waste as fertilizer, a practice that is forbidden by USDA organic certification standards. (3)  Furthermore, the large amounts of organic livestock feed being imported from China cast a shadow over US produced organic meat, poultry and dairy production.

Additional reasons for concern regarding Chinese organics imported into the U.S. can be found in a 2005 Beijing Consumers Association survey into organic food produced and sold in China.  The Association found that many of the products, that were labeled as organic were, in fact, counterfeit. (4) The survey randomly selected 268 foods sold in Beijing, including rice, oil, eggs, vegetables and drinks, labeled organic and concluded that 25 of samples were counterfeit. (5) Some of the counterfeit products were manufactured by companies that did not have organic certifications, while other producers pasted organic labels on food that looked similar to genuine organic products.(6)

In 2009, the USDA’s Inspector General issued a report detailing the general malaise that exists in certifying and enforcing current USDA regulations.  The report cited that the average amount of time that elapsed between citing an organic producer for a violation and rectifying the situation or revoking certification was three years. (7)  Also, according to the report, there were still 5 out of 45 foreign certification programs that had not been visited by the USDA at the time.

Domestic producers of organic foods cannot compete with the low price of foreign organic products that may or may not be produced under USDA guidelines.  Many foreign organic products are available at prices that smaller scale US producers cannot match – further hindering domestic farmers’ ability to compete in the organic marketplace, inevitably leading to the demise of smaller family scale farms and the further expansion of large domestic agribusinesses and CAFOs more inclined to consider profit margins than public health, environmental damage, and humane treatment of animals.  Also the use of imported organic products and ingredients, especially those from China, by corporate retailers endangers the very perception of organic products by consumers.

 (1)  Greene, Christine. "The Cost of Low Price Organics." Alabama Law Review 59.3 (2008): 799-830. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 July 2011.

(2) Kastel, Mark A. "Wal: The Nations Largest Grocer Rolls-out Organic Products." (2006). Cornucopia Institute. Web

(3) Greene, Christine. "The Cost of Low Price Organics." Alabama Law Review 59.3 (2008): 799-830. Academic Search Complete. Web. 1 July 2011.

(4) Zi, Mu, China Daily, 3/15/2005. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2005-03/15/content_424824.htm

(5) Id      

(6) Id

(7) Cornucopia Institute, (2009) “Message to Obama: Please Fix the USDA’s Organic Mess overhaul of Management and Culture Needed”. Web