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Policy Update: AFT Submits Comment on Organic Rule

On Monday, Oct. 5, AFT submitted comments on the National Organic Program’s (NOP) Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule. The new rule would hold the program to a higher overall standard through such changes as limiting exemptions to certification, and requiring all organic imports to receive a NOP import certificate. As part of our comments, we recommended that organic importers that have been cited for non-compliance be subject to increased inspections in order to ensure future compliance.   

AFT commented on this new rule because organic certification has been a means of rewarding farmers for their environmental stewardship work, and because AFT has board members who are very engaged in these issues. Organic fraud is a significant threat to real organic producers and consumer trust. We hope that the new rule will be an important step to preventing future fraud.