Advocates rally around bipartisan organic standards bill
The adage that the only constant is change is at the heart of a recent bipartisan bill proposed in Congress.
Since the first nationwide organic standards were established in 2000, the network of requirements and regulations that monitor the organic industry have set the bar for global food and agricultural systems. But in the past several years, federal regulatory processes have struggled to keep up with the quickening pace of innovation and continuous improvement within the industry.
Introduced Oct. 17, the Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act 2023 — or CIAOS Act — seeks to establish a period every five years for reviewing and revising organic standards implemented by the USDA’s National Organic Program.
“Organic agriculture is a thriving part of our agricultural economy. The CIAOS Act, introduced by Rep Jimmy Panetta, Dan Newhouse, Rep. Salud Carbajal, Rep. David Valadao and Rep. Chellie Pingree, provides a very important framework for the continual development and strengthening of organic standards,” Organic Farming Research Foundation’s Executive Director Brise Tencer told The Packer.
Best practices in organic have evolved over time, driven by important research in organic agriculture, Tencer continued.
“Organic regulations were intended to evolve over time; this bill would help organic farmers by setting clear priorities for organic and creating a predictable process updating standards,” she said.
Broad coalition of support
The great thing about CIAOS is that it's sector neutral, said Organic Trade Association CEO Tom Chapman in a statement to The Packer.
“The coalition supporting this bill represents a broad diverse group, but all of us recognize that the current organic rulemaking process is detrimental to organic and have come together to support the much-needed regulatory process reforms of CIAOS,” Chapman said.
The recent CIAOS bill is a product of a coalition of industry partners that includes the Specialty Crop Farm Bill Alliance, Organic Trade Association, International Fresh Produce Association, Organic Produce Association, National Organic Coalition and the Organic Farmers Association. The bill seeks to better support organic growers and producers with up-to-date and relevant regulations.
“Today's organic produce growers face many challenges — a changing climate with more severe weather including drought, higher temperatures, disruptive storms, and increasing pest and disease problems, along with continuing issues like citrus greening,” Chapman said.
Regulations to keep up with growth
“An important part of CIAOS 2.0 is that it isn't ... backward-facing in only tackling existing and stalled-out National Organic Standards Board recommendations,” Chapman said. “It is forward-facing — addressing future problems in a timely and predictable manner."
The organic sector has grown to more than a $67 billion U.S. market, with the USDA Organic seal serving as one of the most trusted consumer labels in the marketplace, Rebeckah Adcock, IFPA vice president of U.S. government relations, said in a news release.
“In order to maintain that growth, the standards must be able to be responsive to changes in scientific information, environmental and ecological data, and consumer demands,” Adcock said.
How to support the bill
“Please let your representative or senator know that you support the CIAOS Act to continue to make organic certification responsive to changing dynamics, and ask for their support,” Tencer told The Packer.
For organic advocates seeking to learn more, the Organic Trade Association has developed a downloadable toolkit for supporters to make their voices heard at ota.com/news-center/farm-bill-fight-critical-advancement-organic.
