The U.S. Department of Agriculture is increasing oversight of organic operations in India.
“USDA has determined that we need a more active oversight presence in India to more directly protect organic integrity,” according to a Jan. 11 Organic Insider update from the USDA.
In 2019, the leading U.S. imports of organic food from India were soybeans, rice, coffee, tea and ginger and fresh mangoes.
Currently, the USDA said it does not have what it called “direct visibility” or enforcement authority over many organic certifiers and operations in India that sell to the U.S.
Because of that, the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service said it has informed India’s Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) that the agency is ending the U.S-India organic recognition, which was established in 2006.
This decision, according to the update, starts a transition period which will allow organic operations certified by APEDA-accredited certifiers to apply for direct certification by USDA-accredited certifiers.
By July 12, to continue to export to the U.S., organic operations in India will need to have applied for certification with a USDA-accredited organic certifier, according to the USDA.
“The Organic Trade Association supports USDA’s decision to end its Organic Recognition Agreement with India and transition to a more active oversight approach,” the Organic Trade Association said in a statement. “It is critical in international trade agreements that foreign governments have sufficient oversight, accreditation, compliance and enforcement control in place to ensure that their organic requirements are applied and enforced.”
