Audit Reveals Oversight In National Organic Program

A recently released report by the USDA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) contains findings of an audit performed of the agency’s National Organic Program (NOP), which shines the spotlight on procedural oversights and enforcement inconsistencies. In the wake of what the audit revealed, USDA said improvements are needed and it would begin enforcing rules requiring the spot testing of organically grown foods for traces of pesticides.

OIG says the audit was conducted because the size and growth of the organic industry as well as the public’s increased interest in purchasing organic products. According to the report, in 2008, the organic industry had sales of $24.6 billion and had grown between 14 and 21% annually over the past decade. In addition, the audit was used to assess the effectiveness of the Agricultural Marketing Service’s corrective actions implemented in response to a prior audit of the NOP.

A portion of the report’s executive summary reads:
“We believe that NOP officials need to further improve program administration and strengthen their management controls to ensure more effective enforcement of program requirements when serious violations, including operations that market product as organic while under suspension, are found. In addition, they need to strengthen their oversight of certifying agents and organic operations to ensure that organic products are consistently and uniformly meeting NOP standards.
“We found that NOP officials need to improve their enforcement of program regulations and their resolution of complaints, as noted in our prior report. NOP officials did not have adequate procedures or a system for tracking the receipt, review, and disposition of complaints and any subsequent enforcement actions.”

Click here to read the entire report.

Source: USDA