Certification Process for Organic Production

To sell agricultural products labeled as organic in the United States, farmers and processors must follow the regulations of the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP). Organic production is a federally regulated program of the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service to assure consumers that the integrity of the organic product has been maintained throughout all of the production and marketing processes, and that these operations were inspected by a neutral third party.

The process to certify organic requires the land to go through a 36-month transition during which no prohibited substances, as listed in the NOP regulations (NOP §205.600-§205.607), are applied. Expired Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) land may qualify immediately for organic production provided the owner can produce an affidavit stating that no prohibited substances on the NOP list were used. At the start of the transition period, it is recommended that farmers select and work with a certifying agency. (For a detailed list of Accredited Certifying Agents, go to www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/nop). Certifying agents are responsible for providing farmers information on the NOP organic production standards for producing organic products by following their individual Organic System Plan (OSP). Certifying agents will inform farmers about the organic certification process and provide a third-party inspector. Certifying agents are not allowed to directly provide technical information to farmers and are not organic production consultants or marketing agents.