"Organic" As Defined By Biotech Industry?

In her letter, she states, "As long as organic growers follow special production practices required for organic certification, they will not lose their organic certification and their products can still be marketed as 'organic' - even if some material from a conventional or biotech [genetically modified, or GMO] crop is found in their organic product." This is wrong.

The organic certification process, unified in the US under the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) since 2002, involves an annual review of a farmer's or processor's application for certification, together with an annual on-site review of that operation. During the review and inspection, the applicant, among other items, must demonstrate that the applicant has taken reasonable steps to prevent any contamination of the certified products from prohibited substances, which would include "material from a conventional or biotech/GMO crop." Certification will not be awarded, or will be revoked, if the applicant cannot comply with this aspect of the NOP Rule.

Timberlake states that, "Maine farmers have a right to choose how to manage their crops and their land in a way that realizes their livelihoods and commitments to the consumer and the environment." Given present practices, and because some biotch/GMO crops spread pollen over long distances, a neighbor who plants biotech/GMO crops on his or her own land controls what crops organic neighbors can plant, where neighbors can plant those crops, and how those crops can be sold. Today, only farmers who plant biotech/GMO enjoy the rights outlined by Ms. Timberlake. Organic farmers are at risk of loss of revenue and of customer confidence because of their neighbors' decision to plant GMO crops.

Should buffer zones and any other measures, deemed adequate and reasonable by an organic certification agency, fail to prevent contamination of prohibited substances in an organic crop, the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) Certification Services LLC, in accordance with the NOP rules, clearly outlines the consequence.

From the MOFGA Certification Services 2003 Organic Certification Practice Manual: "In the event that residue-testing reveals prohibited substances, MOFGA Certification Services LLC may determine that the product in question may not be sold, labeled or represented as organically produced."

In addition, MOFGA Certification Services LLC would work with the source those products/crops to determine the cause of that contamination, and then develop a revised solution that will prevent future contamination.

It's lamentable that Ms. Timberlake chose to justify her arguments in favor of biotech/GMO crops with assertions about organic practices that are false. Biotech/GMO crops and crop parts are clearly defined as an "excluded method" in organic agriculture under the NOP, and section 205.105 of the rule specifically prohibits the use of "excluded methods" in foods sold or labeled as organic. Biotech crops and crop parts are also a "prohibited substance" the use of which is "not provided for in the act." The NOP clarifies this specific issue on their web site, citing the NOP preamble (not part of the rule) discussion of contamination, where they specifically indicate that biotech/GMO contamination "could result in that product no longer being considered 'organic.'"

The organic certification process is a demanding and costly effort that farmers and other applicants undertake voluntarily. They proudly label their products as "certified organic" to communicate to the consumer that their products were produced using sustainable and verifiably safe methods.

Meanwhile, the biotech segment of agriculture works to convince people of the benefits of their products by using false arguments, and by fighting to keep their products unlabeled and unidentified. For example, far from "overseeing rigorous pre-market testing of biotech foods," the FDA does not require testing for most biotech foods, and has recently put on the back burner its proposed rules initiated in the Clinton administration to require minimal premarket notification.

Consumers have responded by making organic agriculture, the only current source of biotech/GMO-free food, the fastest growing segment of agriculture in the US and world-wide. Despite Ms. Timberlake's best efforts, I think we are finding the truth in the marketplace.

--Eric Rector
President, MOFGA Certification Services, LLC
(a USDA accredited organic certification service)