Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards: Changes Made With Zero Public Input

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Bush Officials Weaken Organic Food Standards

Changes Made With Zero Public Input

Bush Greenwatch.org

 

The Bush Administration is giving Americans new reason

to watch what they eat. Over the course of ten days

last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)

issued three 'guidances' and one directive, all

legally binding interpretations of law, that threaten

to seriously dilute the meaning of the word 'organic'

and discredit the department's National Organic

Program.

 

The changes which would allow the use of antibiotics

on organic dairy cows, as well as synthetic pesticides

on organic farms, and more… were made with zero input

from the public or the National Organic Standards

Board (NOSB), the advisory group that worked for more

than a decade to help craft the first federal organic

standards, put in place in October 2002. The USDA

insists the changes are harmless: " The directives have

not changed anything. They are just clarifications of

what are in the regulations that were written by the

National Organic Standards Board, " stated USDA

spokesperson Joan Schaffer. " They just explain what's

enforceable. There is no difference…. (between the

clarifications and the original regulations)… it's

just another way of explaining it. "

 

But Jim Riddle, vice chair of the NOSB and endowed

chair of agricultural systems at the University of

Minnesota argues that what the USDA is trying to pass

off as a clarification of regulations is in fact a

substantial change: " These are the sorts of changes

for which the department is supposed to do a formal

new rulemaking process, with posting in the federal

register, feedback from our advisory board, and a

public-comment period. And yet there is no such

process denoted anywhere. "

 

Organic activists suspect that industry pressure drove

the policy shifts. They point out that the USDA

leadership has longstanding industry sympathies:

Agricultural Secretary Ann Veneman served on the board

of directors of a biotech company; both her chief of

staff and director of communications were plucked

right out of the National Cattlemen's Beef

Association. One practice favored by large

agribusiness is the use of antibiotics on cows. A USDA

guidance issued on April 14 will allow just that on

organic dairy farms - a dramatic reversal of 2002

rules.

 

Under the new guidelines, sickly dairy cows can be

treated not just with antibiotics but with numerous

other drugs and still have their milk qualify as

organic, so long as 12 months pass between the time

the treatments are administered and the time the milk

is sold. " This new directive makes a mockery of

organic standards, " said Richard Wood, a recent member

of the FDA's Medicine Advisory Committee and executive

director of Food Animal Concerns Trust. Another new

guidance put out the same day would allow cattle

farmers to feed their heifers non-organic fishmeal

that could be riddled with synthetic preservatives,

mercury, and PCBs, and still sell their beef as

organic. And the following week, on April 23, the USDA

took the startling step of issuing a legal directive

that opens the door for use of some synthetic

pesticides on organic farms.

 

Last but certainly not least, another guidance

released on April 14 narrows the scope of the federal

organic certification program to crops, livestock, and

the products derived from them, meaning that national

organic standards will not be developed for fish,

nutritional supplements, pet food, fertilizers,

cosmetics, or personal-care products. Despite the

USDA's demurrals, activists view the department's

changes as a serious threat to hard-won standards for

organic products.

 

The National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture and

other groups are investigating possible industry

influence into the USDA's process, and some

environmental groups are preparing to take legal

action.

 

This story was jointly produced by BushGreenwatch and

Grist magazine. For more on this story, visit Grist

Magazine.

SOURCES:

1 Antibiotic Guidance statement, USDA, Aprr.14,2004

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/AntibioticGuidance041304.pdf

2 Fishmeal Guidance Statement, USDA, April 14,2004

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/FishmealGuidance041304.pdf

3 Pesticide Compliance, USDA, Apr23, 2004

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/compliance/PesticidesCompliance.pdf

4 Scope Guidance Statement, USDA, Apr14, 2004.

http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/GuidanceStatements/ScopeGuidance041304.pdf

5 http://www.bushgreenwatch.org/mt_archives/000123.php

21st May, 2004