U.S. compost guidance changes could put organic sector in "chaos" - FreshFruitPortal.com

U.S. compost guidance changes could put organic sector in "chaos"

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U.S. compost guidance changes could put organic sector in

A current lawsuit before theĀ U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has the potential to become anĀ example of good intentions with unintended consequences. With the aim of ensuring the compost used on organic farms is completely free ofĀ disallowed synthetic substances, the plaintiffs seek to make void certain guidance documents under theĀ National Organic Program (NOP) which currently allow for de minimis levels of chemical residues.

Without these guidance documents, the regulations would not allow any pesticide residue inĀ organic farmers'Ā compost whatsoever.

"If I'm an organicĀ producer and my next-door neighborĀ is a conventional producer, there might be residuesĀ drifting in the air on occasion that are in miniscule amounts,"Ā says Dennis Nuxoll,Ā vice president of Federal Government affairs at Western Growers.

The industry groupĀ was recently grantedĀ Amicus Status in the case brought by theĀ Center for Environmental Health, the Center for Food Safety, and Beyond Pesticides.

"If you don't haveĀ guidance documents that tell you the compost standards, what the thresholds are,Ā you then are left with the baseline regulations, and theĀ way the baseline regulations reads is very black and white ā€“ you cannot have any synthetic residueĀ in the compost.

"If they [the plaintiffs]Ā are successful and if they void the guidance, we feel there could potentially be some market chaos that results from that."

The kicker is that there are currently no clear procedures in place as to how an organic grower would need to test for synthetic substances in their compost, or how frequently.

"We would be left with no standards in place in the United States to say you had compost that met the organic standard.

"We would then be in the situation as a consequence where you could have operations that would not have certainty that their compost is organic, and hence that their product is organic.

"What weā€™re suggesting to the judge is the remedy you should have in place if the sheĀ determines the governmentā€™s at fault."

Nuxoll says this would mean allowing a transition to a new system so the sector can adapt without causing "market uproar".

He adds the uncertainty would extend beyond U.S. borders as well, given there are growers all over the world who ship organic produce to the U.S. with the help of third-party certifiers.

"There are equivalence agreements, and others like with IndiaĀ whereby you can export from India to the United States under organic standards.Ā There are third party certifiers in India that work with the Indian government to comply with U.S. standards.

"They would be put into some jeopardy, because they would not know what the U.S. standard is to which they are certifying Indian sourced product."

He says howĀ overseas countries with equivalence agreements would be affected by a removal of the guidance documents depends on the strictness of their regimes.

"For example, Canada has a standard they donā€™t allow any residue either but they have guidance documents and an explanation as to what that really means.

"In Canada, if you do composting the compost process is 180-200 days ā€“ at the end of 180 days most synthetic compounds will have broken down naturally. They have a regime in place that is in fact detailed and gives some context."

Given the national and international repercussions this case could entail, not just in terms of uncertainty but the cost of testing, Nuxoll is hopeful the court will take Western Growers' concerns into consideration.

The case was originally scheduled to be heard last week, but has since been postponed until May 26.

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