On August 9, 2022 the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) published the Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards (OLPS) Proposed Rule to strengthen organic animal welfare standards.
Since April 2021, when the Organic Trade Association (OTA) celebrated the introduction of the Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act (CIAO) by our champions in Congress, the association has been hard at work to keep continuous improvement and accountability moving forward. OTA and our members have continued to advocate for a more transparent and streamlined organic rulemaking process so that the industry can keep pace with the demands of a changing marketplace and consumer expectations.
The House Appropriations Committee passed their Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies programs markup on June 23, 2022 by a 31-26 vote.
Following President Biden’s Executive Order on “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” which creates a White House Competition Council and directs Federal agency actions to enhance fairness and competition across America's economy, USDA is directed (among other things) to submit a report on the effect of retail concentration and retailers' practices on competition in the food industries.
Following a series of working groups and listening sessions with Organic Trade Association (OTA) members throughout the last year, on June 1, 2022, USDA announced its intention to invest $300 million into a new Organic Transition Initiative program as part of the USDA Food System Transformation Framework.
“What’s in a word? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” –William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet In a recent flurry of press releases and federal rulemaking, USDA’s Risk […]
It seems like just yesterday that the 2018 Farm Bill was signed into law. Now, the fruits of that labor are finally being implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture […]
Over the years, I have been asked some really tough questions about organic farming. Whether it’s from my uncle at Thanksgiving who fears that organic can never produce high enough […]
In 2021, the Organic Trade Association’s Retailer Council took on the task of modernizing the Good Organic Retail Practices (GORP) guide. This tool is an important asset in helping retailers […]
