Reflecting gaining momentum for the bipartisan Continuous Improvement and Accountability in Organic Standards Act (CIAO) introduced in the House earlier this year, a diverse group of organic farmers, businesses and associations from throughout the country visited with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle on July 20 regarding the critical need to support the legislation that safeguards and advances organic.
The bill was introduced in April by Representatives Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Rodney Davis (R-IL), Ron Kind (D-WI), Dan Newhouse (R-WA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME) and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA).
“The federal regulatory apparatus has fallen behind the evolving organic sector, and has slowed innovation and improvement within the industry. This legislation corrects the course forward,” said Laura Batcha, CEO and Executive Director of the Organic Trade Association. “Our fly-in drove home to lawmakers the fact that the unique private-public partnership of organic and the federal government has made our organic system the gold standard for food and agricultural systems, and that we need to get that partnership back on track.”
The CIAO bill has been endorsed by more than 55 organic farmers, businesses, consumers and environmental organizations, with a co-sponsor list that’s grown to 16 since its introduction. The National Organic Standards Board has also expressed unanimous support for the bill, saying the legislation respects the work of NOSB in clarifying and updating national organic standards. More than 50 current and former NOSB members have endorsed the bill.
The legislation directly addresses the challenges of organic over the past two decades and provides a clear way to ensure the federal government keeps up with the organic market. It lays out a road forward for organic through three areas: it requires USDA to clear the backlog of stalled organic standards put forth by the industry and recommended by the National Organic Standards Board; it establishes a new framework for advancing future organic standards; and it ensures consistent application of new standards from organic certifiers.
The organic stakeholders stressed to lawmakers how organic is a voluntary regulatory program that farmers and businesses choose; they shared real-life examples of how organic provides a profitable and sustainable option for farmers and an economic boost to rural communities; and they detailed how in the past 10 years, the organic industry has advanced 20 recommendations for improvements to organic standards, yet USDA has not completed rulemaking on a single one.
As part of continued advocacy for the CIAO bill, the Organic Trade Association and the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University will be launching a series of virtual workshops this fall and winter that will bring together a diverse coalition of stakeholders to look at the changing needs of organic, explore ways to improve organic, and discuss how to build upon organic’s successes.
For more information, visit www.ota.com.
