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
