> Agree if the produce is under USDA standards, but honey is
> not, at least so far. You can have organic on the label,
> but not USDA organic if you meet the criteria for organic
> (which is currently fairly loose when you are not under a
> standard). Honey fits easily under the non-USDA label.
>
> The key here is the difference between plain "organic"
> and organic under the USDA seal.

Bill is addressing the specific case of the USA here,
and so will I.  I have no idea what the story is in
other countries, and I am pretty certain that if anyone
ever tries to think about "organic" from a multi-national
perspective, their head will explode.


But Bill, that's a VERY creative and highly entertaining
interpretation of the fairly clear wording of the Organic
Foods Production Act of 1990!

At the simplest level, one can read the National Organic
Program FAQ here:
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/FactSheets/LabelingE.html

Which says:

"A civil penalty of up to $10,000 can be levied on
any person who knowingly sells or labels as organic
a product that is not produced and handled in
accordance with the National Organic Program's
regulations."

In the actual text of the OFPA, 7 USC 6519 Subsection 8,
addresses this clearly in the section "Misuse Of Label",
with almost the same wording:

"Any person who knowingly sells or labels a product
as organic, except in accordance with this title,
shall be subject to a civil penalty of not more than
$10,000."

So, in the USA at least, the OFPA has reserved the term
"organic" exclusively for product's certified to the OFPA's
standards or equivalent standards, REGARDLESS of what "seal"
might be used.

Several things follow from that:

1) To sell or label as "organic", you have to be consistent
with the OFPA and its implementing regulations. That means
if there are no standards developed for a specific
product as yet, one still must follow the intent of the
regulations as a whole, and be "in accordance" with the
regulations.  This is what the various alternative
certification programs are doing, as best they can.

2) As the alternative certification schemes are being issued
by groups who are ALSO authorized by the USDA to certify
producers, packers, and handlers as "USDA Organic", it should
be fairly clear that they would rather avoid having the USDA
get all medieval on them over playing fast and loose with the
"intent of the regulations" for the cases where someone wants
to be "certified" for a product not yet overtly addressed by
the National Organic Program.

3) A violation therefore has to do with the (mis)use of
the term "organic", not merely the (mis)use of the USDA seal.

Its not clear if this would be $10,000 per jar of honey or
$10,000 per conviction, regardless of the number of jars
having the word "organic" on the label.  Its also not clear
if the USDA itself has any interest in enforcing the clear
wording of the laws on the books, given that they have
delegated the bulk of the actual enforcement to the states.
It will be interesting to see this play out, but I can't say
for sure if any actual enforcement will result.  I never make
predictions. I never have, and I never will.  :)

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