9th Daily Global Regional Local Rice E-Newsletter by Riceplus Magazine www.riceplusmagazine.blogspot.com mujahid.riceplus@gmail.com New Bill Focuses Attention on Organic Food By Lesley Dixon Rep. John Faso (R-NY) WASHINGTON, DC -- Representative John Faso (R-NY) has introduced a bill that addresses fraudulent organic agricultural imports and proposes to increase funding to the National Organic Program (NOP) for oversight and technology upgrades. USA Rice has continually raised the issue of fraudulent organic rice imports with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) because they are harmful to domestic organic rice producers.
The bill would require the NOP to provide yearly reports to Congress on the progress of the initiative, and is intended to protect the integrity of the USDA organic label, increase consumer trust, and protect the interests of U.S. organic farmers who follow regulations.
"Representative Faso's bill is a big step forward in addressing fraudulent labeling of non-organic products," said Frank Leach, USA Rice manager of government affairs. "Additional resources and technology for inspectors will boost consumer trust and program integrity, and protect our farmers."
Sales of organic food reached a record $43 billion in 2017, and the industry is growing at a rate of almost 10 percent per year, according to Faso. As demand for organic products in the U.S. increases, so have attempts to pass fake organics off as the real thing. In 2017 alone, the USDA