February 22, 2011

 

USDA exposes scam to import 'organic' Chinese soy

 

 

The USDA's National Organic Programme has released evidence of attempted fraud by a Chinese organic agricultural marketer, which used a counterfeit certificate to represent non-organic crops, including soy.

 

On February 11, the agency made public a fraudulent organic certificate produced by the uncertified supplier in China.

 

"Verifying the authenticity of cheaper organic imports to the US has been raised repeatedly over the last decade," said Nick Maravell, owner of Nick's Organic Farm in Adamstown and Potomac.

 

An organic farmer for 31 years, Maravell was recently appointed to the National Organic Standards Board, which assists in the development of standards for substances used in organic production and advises the secretary of agriculture on implementation of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.

 

"I grow organic soy and I have heard from US grain brokers of Chinese organic soy prices that seemed to me to be too good to be true," Maravell said. "I can no longer financially justify selling organic soy as a grain commodity. Now, I have to add value to my beans on the farm before I sell them."

 

Maravell said he now produces organic soy seed stock, fresh vegetable soy known as edamame, and ground organic poultry feed that contains soy.

 

"If I need to supplement my supply of organic soy for my feed operation, I buy American beans from local organic farmers I know personally," Maravell said.

 

Maravell credited new leadership at USDA for encouraging closer cooperation between governments and organic certifying agencies in the US and abroad.

 

"Now, USDA needs to follow this cooperation with strict enforcement. I only hope that federal budget cuts do not hamper enforcement," Maravell said.

 

China's largest organic certifier was recently stripped of their accreditation status due to gross conflicts of interest, said Brian Biggins, who owns and operates Miolea Organic Farm Adamstown.

 

"Factory farms in China are owned by the government," Biggins said. "The certifying agents were government employees hired by the certifier to go to government-owned factory farms and inspect them according to the National Organic Procedure."

 

Chinese law doesn't allow inspection of farms by foreigners, which is the main way the USDA determines if organic standards are met, Biggins said.

 

"If they cannot inspect the facility and the inputs used in the operation, how can they find issues or be able to certify? Yet USDA has let China import organic products for years," Biggins said.