AMS No. 230-09

Billy Cox (202) 720-8998

WASHINGTON, Dec. 7, 2009 – USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP) received a decision on an important case the NOP had brought against a certified organic operation, Promiseland Livestock, LLC. The decision, issued by an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ), suspends the organic certification of the Nebraska-based livestock operation for four years. The decision also states the importance of records and making them available to the NOP upon request, by acknowledging that operating as an organic operation is a privilege rather than a right.

“Sound recordkeeping and being able to produce those records ensure transparency and compliance to the standards required to produce organic products,” said Rayne Pegg, administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service, which oversees the NOP. “Consumers must have confidence in the USDA organic label, and ensuring that all certified operations are complying with the NOP regulations is priority number one—and that means being able to examine operations records.”

The ALJ’s decision cited the operation for willful violations of the Organic Food Production Act and the NOP regulations. According to the decision of the ALJ:

• The obligation to maintain organic operations’ records and make such records available to individuals designated under the Act and NOP regulations for the purpose of determining compliance with the Act and the regulations is critical to the enforcement of the integrity of the NOP; and

• The respondents - Promiseland Livestock LLC and Anthony Zeman - willfully and in violation of 7 U.S.C. § 6506 (b), 7 CFR § 205.103 and § 205.400 (d), failed to make requested records available and denied the Secretary’s representatives access to review and copy organic operation records required to determine compliance with the Act and the NOP regulations on multiple occasions.

As a result of these violations, the organic certification of Promiseland Livestock, LLC was ordered suspended for four years and all responsibly connected parties to Promiseland Livestock were ordered disqualified from receiving certification under the Organic Foods Production Act during this period. The decision will become effective unless appealed within 30 days to the USDA’s Judicial Officer.

The full decision can be viewed on both the NOP website at www.ams.usda.gov/nop

and the Office of Administrative Law Judges’ website at www.da.usda.gov/oalj.htm.

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AMS No. 030-09