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AMS No. 224-02
Joan Shaffer (202) 720-8998
Billy Cox (202) 720-8998
WASHINGTON, Oct. 31, 2002 –– The U.S. Department of Agriculture today announced that $5 million in federal funds is available to defray the cost of organic certification for producers and handlers of organic agricultural products in the United States of America – including its territories, the District of Columbia, and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.
The National Organic Certification Cost-Share Program, authorized by the 2002 Farm Bill, will allocate funds in proportion to the number of organic producers and handlers within each state. The states, in turn, will reimburse each eligible producer or handler for up to 75 percent of organic certification costs, not to exceed $500. Each state is allowed to retain 4 percent of the total amount granted as an administration fee.
To be eligible for reimbursement, an organic production or handling operation must be located within a qualified state, meet the USDA national organic standards for organic production or handling, and have been certified by a USDA-accredited certifying agent on or after April 29, 2002.
USDA announced on Aug. 23 that federal funds appropriated in the Agriculture Risk Protection Act of 2000 were available to defray the cost of organic certification in 15 states. The 2002 Farm Bill expanded this program to the entire United States, and these funds became available today.
Applications by states for federal assistance and cooperative agreements must be requested from and submitted to: Robert Pooler, Marketing Specialist, National Organic Program, USDA Stop 0268, Room 4008-S, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington DC 20250-0268; tel. (202) 720-3252; fax (202) 205-7808; e-mail bob.pooler@usda.gov.
To sell, label, or represent their agricultural products as organic, all producers or handlers selling more than $5,000 of organic agricultural products annually must be certified by Oct. 21.
Additional information may be found at the National Organic Program’s home page: www.ams.usda.gov/nop. Notice will also appear in the Nov. 1 Federal Register.
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