Organic Processing Vo1.8 #1 - January/February 2011

Discussing the Private Sector’s Role

By Jon Fogarty

Fraud can be a dirty word. The thought can lead one to speak in hushed tones. Some people are hesitant to admit they know something about fraud for fear it might mark them with a scarlet letter or be a pox on their company. The fact is that fraud happens in every industry—even in organics. While there’s no way to stamp it out completely, not talking about fraud won’t make the problem go away.

In the organic industry, we have a large head start in preventing fraud. We have third-party certification programs backed by government that add a layer of oversight not present in other industries.

But, we cannot let this extra layer lead to a false sense of security. Currently, most organic inspections are focused on confirming that the rules are being followed and are not always designed to uncover intentional abuse. Thus, the industry has a major role to play, in concert with accreditation and certification, in preventing and detecting fraud. Industry must keep a watchful eye and when we find something that doesn’t seem above board, we need to ask questions and talk about it.

In Europe, industry leaders have been meeting to discuss organic fraud under the banner of the Anti Fraud Initiative (AFI). Recently this conversa-

tion was brought across the Atlantic at the AFI North America meeting, held Oct 11-12, 2010 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. These meetings have brought together people representing all segments of the organic food industry, leading to productive conversations about how to address fraud.

The Growth of
Organic

While our industry is relatively small and once upon a time it was possible to know everybody, or at least to know all of your suppliers and customers, personally—that is not the case anymore.

After decades of 15 to 20 percent annual growth, the industry is much larger than it was even three or four years ago. Organic products have long carried a price premium throughout the supply chain from farm to consumer, which has attracted many actors with good intentions but also a few with less-than-honest intentions.

The high demand for organic has also led to an explosion in products from new companies entering the market as well as established companies introducing organic versions of their conventional products. Some new actors in the supply chain may lack experience to properly implement organic rules or the dedication to follow the rules. This sets the stage for problems, whether intentional or accidental.

Further complicating the issue is the globalization of the supply chain. As supply chains wrap around the globe, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine whether, or to what extent, organic rules are followed by suppliers. In some locales the skills of inspectors may be lacking or suspect and transparency and traceability difficult to attain.