§6505 Compliance requirements

Summary

Starting October 1, 1993, a product can only be sold or labeled as "organic" if it was grown and handled under the law's organic rules. People also may not use labels or other marketing that suggests a product is organic unless it follows those rules. Labels that do follow the rules may say the product meets Department of Agriculture organic standards and may use the Department of Agriculture seal. Imported products can be labeled organic if the Secretary of Agriculture finds the foreign certification system has safeguards and rules at least equal to ours. If a product has at least 50 percent organic ingredients by weight (not counting water and salt), the Secretary, after consulting the National Organic Standards Board and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, may allow the word "organic" on the main label only to describe those ingredients. If it has less than 50 percent organic ingredients, the Secretary, after the same consultation, may allow "organic" to appear only in the ingredient list to identify organic ingredients. The rule about labeling does not apply to sellers who sell no more than $5,000 a year in agricultural products.