11/16/2018: SilverCanyon Coffee Company – Boulder, Colorado
Silver Canyon Coffee Company agreed to pay a $15,000 civil penalty and immediately stop selling, labeling or representing its products as organic without USDA organic certification.
10/23/2018: Ecocert SA – L’Isle-Jourdain, France (satellite office Izmir, Turkey)
This agreement is in response to Ecocert SA’s alleged violation of the organic regulations with respect to the oversight of a January 2018 shipment of product labeled as organic to the U.S. Ecocert SA agreed to submit to NOP: (1) personnel records for its Izmir, Turkey staff; (2) specific operator file documents; (3) descriptions of its satellite office oversight operations and procedures; (4) procedures for issuing and overseeing transaction certificates; (5) investigative procedures; (6) its procedures for evaluating a crop operation’s production capacity and yield projections; and (7) training materials and newly adopted or amended sections to its internal policies. For a two-year period after the effective date of the settlement agreement, Ecocert SA has also agreed to provide training records for its Izmir, Turkey personnel. (8) Ecocert SA agreed that prior to issuing transaction certificates, its Izmir, Turkey office will submit them for review and approval to its headquarters office.
10/20/2018: Tad Ellinghuysen (2 Creeks Farm) – Peterson, Minnesota
Ellinghuysen agreed to: (1) maintain detailed records of all ration changes for ruminant livestock throughout the year and average milk production during peak and non-peak seasons; (2) to meet the 30% dry matter intake (DMI) from pasture required for goats during grazing season; and (3) make records ration and milk production available for verification. This agreement is in response to Ellinghuysen’s alleged failure to provide adequate documentation demonstrating that goats were meeting the 30% DMI during the grazing season.
9/10/2018: Descamex – Cordoba, Mexico
Descamex agreed to the following: (1) to contract with an external laboratory to conduct monthly, unannounced sampling and testing of its decaffeinated organic coffee for the presence of methylene chloride over 24 months; (2) request the contracted laboratory send a copy of all test results to NOP and Descamex; (3) will not sell products as organic in the United States when they test positive for having more than 0.5 ppm methylene chloride residues; and (4) undergo an additional unannounced inspection each year for the next two years. This agreement is in response to Descamex’s alleged use of a prohibited substance.
8/22/2018: Kariba Farms Inc. – Denville, New Jersey
Kariba Farms agreed to pay a reduced penalty of $5,000 for selling products as “organic” while suspended.
7/30/2018: Stuart Newcomer – Seville, Ohio
Newcomer agreed to submit to its certifier all requested documents for the organic corn grown and harvested in 2016 and organic soybean grown and harvested in 2017. Within one year of the settlement execution, Newcomer will undergo an unannounced inspection at its own expense. This agreement is in response to Newcomer’s failure to pay its certification fees and to provide its certifier with adequate records to document its organic operations.
06/26/2018: Hacienda San Carlos – Machala, Ecuador
Hacienda San Carlos agreed to a full suspension of its organic certification. It is prohibited from selling, labeling, or representing any product as “organic” while suspended.
06/11/2018: Kleen Concepts LLC – Scottsdale, Arizona
Kleen Concepts agreed to: (1) pay a reduced civil penalty; (2) one unannounced inspection; (3) submit any labels, supplier certificates or other information as requested by the certifier at a set due date or by the inspector during an inspection; (4) not to label, ship, or sell product as organic until the labels, products, and ingredients have been approved by the certifier, or until the product has been listed on the organic system plan; and (5) to notify the certifier of any changes to its labels, products, or ingredients.
05/31/2018: Brookside Farm of Gardiner, Inc. – Gardiner, New York
Brookside Farm of Gardiner agreed to: (1) within 30 days of settlement execution, submit all previously requested and outstanding documentation to its certifier; (2) provide an updated certification application with all required certification fees, documentation and information for its 2018 certification renewal; (3) for the next three years, submit an updated certification application to its certifier with all required documentation, fees, and information by the certifier’s due date; and (4) undergo one unannounced inspection.
05/14/2018: Haucke Soil and Stock – Viroqua, Wisconsin
Haucke Soil and Stock agreed to submit all certification fees within 15 days of the settlement execution date. It also agreed that over the next two years, Haucke will pay all certification fees to its certifier on time. If Hauck Soil receives organic certification with a different certifying agent in the next two years, it will provide the new certificate to the National Organic Program.
04/21/2018: Palladino & Carley Farms, LLC – Jamesville, New York
Palladino & Carley Farms agreed to a 60-day suspension of its organic certification. Palladino & Carley Farms is prohibited from selling, labeling, or representing any product as “organic” during this suspension. If reinstated, Palladino & Carley agreed to one announced inspection and to: 1) submit all requested information to its certifier by the due date; obtain certifier approval of fields and any new materials/inputs, and 3) notify certifier of any changes to field names and boundaries.
04/20/2018: Kuhlman Farms Inc. – Gothenburg, Nebraska
Kuhlman Farms agreed to a suspension of its organic certification for four specific fields. Kuhlman Farms is prohibited from selling, labeling, or representing any product from these fields as "organic" while suspended. Request(s) for reinstatement for any fields, must be supported by a certifying agent and include the certifier’s inspection report and residue testing results for the field(s). If reinstated, Kuhlman Farms agreed to one unannounced inspection per year for two years and agreed to pay any reinstatement and certification costs.
04/17/18: Ag Trade Co, Inc. – St. John, Washington
Ag Trade Co, Inc. agreed to submit to its certifier within 15 days of settlement execution, written inventory control and audit procedures covering all brokered organic products. Within one year from the settlement execution date, Ag Trade Co will permit its certifier to conduct two unannounced inspections at the operation’s expense. Within three months of the settlement execution date, Ag Trade Co will perform a self-audit for a complex transaction involving one commodity. Ag Trade Co also agreed to identify, in its organic system plan, each handler it uses and to maintain a copy of the handlers’ current organic certificates and lists of organic products.
04/06/2018: Cheeze Kurls, Inc. – Grand Rapids, Michigan
Cheeze Kurls agreed to a pay a reduced penalty and to have one unannounced inspection. Cheeze Kurls also agreed to submit to its certifier procedures for reviewing ingredient shipments from other suppliers within 15 days of executing the settlement agreement.
02/05/18: Brooklyn Bottling Co. – Milton, New York
Brooklyn Bottling agreed to: (1) get certifier approval prior to using new and revised product labels; (2) submit all labels for display on organic products and correct any label issues by the certifier’s established due date; and (3) review, update, and submit to its certifier a complete list of product formulation sheets by the certifier’s established due date. Brooklyn Bottling also agreed to one unannounced inspection of its operation, to occur within two years of the settlement’s effective date.