(a) Following initial United States Department of Agriculture accreditation of certifying agents as provided in Section 6514 of Title 7 of the United States Code and upon implementation of the federal organic certification requirement pursuant to the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq., Sec. 2101, P.L. 101-624), all products sold as organic in California shall be certified by a federally accredited certifying agent, if they are required to be certified under the federal act. In addition products shall be sold as organic only in accordance with this section, Sections 110855 to 110870, inclusive, and Section 46009 of the Food and Agricultural Code. The secretary, director, and the county agricultural commissioners shall carry out this subdivision to the extent that adequate funds are made available for that purpose.
(b) Products sold as organic may be certified only by a certification organization registered pursuant to Section 46014.1 of the Food and Agricultural Code or a federally accredited certification organization.
(c) In order to be registered, a certification organization shall be accredited by the USDA, if required.
(d) A certification organization that certifies processed products sold as organic shall register with the secretary.
(e) The director may audit the organization’s certification procedures and records at any time. Records of certification organizations not otherwise required to be released upon request or made publicly available shall not be released by the director except to other employees of the department, the Department of Food and Agriculture, a county agricultural commissioner, the Attorney General, any prosecuting attorney, or any government agency responsible for enforcing laws related to the activities of the person subject to this part.
(Amended by Stats. 2002, Ch. 533, Sec. 56. Effective January 1, 2003.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018