The USDA is warning organic distributors of the circulation of a fraudulent organic certificate that artificially represents certain products as certified under the National Organic Program (NOP) regulations. Use of false documents to label, market, or sell non-organic agricultural products as certified organic is in violation of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 and subject to civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation. The fraud was brought to the NOP's attention by the France-based USDA-accredited organic certifier who is falsely attributed as the certificate's issuer. Investigation produced no evidence that any product was sold under the fraudulent certificate in the United States.
See the fraudulent organic certificate here.
Read the USDA Press Release here.
Written/Posted by Tanya J. Cramoy, Research Assistant
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