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The Agriculture Department on Thursday issued new requirements for foods labeled organic, a move aimed at cracking down on fraud and boosting oversight. The rule strengthens enforcement of the USDA’s strict definitions of organic, which must rely on “natural substances and physical, mechanical or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible.” (1/19)

The rule standardizes training and operations requirements for organic businesses and personnel and will mean more on-site inspections. The rule also requires certification for organic imports and businesses will need to provide certification showing key parts of their supply chain are organic. The rule goes into effect on March 20 and those impacted will have a year to comply with the changes. (Hassan, 1/19)

Tom Chapman, chief executive of the Organic Trade Association, said the updates represent “the single largest revision to the organic standards since they were published in 1990.” They should go a long way toward boosting confidence in the “organic” label, Chapman said, noting that the move “raises the bar to prevent bad actors at any point in the supply chain.” Chapman’s business association, which represents nearly 10,000 growers in the United States, has been pushing for stricter guidelines for years, motivated in part by a series of stories in The Washington Post in 2017 revealing that fraudulent “organic” foods were a widespread problem in the food industry. (Reiley, 1/19)

A second Minnesota man has been charged with being part of a plot to defraud grain purchasers out of more than $46 million by selling grains falsely labeled as organic. Cottonwood County farmers James C. Wolf, 65, and Adam C. Olson, 45, are both charged in U.S. District Court in Minneapolis with three counts of wire fraud and one count of conspiracy in connection with the scheme that ran from 2014 to 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced Friday. (Walsh, 1/17)