The labels said 'organic.' But these massive imports of corn and soybeans weren't.

["Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Dewayne Hendricks <dewayne () warpspeed com>
> Date: May 13, 2017 at 12:15:01 PM EDT
> To: Multiple recipients of Dewayne-Net <dewayne-net () warpspeed com>
> Subject: [Dewayne-Net] The labels said 'organic.' But these massive imports of corn and soybeans weren't.
> Reply-To: dewayne-net () warpspeed com
>
> The labels said ‘organic.’ But these massive imports of corn and soybeans weren’t.
> By Peter Whoriskey
> May 12 2017
> <https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/the-labels-said-organic-but-these-massive-imports-of-corn-and-soybeans-werent/2017/05/12/6d165984-2b76-11e7-a616-d7c8a68c1a66_story.html>
>
> A shipment of 36 million pounds of soybeans sailed late last year from Ukraine to Turkey to California. Along the 
> way, it underwent a remarkable transformation.
>
> The cargo began as ordinary soybeans, according to documents obtained by The Washington Post. Like ordinary soybeans, 
> they were fumigated with a pesticide. They were priced like ordinary soybeans, too.
>
> But by the time the 600-foot cargo ship carrying them to Stockton, Calif., arrived in December, the soybeans had been 
> labeled “organic,” according to receipts, invoices and other shipping records. That switch — the addition of the 
> “USDA Organic” designation — boosted their value by approximately $4 million, creating a windfall for at least one 
> company in the supply chain.
>
> After being contacted by The Post, the broker for the soybeans, Annapolis-based Global Natural, emailed a statement 
> saying it may have been “provided with false certification documents” regarding some grain shipments from Eastern 
> Europe. About 21 million pounds of the soybeans have already been distributed to customers.
>
> The multimillion-dollar metamorphosis of the soybeans, as well as two other similar grain shipments in the past year 
> examined by The Post, demonstrate weaknesses in the way that the United States ensures that what is sold as “USDA 
> Organic” is really organic.
>
> The three shipments, each involving millions of pounds of “organic” corn or soybeans, were large enough to constitute 
> a meaningful proportion of the U.S. supply of those commodities. All three were presented as organic, despite 
> evidence to the contrary. And all three hailed from Turkey, now one of the largest exporters of organic products to 
> the United States, according to Foreign Agricultural Service statistics.
>
> Agriculture Department officials said that they are investigating fraudulent organic grain shipments. But the agency 
> declined to identify any of the firms or shipments involved.
>
> “We are continuing the investigation based on the evidence received,” it said in a statement.
>
> The imported corn and soybean shipments examined by The Post were largely destined to become animal feed and enter 
> the supply chain for some of the largest organic food industries. Organic eggs, organic milk, organic chicken and 
> organic beef are supposed to come from animals that consume organic feed, an added expense for farmers that 
> contributes to the higher consumer prices on those items.
>
> While most food sold as “USDA Organic” is grown in the United States, at least half of some organic commodities — 
> corn, soybeans and coffee — come from overseas, from as many as 100 countries.
>
> USDA officials say that their system for guarding against fraud is robust.
>
> Under USDA rules, a company importing an organic product must verify that it has come from a supplier that has a 
> “USDA Organic” certificate. It must keep receipts and invoices. But it need not trace the product back to the farm. 
> Some importers, aware of the possibility of fraud, request extra documentation. But others do not.
>
> Regardless of where organics come from, critics say, the system suffers from multiple weaknesses in enforcement: 
> Farmers hire their own inspection companies; most inspections are announced days or weeks in advance and lack the 
> element of surprise; and testing for pesticides is the exception rather than the rule.
>
> These vulnerabilities are magnified with imported products, which often involve more middlemen, each of whom could 
> profit by relabeling conventional goods as “organic.” The temptation could be substantial, too: Products with a “USDA 
> Organic” label routinely sell for twice the price of their conventional counterparts.
>
> In recent years, even as the amount of organic corn and soybeans imported to the United States has more than tripled, 
> the USDA has not issued any major sanctions for the import of fraudulent grain, U.S. farmers said.
>
> “The U.S. market is the easiest for potentially fraudulent organic products to penetrate because the chances of 
> getting caught here are not very high,” said John Bobbe, executive director of the Organic Farmers’ Agency for 
> Relationship Marketing, or OFARM, a farmer cooperative. In Europe and Canada, he said, import rules for organics are 
> much stricter.
>
> Moreover, even when the USDA has responded to complaints of questionable imports, action has come too late to prevent 
> the products from reaching consumers.
>
> [snip]
>
> Dewayne-Net RSS Feed: <http://dewaynenet.wordpress.com/feed/>



-------------------------------------------
Archives: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: https://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/18849915-ae8fa580
Modify Your Subscription: https://www.listbox.com/member/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-aa268125
Unsubscribe Now: 
https://www.listbox.com/unsubscribe/?member_id=18849915&id_secret=18849915-32545cb4&post_id=20170513123508:1D2F061A-37FA-11E7-9218-B683A978C9B8
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com