oeffa certification bulletin · oeffa certification bulletin phone: (614) 262-2022 fax: (614)...

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Placement of

“Certified Organic By…” Statement

Per the NOP regulations, OEFFA organic certified packaged/

labeled retail products must include the statement, “Certified

Organic by OEFFA” placed directly below the information

identifying the producer, handler, or distributor of the product.

As there was some confusion within the certified organic

community regarding this issue, the NOP has granted a

transition period to alter packaging.

All existing product labels must comply with all the NOP labeling

requirements, except for the “Certified Organic By OEFFA” statement

placement rule. However, by January 1, 2016, these labels must be fixed.

All new or revised product labels must meet all the NOP labeling

requirements, including the “Certified Organic by OEFFA” statement

placement rule.

If your labels do not meet this requirement, you will be notified by OEFFA

and need to take action to come into compliance with this requirement.

***************************************************************************************************************************** New Free Fact Sheets!

OEFFA has published several new fact sheets that may have beneficial information for your operation. These, along with our other fact

sheets, can be found on OEFFA’s website under the Guidance web page or sent to you upon request. The new fact sheets are:

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Organic Insider

Become an Organic Insider to receive national organic news

directly from the NOP as soon as it happens. This is a great

resource for the most up to date changes and informative fact

sheets. To receive the organic insider, sign up at

http://bit.ly/NOPOrganicInsider.

Supporting a sustainable food system that provides prosperity and health

July 2014

OEFFA Certification Bulletin

How to Contact Us

Phone: (614) 262-2022

Fax: (614) 421-2011

Carol Goland

Executive Director

Extension 202 cgoland@oeffa.org

Laura Anglim

Certification Specialist

Extension 227 laura@oeffa.org

Julia Barton

Program Associate

Extension 220 julia@oeffa.org

Steve Cabral

Certification Specialist

Extension 222 steve@oeffa.org

Elise George

Processing Certification Specialist

Extension 221 elise@oeffa.org

Kelly Henderson

Certification Specialist

Extension 230 kelly@oeffa.org

Andy Hupp

Certification Operations Coordinator

Extension 225 andy@oeffa.org

Michelle Kozlowski

Certification Specialist

Extension 231 michelle@oeffa.org

Kelly Lewis

Program Assistant

Extension 228 klewis@oeffa.org

Kate (Schmidt) Blake

Compliance and Quality Assurance Coordinator

Extension 223 kate@oeffa.org

Rose Smith

Certification Specialist

Extension 224 rose@oeffa.org

Samira Zoofan

Program Assistant

Extension 226 samira@oeffa.org

Eric Pawlowski – OEFFA Education Program

Sustainable Agriculture Educator

(614) 421 – 2022 Extension 209 eric@oeffa.org

Happy Summer Organic Producers and Processors!

We hope you’ve been able to enjoy this beautiful summer! We know this is a busy time of

year for you, as it is for us, and we appreciate your ongoing patience as we continue to

make the certification process sound and sensible. This bulletin contains updates about

exciting changes taking place at OEFFA, information regarding organic certification, and

resources to help support the important work you do.

Please contact us with questions, suggestions, and concerns at any time. We hope you

continue to enjoy these long summer days.

Sincerely,

The OEFFA Certification Team

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Final 2014 Producer Application Deadline: September 15th

Thank you to all producers who have submitted their annual certification applications for

2014. If you have yet to do so, this is a reminder that the final deadline to send in your

fees and paperwork is September 15th! After this date has passed, if we have not

received an application from you, or if you have not notified us that you no longer wish to

be certified with OEFFA, we are required by the NOP to send you an official Notice of

Noncompliance. If you have submitted your paperwork and have not yet heard from an

inspector, we are still in the process of reviewing your application for completeness and

compliance with the NOP standards. As always, we thank you for your patience

throughout this process. As long you continue to follow the standards and submit your

renewal application on an annual basis, your certification

remains valid.

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Organic Cost-Share Reimbursements Now Available!

The Organic Cost-Share program, which reimburses certified organic producers and

handlers for the expense of certification, is now up and running again. You can be repaid

75% of your annual certification fees (up to $750 per scope certified) for the certification

fees you paid for between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2014.

If you are located in Ohio, we have enclosed your application form with this bulletin.

Please complete and return to OEFFA along with the requested other documents. You

can expect to receive your reimbursement within 10 weeks.

If you are not in Ohio, please refer to the enclosed list of cost-share program

contacts for each state.

OEFFA Certification Bulletin July 2014

Facility Pest Management Labeling of Organic Products

Non-Organic Ingredient Compliance Affidavit Organic Ingredient Search Record

Attention Handlers:

For efficiency purposes, we have created the Certificate Addition Request Form, to replace the

Additional Processed Product/Production Line Affidavit. Please be aware that the “Certification

Additions” policy on page 19 of OEFFA’s Policies & Procedures mentions the Additional

Processed Product/Production Line Affidavit. This is no longer the name of the form.

We have also created two new documents that may be applicable to your operation:

You can find these new form on our website under the Guidance web page. We are happy to

send these documents at your request. Please email or call us: organic@oeffa.org or

(614) 262—2022.

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NOP’s Online “List of Certified Operations”

You can access certification information for operations certified to the NOP standards

as of January 2, 2014 by visiting the following website: http://apps.ams.usda.gov/nop/.

This database also allows you to make sure a potential supplier’s certification has not

been suspended or revoked.

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Transaction Certificates

While OEFFA is happy to provide the service of issuing

Transaction Certificates (TCs), in order to cover administrative

costs and serve our clients fairly, we’ve changed our policy

regarding Transaction Certificate Applications (TCAs). As

follows:

In order to receive a TC, the seller must complete and

submit the application with the appropriate fees ($25.00 per

TCA). Applications can be found on OEFFA’s website or sent

upon request. Please consult the TC Instructions prior to filling

out your TCA. Once a TC is issued, it will be mailed to both the

buyer and seller. If you have a question on obtaining a TC,

please call or email Samira Zoofan at (614) 262-2022 Ext. 226 or

samira@oeffa.org.

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OEFFA Certification Bulletin July 2014 July 2014

Changes at OEFFA Certification

The past several months have been a time of transition at OEFFA Certification. Some of our staff have taken on new roles, others have

moved on to new places, and new faces have joined the team. Lisa Large left the staff this spring, but will continue working as a contract

inspector. Many thanks to Lisa as she continues to bring positive energy to the OEFFA community! In June, Kelly Lewis became OEFFA’s

newest Program Assistant, as Jack Monsted moved east to pursue a new adventure. In the past, Kelly helped OEFFA Education at the annual

conference through her OEFFA internship. Additionally, we are happy to welcome Michelle Kozlowski, a recent graduate of a master’s

program at Ohio University, to the OEFFA family as a Certification Specialist. Our Compliance and Quality Assurance Coordinator married

in June and has changed her name from Kate Schmidt to Kate Blake. Julia Barton has transitioned to a new role as Program Associate and

Kate has taken her place as Interim Program Manager.

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REMINDER: You may be selected for Unannounced

Pesticide Residue and Integrity Inspections!

Per the NOP standards, OEFFA is required to annually conduct

random, unannounced integrity inspections [NOP §205.403(a)(2)(iii)]

and residue sampling inspections [NOP §205.670(d)]. NOP guidance

suggests that 5% of our clients undergo an unannounced inspection and

requires us to collect samples for residue testing from at least 5% of our

clients. Based on our total number of clients for the 2013 certification

year, we will collect samples from and conduct integrity inspecting on

about 39 operations in 2014. We will give a maximum notice of 4 hours

for these visits.

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Thank you Winter and Spring Interns! Welcome Summer Interns!

Many thanks go out to our winter and spring interns, Marina Zahran

and our returning intern Kayla Smith. While we are sad to see Kayla

and Marina go, OEFFA is happy to welcome new summer interns, Kate

Meizlish and Bronya Petrov, both students at The Ohio State

University. If you are interested in becoming an OEFFA Certification

intern, please submit a cover letter and resumé (including 2 references)

to Kate Blake at kate@oeffa.org.

New and Improved Certification Web Pages

We are thrilled to announce we have given the certification web page

a well deserved makeover! “Certification” now appears on the main

menu bar on OEFFA’s website: http://www.oeffa.org.

Within the certification sub-menu, please note the addition of a

Guidance page, where you can find all of our fact sheets and audit

trail documents. Additionally, for general links and resources related

to certified organic production, we encourage both producers and

processes to use the Growers Resource page on the left hand vertical

menu.

If you have feedback you’d like to share with us about the website,

please contact Samira Zoofan at (614) 262-2022 Ext. 226 or

samira@oeffa.org.

Updated Approved Product List!

To make it easier to use, the newest version of OEFFA’s Approved

Product List is categorized alphabetically by Manufacturer Name. This

change means that all the products by one manufacturer will be listed

together.

OEFFA’s Upcoming NOP Audit

Just as you are inspected to have your organic certification renewed, OEFFA is audited by the NOP

on a regular basis. An auditor is coming to visit the OEFFA office the 2nd week of August. The

auditor will verify that we are conducting organic certification activities according to the NOP

standards, review our recordkeeping systems, check that we’ve addressed noncompliances we’ve

received in the past, conduct staff interviews, follow one of our contract inspectors on a farm

inspection, and perform their own on-site review of a certified handling operation. The integrity of

our program is only as strong as the integrity of the work you do on your operations to uphold the

NOP standards. We thank you for your diligence and dedication

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OSP Changes in 2015

OEFFA is working to reduce paperwork as part of NOP's Sound

& Sensible initiative. After completing a full OSP in 2015,

renewing operators will complete a much shorter form in

subsequent years. If nothing has changed, you're done! If you

have made changes, you will only need to send us revised sections

of the OSP, and we will integrate updated sections with your

current file. The new "Modular" OSPs will result in a substantial

reduction in paperwork, so you can spend more time on your

operation and less time renewing your certification.

Look for more information about these changes with your 2015

application materials.

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New OEFFA Certificate Format

Portrait orientation

May be more than one page

Products are listed in table format

International Equivalencies are listed, as appropriate

There is a limit of five transactions per application to

one buyer.

TCs are only issued on loads shipped 1 month prior to

the application.

This year you will likely notice our certificates look different. We made

the following changes, to make our certificate more user-friendly:

International Equivalencies will be marked for the relevant products if

verification is requested within an Organic System Plan and is then

verified by an inspector. If you want International Equivalencies listed

and you did not mark this on your OSP, please contact us at

(614) 262-2022 or organic@oeffa.org.