Is organic system fraud safe?

Fraud in the organic sector is nothing new but, as prices rise for organic raw products, it is becoming more profitable in all parts of the world. The organic system was originally conceived as process control. That means that not every apple or banana is checked to see if it really is organic, but all farms, all processors and some dealers handling organic food are checked by control agencies. But as the organic sector has grown far beyond the first really committed organic farmers, more cheating by some individuals is taking place - not only in Canada, where Mischa Popoff is an organic inspector, but in many other countries of the world. In an interview with Organic-Market. Info, Popoff says that we need a complete revision of the organic control system worldwide.

Picture: Mischa Popoff

How long have you been an inspector in the organic sector, and what kind of fraud did you detect?
 
After growing up on an organic farm and graduating from university, I was an inspector in the United States and Canada for five years. I saw cases of fraud and gross negligence in about 5 % of the more than 500 inspections I performed. Sometimes it was as simple as a bad feeling; in other cases it was an obvious, outright violation of organic standards. In all cases the offending farmers hid behind their audit trails and were certified in spite of my objections. Many of my fellow inspectors have the same stories to tell. The worst three examples were as follows:
 
1. An organic farmer had cases of the herbicide Roundup and a backpack sprayer which he tried to hide in his garage. He claimed they belonged to someone else and he was merely storing them as a favour. I returned the following day with staff from the certifying agency to do a more thorough inspection of the farmer’s fields. We found many patches of dead and dying weeds surrounded by his footprints. We took samples of the dead weeds which I assumed the agency would test, but they decided not to because of the expense. The farmer was certified organic.
 
2. An organic farmer had $ 196,000 worth of sales of “organic” flax from his and neighbouring “organic” farms. The problem was he couldn’t produce a complete audit trail, and he finally kicked me out of his house before I could complete a single sample audit. The file was given to another inspector and the farmer was certified organic.
 
3. An organic farmer claimed he had fertilized a bumper crop of durum wheat with only composted manure from his livestock. But I could plainly see that he didn’t have enough livestock for the size of field, and to make matters worse he didn’t practise proper composting methods, which meant that what little manure he had wasn’t being maximized for fertility. The rest of this farmer’s fields were doing poorly because it was not a good year for rain. But his durum was doing very well, something which any conventional farmer will tell you is one of the benefits of synthetic fertilizer: it helps even in a drought. I suggested to the certifier that we should request to see this farmer’s tax return the following year when he did his taxes. If he had bought synthetic nitrogen fertilizer, he might claim it as an expense. I also suggested the farmer should get a surprise inspection the following year in the spring during seeding to see if he was using synthetic fertilizer. The agency did neither, and the farm was certified organic.
 
In all three cases I followed up with the certifiers repeatedly. I was always polite but firm in expressing my deep concern. In all three cases the certifiers finally responded by taking me off their Approved Inspectors List and I was not able to take contracts with them anymore. Fortunately, many other certifying agencies thought I was a good inspector, and I was able to keep working, but it always bothered me that these three agencies were able to silence their “independent” inspector so efficiently. Then I learned that some organic brokers/traders sat on the Executive Boards of these agencies. One broker/trader called me up at home and chewed me out because I went to the media about what had happened. Another broker/trader pretended he was going to help me get back on the Approved Inspectors List with his agency. I later found out that the Chair of his agency’s Inspector Review Committee was his business partner in his organic broker/trader business. Needless to say, they never reinstated me. The third agency never re-hired me and replaced me with an inspector who had only a quarter of the experience I had.
 
These brokers/traders all say that my three examples are not representative of the industry as a whole, that they are merely ‘exceptions to the rule’ in an otherwise smoothly functioning system that brings truly organic products to the market. But why did they certify all three of these farmers if they were ‘exceptions to the rule’? Why didn’t they take the opportunity to make examples of them? And besides, I saw a lot more cases, as have many other inspectors. All the questionable cases I saw are outlined in my book which is coming out in the fall, entitled, “Is it Organic? Are we getting our money’s worth from the fastest growing niche market in the food industry?”
 
The real question isn’t how many troubling cases I saw. The question is how many more cases I might have missed. The current system in Canada has no surprise inspections (in contrast to the European System - the editor), and no testing, so how could anyone ever get caught cheating? It’s not like a fraudster is going to write it down in his audit trail, now is he? It doesn’t matter how many forms and affidavits the farmer has to fill out, or whether or not the federal regulators have stiff fines in place. If you can’t get caught for fraud in the audit trail, fraudsters anywhere in the world can ship anything they want and label it “100 % Certified Organic”.
 
What are your proposals to improve the situation?
 
Unannounced random inspections that actually inspect the farm and take samples for analysis in a lab. Paperwork can be handled through the mail or through email - much like that way income tax is handled - and agencies can follow up with requests for more paperwork if they have more questions. Inspectors only need maps of the farm, a list of the cash crops that were seeded and their field locations. Other than that, the inspector should not waste time with paperwork while at the farm.
 
Isn't there any testing going on in Canada, as for example in Germany with fruit and vegetables?
 
What little organic testing there is in Canada and the United States is only done on harvested products. It is my understanding that this is also the case in Europe. There is no organic field testing. I have heard of organic farmers throughout the world who voluntarily have tests carried out on their crops while they’re still in the field, but I am not aware of any certifying agencies or regulatory bodies that perform regular, routine, unannounced, organic tests on farms.
 
Organic testing must occur in the field while the crop is growing. The herbicide Roundup dissipates after only a couple of weeks, as do many other prohibited substances. Therefore testing after harvest, or anytime later, is completely useless. It’s like catching up with an Olympic athlete a few months after the Olympics to test his blood for performance-enhancing drugs. You might find something, but probably not. And the general public will say, “Why didn’t you test him while he was at the games?” Indeed, why don’t we test at the farm while the food is in the field?
 
Do you think every part of the farm has to be tested or wouldn't it be sufficient to test samples to show the producers and traders "we are checking"?
 
I’ve done a great deal of testing on organic farms. Many samples should be collected from a farm; I suggest one sample from each cash crop. Once collected, only one sample needs to be tested in a lab. One test per farm per year is the philosophy. The inspector can choose which sample to test. After all, he/she is supposed to be the eyes and ears of the certifier.
 
In Germany, the organic manufacturer and wholesaler association BNN does the screening. Do you think these measures should be made obligatory and added to the regulatory system of the European Union, NOP and JAS?
 
I suppose it’s a good thing when manufacturers and wholesalers test the product they handle. I have no problem with that; it’s part of good quality control. But it does nothing to keep fraud out of the industry. Unannounced organic farm testing must become part of the means by which organic farms are certified. As I describe in my book, "an organic crop should be fit for human consumption at any time from before seeding to harvest.” This should be the philosophy underpinning the organic industry.
Organic field testing would replace a great deal of the bureaucracy currently involved in certifying a farm. After all, ask a cross-section of consumers what they think “certified organic” means and the overwhelming majority will say: “It means the farm was tested, right?” And who are we to tell the customer she’s wrong?

Contact:
Mischa Popoff, B.A. (Hon.) U of S, Advanced Organic Inspector
Is It Organic? a division of Polyphase Communication Inc.
Identity Preservation Concepts and Consulting
Osoyoos BC
www.isitorganic.ca