Thats not true, there are plenty of standards that are enforced by non-government groups/companies/whatever. Presumably the gov’t could enforce their own standard in these areas, but they don’t (compliance with the Unix standard, to pick a random example example, is certified by an industry group). So apparently, just because they can isn’t by itself a reason for the gov’t to create such standards.
if I ask the government to certify my farm as “organic”, is that for free? Or is there an administrative fee involved to pay expenses of the gang of organic-certifying bureaucrats?
There is apparently some cost in getting certified, although there are some funds available to offset the costs for some farmers. (It’s all detailed in the links which Duckster gave in post #4.)
It also looks like the USDA doesn’t do the certification themselves; there are private companies which are accredited to do organic certification.
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There is apparently some cost in getting certified, although there are some funds available to offset the costs for some farmers. (It’s all detailed in the links which Duckster gave in post #4.)
It also looks like the USDA doesn’t do the certification themselves; there are private companies which are accredited to do organic certification.
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yeah, that’s what I am talking about. There’s gold in dem certifications, I tell ya.
One of my former consulting clients is in the organic certification business.
They are authorized by the Japanese government to certify foods and food products (such a soy sauce) as organic. Originally the government did not regulate organic, and anyone could label their product as such, but that was changed a number of years ago. His company tends to work with larger food processors stead of individual farmers.
They have a detailed process for certification, which includes on-site inspection. Since there aren’t processing plants which only process organic food, they have to show how they clean the equipment in between processing for organic and non-organic, for example as well as having separate locations for storage to avoid mixing the two. the inspector examine the purchasing records, as well as other paper trails.
Growing and processing organic food is more expensive than non-organic varieties. The certification business itself is not cheap, and if your inspectors fail to catch something, you can lose your license and reputation.
His company was barely breaking even for many years, although we did find some ways of improving profits.