USDA Organic Certification is an official recognition by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that a farm, dairy, food processor, importer, or broker complies with the organic standards established under the National Organic Program (NOP). These standards ensure that agricultural products are produced using practices that promote ecological balance, conserve biodiversity, and prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, ionizing radiation, sewage sludge, and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Handlers and processors must use certified organic ingredients and only allowed processing aids. With the implementation of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement (SOE) rule, brokers and importers are now required to be certified as well, ensuring traceability and transparency throughout the organic supply chain.

After the request for organic certification is prepared and submitted to a USDA Accredited Certification Agency (ACA), it can take 2-3 months for a certification. We suggest seeking expedited services from ACAs whenever possible. They charge more for quick turnaround, but most business can’t wait 2-3 months for their organic certification, so it makes sense to pay extra for expedited certification services. With the high demand for organic certification due to the implementation of the Strengthening Organic Enforcement rules it can be difficult to know which certification agencies are offering a faster expedited certification service.

We have served many roles within the organic sector and offer a variety of services. We help business achieve and maintain organic certification through our core consulting service. We create training workshops for new inspectors and quality assurance professionals. We write educational curriculum about organic farming and certification with partners like Rodale Institute and the International Organic Inspectors Association. We conduct internal audits for USDA Organic accredited certifiers. We also work with certifiers who need help with complex inspections, investigations, and supply chain audits.

The USDA Organic rules require most businesses that sell or represent agricultural products as “Organic” to develop an Organic System Plan (OSP) that describes their business in detail. They must submit their OSP to an Accredited Certification Agency (ACA) for evaluation and approval to the organic regulations in 7 CFR Part 205. After the OSP is submitted, accepted, and approved, the ACA must conduct an onsite inspection to ensure that the practices described in the OSP are accurate and compliant to the organic standards. Record keeping must be detailed enough to allow for auditing of all transactions. After the inspection, the inspector writes a report that summarizes the findings and submits it to the ACA who then determines if the certification is approved or if there are noncompliance issues. Once all noncompliance concerns have been resolved, the ACA issues the organic certificate and the business is allowed to label products as Organic.

The cost of our consulting services depends on the type of service we provide. For general consulting services, we typically charge $200 per hour and $55 per hour for travel. We also charge for traditional reimbursable expenses incurred while consulting, such as lodging, transportation, and travel meals. We offer a discounted rate for businesses that are also organized as cooperatives. For example, dairies that are members of the Organic Valley Cooperative are eligible for consulting services for organic certification at a reduced rate. USDA Organic Accredited Certifiers interested in getting help with inspection work or internal audits should contact us for a cost estimate. We do everything we can to minimize the cost of our services.

We start with an introductory phone call to assess your needs and understand if our consulting services are a good fit for you. Based off our conversation, we develop a Scope of Work which describes the work deliverables you are seeking to accomplish and a deadline for completing the work. We provide a cost estimate broken down by deliverable and a total for the Scope of Work. We ask that you review the Scope of Work and the terms of our Master Services Agreement to ensure we are aligned in the work we will provide. Once you are happy with the deliverables, deadlines, and costs outlined in the Scope of Work, we ask you to sign the Master Service Agreement. At that point if you are a new client, we will ask you to pay a $2000 retainer that will be used to pay for services performed. We invoice on a monthly basis and expect prompt payment on 21-day terms.