Against the background of The Washington Post's report on fraudulent grain imports, the need for improved fraud prevention strategies in the US has become evident to many involved in the organic food industry. Please find here The Washington Post's article in the paper's business section as well as its monkey cage analysis, and the OTA's response to the latter. On a more positive note, we're happy to share the below excerpt from a newsletter published by organic consultancy and long-term partner Wolf, DiMatteo and Associates which mentions the Federbio Integrity Platform and Check Organic as a possible fraud prevention strategy:
"One pervasive topic, on and off the Hill, was the Washington Post's report on fraudulent grain imports. The need for improved support for the National Organic Program's oversight activities is the elephant in the room. One NOP employee per almost $2 billion of industry activity is not adequate. In addition, our industry must take on a big part of the responsibility and challenge by implementing more aggressive self-policing. We should learn some lessons from others who have faced fraud and found solutions. For instance, in Italy the industry and certifiers came together under their FederBio organization to implement an integrity platform based on the Check Organic program created by our colleagues, Organic Services. It wasn't easy, but by working together to protect their industry, they are succeeding to control and mitigate fraud. Let's match Jayson Werth's challenge, and step up to the plate to hit a home run as a responsible industry".