The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Organic Program (NOP) has issued a proposed rule that would amend the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances to permit the use of biodegradable biobased mulch film in organic crop production and the use of Citrus hystrix and curry leaves in organic processing. NOP has also proposed removing two nonorganic agricultural products from the National List—hops (Humulus lupulus) and unmodified rich starch—“as their use exemptions expired on January 1, 2013, and June 21, 2009, respectively.” According to NOP, biodegradable biobased mulch film is a synthetic substance “used as an alternative to petroleum-based plastic mulches that do not biodegrade,” while the leaves and fruit of Citrus hystrix are traditional ingredients in Lao, Thai and other Southeast Asian cuisines, and curry or sweet neem leaves are an important ingredient in Indian, Sri Lankan, Malay, and other Southeast Asian cuisines. The agency will accept comments on…
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) has extended the comment period for a proposed rule that would require “mechanically tenderized” labeling for raw or partially cooked needle- or blade-tenderized beef products, “including beef products injected with marinade or solution.” According to FSIS, the rule would also require the labels of mechanically tenderized beef products destined for consumers, hotels, restaurants, or similar establishments to include “validated cooking instructions” to ensure safe handling and reduce the risk of foodborne illness. Acting at the request of two trade associations, the agency will now accept comments on the new labeling scheme until October 8, 2013. Additional details about the proposed rule appear in Issue 486 of this Update. See Federal Register, August 9, 2013.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA’s) Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released a July 2013 audit report examining how the Agricultural Marketing Service’s (AMS’s) National Organic Program (NOP) established the “access to pasture” rule for organic dairy cattle. Although OIG generally found that the new rules for organic milk production were “successfully implemented,” it nevertheless recommended that AMS clarify guidance for certifying agents “to ensure that all dairy producers are being treated consistently.” To this end, the audit noted that NOP (i) “had not clearly defined how producers should demarcate herds of organic milk-producing cattle, which meant that some certifying agents allowed producers to add cattle to organic herds,” and (ii) “needs to include organic feed brokers within the NOP-certification process to ensure that organic feed is not commingled or contaminated.” OIG also reported that certifying agents failed to take consistent enforcement actions “when their inspectors or reviewers identified…
A federal court has awarded $90.8 million to the attorneys who represented African-American farmers in litigation against the U.S. Department of Agriculture alleging discrimination in the loan application process. In re Black Farmers Discrimination Litig., No. 08-0511 (D.D.C., decided July 11, 2013). Additional details about class counsels’ request appear in Issue 405 of this Update. Explaining the challenges counsel faced, their extensive efforts to secure an award for the class of farmers in excess of $1 billion, the millions they incurred in unreimbursed expenses, as well as the hours devoted to assisting the Claims Administrator during the claims process, the court found an award representing 7.4 percent of the claims fund reasonable. According to the court, “Class counsel have undertaken the immense challenge presented by this action with the utmost professionalism and integrity, exhibiting skill, diligence, and efficiency in all aspects of their duties.”
A coalition of animal rights organizations has sued U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack under the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), claiming that the agency failed to conduct a required environmental review before granting the application of a “horse slaughter plant operator in New Mexico, bringing the nation closer to its first horse slaughter operation since federal courts and state lawmakers shuttered the last three U.S.-based plants in 2007.” Front Range Equine Rescue v. Vilsack, No. 13-3034 (N.D. Cal., San Francisco Div., filed July 2, 2013). The parties agreed to voluntarily transfer the suit to the District of New Mexico as a more appropriate venue, and the court entered an order granting the transfer on July 10, 2013. Because the defendants advised the plaintiffs that no federal inspections at horse slaughter facilities will take place before July 29, the court vacated its expedited scheduling order. In their complaint,…
Trade organizations representing the interests of cattle and pork producers and meat processors in Canada and the United States have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), challenging country-of-origin (COOL) labeling regulations that took effect May 23, 2013. Am. Meat Inst. v. USDA, No. 13-1033 (D.D.C., filed July 8, 2013). They seek declaratory and injunctive relief, an order vacating the final rule, attorney’s fees, and costs. Explaining that meat producers and processors in the United States, Canada and Mexico have for years freely “commingled” livestock born, raised and processed across their borders, the plaintiffs allege that new requirements forcing them to “list separately, in sequence, the specific country where the animal was ‘born,’ the country where it was ‘raised,’ and the country where it was ‘slaughtered,’” will impose significant costs and entail extensive detail and paperwork for no health or safety reasons. They allege that the COOL regulations…
According to a news source, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted permission for slaughterhouses in New Mexico and Iowa to convert their facilities into horse-processing plants, the first such facilities to be licensed since Congress banned the practice seven years ago. Other applications for horse-processing plants are reportedly being considered in Missouri, Oklahoma and Tennessee. Before horse slaughter can begin, however, plants must be inspected by USDA inspectors who have reportedly not yet been hired. “This is very far from over,” an attorney for the New Mexico plant was quoted as saying. “The company is going to plan to begin operating in July. But with the potential lawsuits and the USDA—they have been dragging their feet for a year—so to now believe they are going to start supplying inspectors, we’re not going to hold our breath.” See The Associated Press, June 28, 2013; Emporiagazette.com, July 11, 2013.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued a notice informing the public about upcoming sanitary and phytosanitary standard-setting activities of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (Codex) and seeking comments on standards under consideration and recommendations for new standards. The notice, which also lists other standard-setting activities, including “commodity standards, guidelines, codes of practice, and revised texts,” covers the time periods from June 1, 2012, to May 31, 2013, and June 1, 2013, to May 31, 2014. See Federal Register, June 21, 2013.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has issued an interim final rule amending the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program regulations “to establish nutrition standards for all foods sold in schools, other than food sold under the lunch and breakfast programs.” Acting under Section 208 of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, the agency considered scientific recommendations and voluntary standards for beverages and snack foods, as well as more than 250,000 public comments, in developing the “Smart Snacks in School” standards, which must also adhere to the most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Effective July 1, 2014, the final rule requires all competitive foods sold in schools to meet the following guidelines: (i) “be a grain product that contains 50 percent or more whole grains by weight or have as the first ingredient a whole grain”; or (ii) “have as the first ingredient one of the non-grain…
The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently issued a report criticizing the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for its “limited” response to school districts that had trouble implementing the new school lunch nutrition standards for the 2012-2013 school year. According to GAO, which gathered feedback from eight districts, schools reported that restrictions on the amount of meats and grains served each week during lunch required them to eliminate popular menu items and made it difficult “to meet minimum calorie requirements for lunches without adding items, such as gelatin, that generally do not improve the nutritional quality of lunches.” In addition, some school food authorities (SFAs) observed that calorie range requirements posed a particular challenge in schools with both middle and high school students “[b]ecause the required lunch calorie ranges for these two grade groups do not overlap.” To address these issues, GAO has recommended that USDA “remove the meat and…
