Q: Are there any exemptions for organic certification?
A: According to the National Organic Program (NOP) you may be exempt from organic certification if your annual sales of organic products are less than $5000 a year. You must still create and submit an organic handling plan for approval, and any of the ingredients you sell cannot be used in other organic products. (Example: You grow organic corn under the exemption, a soup company can’t buy that corn from you and then use it in a product they sell as organic.) You must also label and keep records as if you were a certified operation.
*All* products marketed as organic must be certified according to current law. There is no exemption for cosmetic items or other non-food items sold as organic.
§205.102 Use of the term, “organic.”
Any agricultural product that is sold, labeled, or represented as “100 percent organic,” “organic,” or “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))” must be:
(a) Produced in accordance with the requirements specified in §205.101 or §§205.202 through 205.207 or §§205.236 through 205.240 and all other applicable requirements of part 205; and
(b) Handled in accordance with the requirements specified in §205.101 or §§205.270 through 205.272 and all other applicable requirements of this part 205.
In other words, any product claiming to be organic must be certified. However, that’s not to say that there are people who get away with using the term organic without certification. In the cosmetics industry there are many. While these products are in violation of the law, the USDA’s limited enforcement resources are more concerned with food items, so companies operate under the radar. Companies, however, that use the USDA organic seal without certification will gain their attention and be required to either get certification or stop using the seal.