PORKER
Well-known member
WASHINGTON, DC: After an extensive audit and investigation of alleged improprieties at the USDA's National Organic Program, the agency's Office of Inspector General (OIG) made public their formal report, dated March 9, substantiating the allegations of prominent organic industry watchdog groups — that under the Bush administration, the USDA did an inadequate job of enforcing federal organic law.
Since 2002, when the USDA adopted the federal organic regulations, the agency has been plagued by underfunding and a number of scandals and complaints about its cozy relationship with agribusiness interests and lobbyists.
Although not mentioned by name, the OIG audit identifies numerous actions and decisions by the former organic program manager (Dr. Barbara Robinson) for some of the most serious enforcement deficiencies in the agency.
After the Obama administration and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack took the reins at the USDA, one of their first actions was to appoint Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, a former Tufts University professor who is widely respected in the organic community and is an expert in farming and food regulations, as the Deputy Secretary at the agency.
Last fall, Dr. Merrigan appointed Miles McEvoy to replace Robinson as the head of the organic program. McEvoy, with a distinguished 20-year career overseeing one of the largest state organic programs in the nation at the Washington Department of Agriculture, quickly announced "the age of enforcement" was at hand for the organic program.
Since 2002, when the USDA adopted the federal organic regulations, the agency has been plagued by underfunding and a number of scandals and complaints about its cozy relationship with agribusiness interests and lobbyists.
Although not mentioned by name, the OIG audit identifies numerous actions and decisions by the former organic program manager (Dr. Barbara Robinson) for some of the most serious enforcement deficiencies in the agency.
After the Obama administration and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack took the reins at the USDA, one of their first actions was to appoint Dr. Kathleen Merrigan, a former Tufts University professor who is widely respected in the organic community and is an expert in farming and food regulations, as the Deputy Secretary at the agency.
Last fall, Dr. Merrigan appointed Miles McEvoy to replace Robinson as the head of the organic program. McEvoy, with a distinguished 20-year career overseeing one of the largest state organic programs in the nation at the Washington Department of Agriculture, quickly announced "the age of enforcement" was at hand for the organic program.
