USDA may take another stab at organic rules January 7, 2000 Web posted at: 11:53 AM EST (1653 GMT) WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The U.S. Agriculture Department received a record 300,000 comments when it first proposed national guidelines for the organic industry in late 1997. Next month, the agency is coming back for more. The Clinton administration hopes that it will release a second, and hopefully less controversial, proposal next month, a top USDA official said Thursday. The USDA is meeting with officials from the Office of Management and Budget, the White House budget arm, to discuss the latest proposal. Those talks will hopefully wrap up soon, clearing the way for the Agriculture Department to take another shot at pleasing organic farmers, consumers and storekeepers, officials said. "Both USDA staff and OMB staff are huddled in daylong sessions working diligently going through a massive amount of paper," said Kathleen Merrigan, administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service at the USDA, the division in charge of crafting the organic guidelines. Congress passed a bill nearly a decade ago that ordered the USDA to create rules for organic food and clothing that would be enforced nationwide, replacing a patchwork of regulations that vary from state to state. But after the USDA released its first draft for organic rules more than two years ago, it received 300,000 comments from the public, a record-high response to a Agricultural Department proposal. Environmentalists, farmers, consumers, the entire Vermont legislature and celebrities including musician Willie Nelson wrote in, most opposing the regulations as drafted. Controversies included the application of biotechnology and the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer. So the USDA decided to go back to the drawing board and will submit a new plan, with a fresh comment period to follow. The U.S. organic industry sold more than $4 billion of products, from food to clothing, in 1998. It is estimated that organic sales grew by more than 20 percent in 1999 and will increase by another 20 percent this year. Members of the organic industry said they remain positive that the Agriculture Department will get it right this time. "I do believe that USDA really has tried to incorporate what they received as comments," Katherine DiMatteo, head of the Organic Trade Association, said. "We may actually see the end of this thing sometime this year." DiMatteo said the industry needs standards to maintain the surge in organic sales. Without guidelines, there is nothing to back up a product as organic and consumers soon will question if an organic label really means anything, she said. Guidelines give "a level of confidence and a double- or triple-check on claims of products," DiMatteo said. The USDA has been the target of a lot of criticism from lawmakers and the organic industry for taking so long. "Its hard to imagine that something that was approved in 1990 hasnt become law," said Kathie Eastman, spokeswoman for Rep. Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat. DeFazio sponsored the 1990 bill and has been critical of the USDA on the issue. But the USDAs Merrigan, who has strong support among the organic industry after working for organic interests before joining the agency, said that it took time to respond to all the comments. The USDA also worked to collect more information about organics to better understood the booming industry. Merrigan warned that the new proposal will be even denser and thicker than the first since they had to respond to every concern broached by the public the last time around. "The first proposal that went out was lengthy and complicated, but this one will be more so," she said.

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