House Bill 684

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO CONFORM THE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION LAW WITH THE NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM; TO AMEND SECTIONS 69-47-1 AND 69-47-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REMOVE REFERENCE TO LIVESTOCK AND DAIRY PRODUCTION IN THE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION LAW; TO AMEND SECTION 69-47-5, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE TISSUE TESTING OF A CROP GROWN IN AN ORGANICALLY MANAGED FIELD THAT IS LOCATED WITHIN TWENTY-FIVE FEET OF A FIELD TO WHICH A PROHIBITED PESTICIDE HAS BEEN APPLIED; TO REPEAL SECTIONS 69-47-29 AND 69-47-31, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, WHICH PROVIDE PENALTIES AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR VIOLATIONS OF THE ORGANIC CERTIFICATION LAW; TO AUTHORIZE THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE TO DEVELOP AN ORGANIC MEAT, FISH, POULTRY AND SEAFOOD CERTIFICATION PROGRAM; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. Section 69-47-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-47-1. For the purpose of this chapter, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

(a) "Agricultural product" means any agricultural commodity or product, whether raw or processed, * * * that is marketed for human * * * consumption.

(b) "Certified organic farm" means a farm or portion of a farm or a site where agricultural products * * * are produced that is certified by the department as utilizing a system of organic farming.

(d) "Department" means the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce.

(e) "EPA" means the United States Environmental Protection Agency.

(f) "Farm plan" means a plan of management of an organic farm that has been agreed to by the producer or handler and the department and that includes written plans concerning all aspects of agricultural production or handling, including all practices required under this chapter.

(g) "FDA" means the United States Food and Drug Administration.

(h) "Greenhouse unit" or "unit" means a structure intended or used for the production of agricultural products.

(i) "Handler" means any person engaged in the business of handling agricultural products, except such term shall not include final retailers of agricultural products that do not process agricultural products.

* * *

(j) "Mississippi organic materials and practices (MOMP)" means a list of approved and prohibited substances and practices as adopted.

(k) "Organic farming" means a food production system based on farm management methods or practices that rely on building soil fertility by utilizing crop rotation, recycling of organic wastes, application of unsynthesized minerals and, when necessary, mechanical, botanical or biological pest control.

(l) "Organic food" means a food which is labeled as organic or organically grown and which has been produced, transported, distributed, processed and packaged without the use of synthetic pesticides, synthetically compounded fertilizers, synthetic growth hormones, genetically modified organisms or artificial radiation and which has been verified by the department as complying with all provisions of this chapter.

(m) "Organically managed or produced" means an agricultural product that is produced and handled in accordance with all the provisions of this chapter and any regulations adopted thereunder.

(n) "Person" means an individual, group of individuals, corporation, association, organization, cooperative or other entity.

(o) "Pesticide" means any substance or mixture of substances intended for preventing, destroying, repelling or mitigating any pest and any substance or combination of substances intended for use as a plant regulator, defoliant, desiccant or any substance the commissioner determines to be a pesticide.

(p) "Processing" means cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, cutting, fermenting, * * * preserving, dehydrating, freezing or otherwise manufacturing and includes the packaging, canning, jarring or otherwise enclosing food in a container.

(q) "Producer" means a person who engages in the business of growing or producing food, feed and ornamental plants * * *.

(r) "Prohibited substances, fertilizers, materials, pesticides" mean those substances, fertilizers, materials, pesticides or practices prohibited by this chapter or regulations from use in a certified organic farming operation.

(s) "Restricted" means substances and practices which use is limited or qualified by the commissioner.

(t) "Tolerance" means the amount of a pesticide permitted on raw or processed agricultural commodities.

SECTION 2. Section 69-47-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-47-3. The department and three (3) advisory members appointed by the Mississippi Organic Growers Association and one (1) Mississippi State University extension service specialist and one (1) Alcorn State University extension service specialistmay adopt any rules and regulations necessary for the enforcement and administration of this chapter, including, but not limited to:

(a) Crop, including all fruits, vegetables and herbs, production standards;

(b) Manufacturing, processing, packaging and labeling standards;

(d) Procedures governing the certification process; and

(e) Standards and procedures for approving out-of-state organic products and ingredients.

SECTION 3. Section 69-47-5, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:

69-47-5. (1) Any producer who sells or intends to sell organic food shall apply to the department for certification in accordance with this chapter.

(2) An applicant for certification must document that the land, individual field or greenhouse units to be certified shall be managed organically. Documentation for certification shall be in the form of a detailed, three-year farm plan for land, fields or units and in a format acceptable to the department. The application shall be reviewed by the organic certification program director.

(3) The farm plan shall include:

(a) Three-year rotation and nutrient-stabilization plans for each field or unit under organic management;

(b) One-year, agronomic field-by-field crop practice and spray plans for each field or unit of the farm which is organically managed;

(c) A map of the field to be organically managed which also indicates all buffer zones and their width, with at least a thirty-foot buffer zone separating land managed organically from other cultivated agricultural land and at least a fifteen-foot buffer zone separating greenhouse units managed organically from other units;

(d) A description of facility and methods that shall be used to keep organically managed crops and livestock from post-harvest segregated from nonorganically managed crops and livestock;

(e) A description of facilities and methods that will be used to keep farm equipment from contaminating organically managed fields; and

(f) A description of facilities and methods that shall be used to store and handle prohibited materials separately from permitted materials.

(4) A crop grown in an organically managed field, any part of which is located within twenty-five (25) feet of a field to which a prohibited pesticide has been applied, shall be tissue-tested for residues of that pesticide before the harvest of the organic crop.

(5) The department shall not certify a field as organically managed that is part of a farm unless there exist distinct, defined boundaries between fields under organic management and other fields.

(6) The department shall not certify land that has no previous history as cultivated cropland, orchard or improved pasture, and that is being converted to organic for the sole purpose of replacing land abandoned because of chemical contamination or depleted fertility resulting from previous farm-management practices.

(7) In order to be certified, greenhouse units must be used solely for organically produced agricultural products in compliance with this chapter and applicable regulations.

(8) An applicant for certification shall present soil fertility test results for each field or greenhouse unit to be certified initially and every third year thereafter.

(9) An applicant shall also present the results of water residue and plant-tissue tests as required by the department.

(10) The department shall reserve the right to use a certification rating system in evaluating the application.

SECTION 4. Sections 69-47-29 and 69-47-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, which provide penalties and administrative proceedings for violations of the organic certification law, are repealed.

SECTION 5. The Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce may develop an organic certification program for organic meat, organic fish, organic poultry and organic seafood in compliance with the USDA organic program. Nothing in this act shall restrict the department in charging a fee for any organic labeling required by this act.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2003.