Certifying Agents

Certifying Agencies and Authority

To achieve organic certification, the certification and subsequent renewals must be approved and issued by a USDA accredited certifying agent. Some states provide their own certifying agencies. However in most states, including Missouri, certification activities are left to independent agencies that are licensed by the USDA and managed and monitored by the various state departments of agriculture. This provides a consistent result and standard of production, with fewer entities working across multiple states. It also provides flexibility, efficiencies and savings to the producers, growers and handlers.

To encourage this private development and promote the certification process, the USDA created the USDA-NOP Organic Certification Cost Share Program. This has allowed states to focus on developing organic markets, while using efficiencies in the private sector to provide certifications and enforcement. Through the program, funds are passed through participating states to the producers, growers, and handlers to reimburse 75% or up to $750 of certification costs.

Finding Certifying Agents

Any accredited certifying agency can certify farms in any state, as long as they have the appropriate business licenses for that state. A listing of all of the accredited organic certifiers in the country can be found through the USDA Organic Marketing Service. It should be noted that all of the agencies are listed by the state of their home office, not the states they are working in.

The following agencies certified entities in Missouri during the 2009-2010 funding cycle:

• Agriculture Services Certified Organic, LLC
• CCOF Certification Services
• Guaranteed Organic Certification Agency
• ICO Indiana Certified Organic
• IDALS Iowa Department of Agriculture
• International Certification Services
• MOSA Midwest Organic Services Association, Inc
• Nature’s International Certification Services
• OCIA International
• Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Administration
• Oklahoma Department of Agriculture
• OneCert
• Oregon Tilth
• Organic Certifiers
• Organic National and International Certifiers
• Quality Assurance International
• Stellar Certification Services