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Washington
State Department of Agriculture - USA
The Washington State Department of Agriculture is a government agency which runs an Organic Food Programme within its Agriculture Food Safety, Animal Health and Consumer Services Division. The Programme is however fully self-supporting from the organic certification fees paid by applicants. WSDA's European Organic Verification Programme was granted IFOAM accredited status in November 2004.
The Organic Food Program (OFP) is based in Olympia, Washington State on the west coast of the USA. The program employs eight staff members in the office as well as four inspectors who are located regionally.
The Washington Organic Food Products Act was enacted in 1985 and amended in 1987 to implement one of the first state organic certification programmes in the US. The WSDA OFP has been certifying producers of organic food since 1988.
In 2001, sales of organic food products in Washington State had exceeded $200 million with an average annual growth rate of 24% over the last 5 years. The farm gate value of Washington's organic agricultural products totalled approx. $47 million in 2001. Steady growth has continued since then.
The WSDA Organic Food program has been accredited under ISO 65 since 1999. This accreditation has allowed WSDA OFP to certify agricultural products as meeting foreign organic standards and has provided access to international markets for Washington organic food products.
In 2002 WSDA OFP became accredited by the US Department of Agriculture National Organic Program and chapter 15.86 RCW was revised to be compliant with the NOP.
The in-house staff are responsible for processing and reviewing applications and inspection reports for certification as well as conducting inspections. The State Governing Official handles appeals.
WSDA currently certify over 800 operators in the US with a small number of operators in Canada and Japan.
All of these operators are currently under the NOP programme and their IFOAM Programme attracting operators mainly shipping product to Europe, the main product being the famous Washington apples.
Ms Brenda Book - Acting Organic Programme Manager
Mr Les Eklund - Field Inspection Supervisor
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Last updated:
27/01/2010
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WSDA
PO Box 42560
1111 Washington St.
Olympia, Washington 98504-2560
USA
Tel: +1 360 902 1805
Fax: +1 360 902 2087
Email: organic@agr.wa.go
Web: www.agr.wa.gov
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