Starting March 19, the USDA National Organics Program (NOP) is now in full effect. As of this date, all organic products shipped to the United States need to be accompanied by an NOP Import Certificate, which must be issued through the USDA Organic Integrity Database by a USDA-accredited certifier.
In related updates, please refer to CSMS #59847491 for important changes regarding HTS updates to PGA flags. Notably, the AM7 flag was eliminated from 196 HTS codes, and for 88 HTS codes, it was switched to AM8.
For your convenience, the latest Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are provided below and are also available on the NCBFAA website under the Organics Toolkit section. We aim to update the FAQ section regularly, so we recommend checking the Toolkit for new information.
Latest FAQs:
Q: Is it permissible to file an OR2 message set using the temporary code (999-999-T) when I have a paper NOP certificate from a country with organic equivalency arrangements with the U.S. (such as Canada, EU, Israel, Japan, South Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan, and the U.K.)?
A: No. In these situations, the AMS mandates the use of OR-1, which involves manually entering details from the paper NOP certificate. Although these trade partner countries are working towards integrating their systems with the USDA Organic Integrity Database for electronic NOP certificate transmission for OR2 message set usage, the requirement is to use OR-1 until then.
Q: Considering grape tomatoes are identified under four different HTS numbers throughout the year due to varying growing seasons, is it acceptable to utilize a one-year Blanket Certificate from the certifier that specifies only one HTS number, even if a different HTS number becomes applicable with the season change?
A: Yes, according to AMS, this approach is acceptable. The global certifier community has voiced concerns over this issue, given their limited expertise in HTS codes. AMS has advised certifiers to closely match the correct commodity HTS codes, allowing for flexibility with seasonal HTS codes. The USDA system prioritizes the broker-filed HTS code as the primary identifier, followed by the certifier’s HTS code as a secondary identifier, to prevent any discrepancies. AMS’s primary objective with the import certificate process and the involvement of USDA-accredited global certifiers is to maintain organic integrity, rather than penalizing certifiers for inaccuracies in seasonal tomato codes.
