§ 2-5-304 — Certification program – Administration – Inspection and

analysis – Verification documents – Audits of records. A. The State Board of Agriculture shall establish a program for the certification of organic agricultural products. The Board shall submit this program to the Secretary of the USDA for accreditation as required by the Organic Food Production Act of 1990, as amended, 7 U.S.C., Section 6501 et seq. and rules promulgated pursuant thereto. Upon accreditation, the Board shall act as a certifying agent and issue a Certificate of Organic Production to an operation that has met all requirements of the Oklahoma Organic Food Act and rules promulgated pursuant thereto. B. The Board shall promulgate appropriate rules for the administration of the program for the certification of organic agricultural products, including: 1. Standards for the analysis, inspection, and certification of the organic agricultural products; 2. Records required of producers and handlers of organic agricultural products; 3. Standards for the certification of producers and handlers of organic agricultural products; 4. Lists of approved and prohibited substances for use in the production and handling of organic agricultural products; and 5. A schedule of fees for initial certification and inspection for continued certification as a producer or handler of organic agricultural products. C. The Board is authorized to inspect, sample, analyze, examine records, and test any product claimed to be organically grown or distributed within the state to determine if the product is in compliance with the Oklahoma Organic Food Act. The Board has the authority to enter upon public or private property at any reasonable time for the purpose of administering the Oklahoma Organic Food Act. Any certified operation or applicant for a Certificate of Organic Production shall be deemed to have given consent to any authorized agent of the Board to access, enter, inspect, or monitor the property. Refusal to allow access, entry, or inspection shall constitute grounds for the denial, nonrenewal, suspension, or revocation of certification. D. The Board shall require laboratory analysis of a product claimed to be organically grown if it has reasonable cause to suspect the product may contain a substance not approved for organic production. E. All new applicants are required to have their soil-growing media and irrigation water, if not municipal, assayed for the presence of pesticide residues. F. Verification documents that may be required include, but are not limited to, questionnaires, farm plans, affidavits, inspection reports, laboratory assays, and other documents to verify the path taken by an organic food product through post-harvest handling and distribution. G. The Board may conduct audits of all documents for verification that producers meet the requirements of the Oklahoma Organic Food Act and rules. H. The Board is authorized to promulgate rules as necessary to administer the Oklahoma Organic Food Act and establish certification standards to carry out the Oklahoma Organic Food Act. I. The Board is authorized to revoke, suspend, or not renew any license upon satisfactory proof that the permittee has violated any of the provisions of the Oklahoma Organic Food Act or rules promulgated pursuant thereto.

Legislative History

Added by Laws 1989, c. 317, § 4, operative July 1, 1989. Amended by Laws 2000, c. 243, § 79, emerg. eff. May 24, 2000; Laws 2003, c. 242, § 3, emerg. eff. May 23, 2003.