After reviewing the introduction to the program framework, certified organic operations are requested to review the following parameters of a DRAFT PROPOSAL for an Organic Research and Promotion Program and weigh-in with detailed feedback and preferences. We encourage you to complete this online form, but you can also print the survey and return it via mail, if that’s easier for you. Or you can request a member of the Steering Committee contact you for a conversation about the proposal.
In addition to feedback from primary stakeholders, OTA welcomes comments from the public at large.
Please remember, this is just another step in the process to solicit detailed feedback from the organic sector. Your responses and suggestions are non-binding. The final petition to USDA for a potential Research and Promotion Program will be determined based on ongoing input from certified organic operations. OTA will continue to reach out to organic certificate holders to fine-tune the best possible framework, and upon completion of that process, to then submit an application to USDA to initiate an industry referendum for an organic research and promotion program. If you have alternative ideas, or clarifying questions about a potential program, now is the time to weigh-in.
Note, should an Organic Checkoff program be created, it would be subject to the rules and regulations of the Commodity Promotion, Research, and Information Act of 1996 (7 U.S.C. 7411-7425), referred to throughout this survey as “the law.”