Draft organic production programme proposes unique ID for growers

A draft National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), 2024, proposes a unique identification (ID) for farmers interested in organic farming. 

It also proposes to increase penalties by accredited certifying bodies for offences and non-compliance of the norms. However, experts lament the lack of provisions to deter offences and non-compliance saying that the penalties “are nothing compared to the money they make through such certifications”.

Issuing the draft NPOP, the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (Apeda), which regulates organic production and exports from the country, said the policy has been revised in harmony with international standards. Stakeholders and interested persons had time till June 30 to provide their inputs.

On the unique ID for farmers, the draft said farmers will have to register with the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, following which they will be given a unique ID. The growers can then give the ID to the Internal Control System of a grower group for registration under NPOP.

OTP provisions

On successful verification and transfer of farmer information to the NPOP database, the subsequent process for registration of the grower group shall be carried out, it said.

An international trade analyst, who did not wish to be identified, said farmers should have the facility to receive a one-time password (OTP) on their mobile to ensure that they are registered and also prevent any fake enrolment of others.

Growers under the new NPOP will have the freedom to shift to another farmer group if they don’t want to continue with the group they are enrolled in or if any problem crops up with the group. 

Pecuniary fines

On penalties, the draft said the fine for providing false information would be ₹10 lakh, up from ₹5 lakh earlier, besides termination of accreditation.

For failing to comply with NPOP norms, the pecuniary fine has been raised to ₹50 lakh from nil now and for failing to update and verify the data entered on Tracenet-Organic, it is ₹25 lakh, up from ₹3 lakh. 

The pecuniary penalty for a subsequent offence - the same or different one - is ₹50 lakh, besides a bar on reapplying for accreditation for three years.

For refusing to disclose information, the penalty is ₹5 lakh, while for non-confirmities established for the presence of residues in prohibited substances in a certified organic product, the fine is ₹25 lakh. For a repeat offence, the fine is ₹50 lakh, besides a ban of up to five years. 

Nothing on organic textiles

The trade analyst said the draft NPOP did not have anything on organic textile standard. “Considering the fact that the National Accreditation Body, which functions under APEDA, is one with comprehensive mandate, the draft NPOP should include organic textile standard,” he said. 

The expert also said the presence of Apeda Chairman in NAB is a “conflict of interest”. 

“The most important missing aspect in the draft is the lack of proposal to imprison the defaulters as in countries like the US,” the expert said. 

The US Department of Agriculture (USDA), through its Strengthening of Organic Enforcement, has provisions to imprison those violating organic products norms and levy fines running into millions of dollars.

In 2019, the USDA brought charged four persons with fraud in selling organic food and the principal defender was sentenced to over 10 years. In another case in 2020, a US individual was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment besides being asked to pay back $15 million.

“Any fraud in organic food can affect human health. The NPOP should take cognisance of this. It should bring in traceability from farm to fork and have imprisonment clauses, besides levying heavy fines rather than levy pecuniary ones,” the expert said.