Calvin Dooley: “In the 2002 farm bill, an exemption from payment of promotion assessments was created for producers of 100 percent…”

“In the 2002 farm bill, an exemption from payment of promotion assessments was created for producers of 100 percent organic products. This exemption was established in light of the fact that commodity promotion programs do not focus on or promote organic products, which constitute only a small minority of agricultural production. Organic producers were paying assessments for promotion programs that did not benefit their specialized operations. Section 10607 of the Farm Security and Rural Development Act of 2002 thus mandated a narrow exemption for producers of 100 percent organic products. The Secretary was specifically required to issue regulations for this exemption not later than 1 year after the date of enactment. Yet more than 2 years after enactment it still has not been implemented. The farm bill was enacted in May, 2002. The regulations should have been promulgated by May of last year, but they were not. The Department of Agriculture finally issued proposed regulations earlier this year and collected public comments, but final regulations have yet to be issued.”