§ 6514. Accreditation program

• (a) The Secretary shall establish and implement a program to accredit a governing State official, and any private person, that meets the requirements of this section as a certifying agent for the purpose of certifying a farm or handling operation as a certified organic farm or handling operation.
• (b) To be accredited as a certifying agent under this section, a governing State official or private person shall—
  • (1) prepare and submit, to the Secretary, an application for such accreditation;
  • (2) have sufficient expertise in organic farming and handling techniques as determined by the Secretary; and
  • (3) comply with the requirements of this section and section 6515 of this title .
• (c) The Secretary, acting through the Deputy Administrator of the national organic program established under this chapter, has the authority, and shall grant a certifying agent the authority, to require producers and handlers to provide additional documentation or verification before granting a certification under section 6503 of this title , in the case of a compliance risk with respect to meeting the national standards for organic production established under section 6504 of this title , as determined by the Secretary or the certifying agent.
• (d)
  • (1) For an agricultural product being imported into the United States to be represented as organically produced, the Secretary shall require the agricultural product to be accompanied by a complete and valid national organic import certificate, which shall be available as an electronic record.
  • (2)
    • (A) The Secretary shall establish a system to track national organic import certificates.
    • (B) In establishing the system under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may integrate the system into any existing information tracking systems for imports of agricultural products.
• (e) An accreditation made under this section—
  • (1) subject to paragraph (2), shall be for a period of not more than 5 years, as determined appropriate by the Secretary;
  • (2) in the case of a certifying agent operating in a foreign country, shall be for a period of time that is consistent with the certification of a domestic certifying agent, as determined appropriate by the Secretary; and
  • (3) may be renewed.