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Practical Contacts
for Organic Producers and Exporters
Here are some helpful contacts in organics and trade.
Organic Sector and Trade Sources
Organic Trade Association (OTA): Turn to p. 8 for a
detailed discussion of OTA’s membership objectives.
Tel.: (413) 775-9965; Fax: (413) 774-6432 www.ota.com
The National Organic Initiative (NOI), an effort of state agricultural marketing officials and the state-regional trade groups below, is a coordinated program to develop export markets for U.S. organic and natural foods. Its regional offices are:
Northeast: Bonita Oehlke, Mass. Dept. of Agriculture
Tel.: (215) 829-9111
Email: Bonita.Oehlke@state.ma.us
South: Emily Felt, No. Car. Dept. of Agriculture
Tel.: (919) 733-7912 ext. 276
Email: emily.felt@ncmail.net
Midwest: Jeff Phillips, Minn. Trade Office
Tel.: (651) 297-8841
Email: Jeffrey.Phillips@state.mn.us
West: Tim Larsen, Colo. Dept. of Agriculture
Tel.: (303) 239-4114
Email: Tim.Larsen@ag.state.co.us
or Bill Dallas, Wash. Dept. of Agriculture
Tel.: (360) 902-1925
Email: Bdallas@agr.wa.gov
The following four state-regional groups help promote organic and conventional agricultural exports from their areas.
Food Export USA Northeast
Tel.: (215) 829-9111; Fax: (215) 829-9777
www.foodexportusa.org
Southern U.S. Trade Association (SUSTA)
Tel.: (504) 568-5986; Fax: (504)568-6010
www.susta.org
Mid-America International Agri-Trade Council (MIATCO)
Tel: (312) 944-3030; Fax: (312) 944-1144
www.miatco.org
Western U.S. Agricultural Trade Association (WUSATA)
Tel.: (360) 693-3373; Fax: (360) 693-3464
www.wusata.org
Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (ATTRA)
provides practical information on sustainable and organic
agriculture to U.S. farmers, extension agents, researchers and
farm organizations.
Tel.: 1 (800) 346-9140; Fax: (501) 442-9842
www.attra.org
USDA Sources
The National Organic Program (NOP), administered by
USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), is developing
national standards for marketing organic agricultural products to
facilitate commerce in fresh and processed organic foods and to
assure consumers that such products meet consistent standards.
Tel.: (202) 720-3252; Fax: (202) 205-7808
www.ams.usda.gov/nop
AMS’ Livestock and Seed Program offers an
accreditation program for U.S. certifiers to comply with
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Guide 65.
Tel.: (202) 720-5705
www.ams.usda.gov/lsg/mgc/iso65.ht
AMS’ Federal-State Marketing Improvement Program
(FSMIP) provides grants for market research and demonstration
projects to improve marketing systems for food and agricultural
products, or to identify new market opportunities for farm
products.
Tel.: (202) 720-2704; Fax: (202) 690-4948
www.ams.usda.gov/tmd/fsmip.htm
USDA’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS)
offers guidance on organic labeling for U.S. meat and poultry
products.
Tel.: (202) 720-7025
www.fsis.usda.gov
The U.S. Codex Office, part of FSIS, provides
information on the Codex Alimentarius Commission and its
activities.
Tel.: (202) 205-7760; Fax: 202-720-3157
www.fsis.usda.gov/OA/codex
The Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education (SARE)
program offers competitive grants for research on practical
methods to manage sustainable and organic agricultural systems.
Tel.: (202) 720-5203; Fax: (202) 720-6071
www.sare.org
The Alternative Farming Systems Information Center (AFSIC)
provides information alternative agricultural cropping systems,
including sustainable, organic and low-input.
Tel.: (301) 504-6559; Fax: (301) 504-6409
www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/
FAS’ Horticultural and Tropical Products Division
has the latest organics trade information, and also serves as a
gateway to other helpful information.
Tel.: (202) 720-1176; Fax: (202) 720-3799
Click on organics at: www.fas.usda.gov/htp
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