Program to Assess Organic Certifying Agencies

This rule establishes a voluntary, fee-for-service program, under the Agricultural Marketing Agreement Act of 1946, to verify that State and private organic certifying agencies comply with the requirements prescribed under the International Organization for Standardization/ International Electrotechnical Commission Guide 65 ``General Requirements for Agencies Operating Product Certification Systems'' (ISO Guide 65). Assessments are to be conducted by the Livestock and Seed Program of the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS). This assessment program is established to enable organic certifying agencies to comply with European Union (EU) requirements beginning on June 30, 1999. This assessment program will verify that State and private organic certifying agencies are operating third-party certification systems in a consistent and reliable manner thereby, facilitating uninterrupted exports of U.S. organic agricultural commodities to the EU. This action also establishes fees for the services provided and announces that AMS has obtained, on an emergency basis, approval from the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) of the information collection requirements contained in this rule.