Elenteny’s Organic Program Actions : Strengthening Organic Enforcement Regulations
Elenteny’s Response to USDA’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement Regulations
Overview
This page provides information for Elenteny customers on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) organic regulations to strengthen oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic agricultural products.
These new requirements for organic supply chains commenced on March 19, 2024.
The SOE regulations require:
Elenteny Imports to become a certified importer with the USDA. To do so, we must declare all products that are labeled as organic that we will import with a USDA organic certifier.
To attain certification, Elenteny must provide a list of suppliers and each SKU from those suppliers that will be imported including all certification documents. Our certifier must review all certificates and sources prior to Elenteny’s certification.
Additionally, suppliers are required to have each shipment certified by their certifying agent and will be given a National Organic Program certification (NOP Certificate) which must be provided to our freight forwarder as part of the export documentation.
If you want to import any products labeled with the word ORGANIC. This includes language such as “made with organic grapes”, “made with organic standards”, and “contains organic ingredients”. YOU MUST BE REGISTERED IN OUR ORGANIC PROGRAM. If your supplier and the specific item you are ordering are not in our Organic Program, the label and corresponding invoices or other export documents MUST NOT say any of the above. There are no exceptions.
Does Elenteny have its Organic Certification?
Yes.
Team Elenteny is now able to provide an update on our work to obtain our Organic Certification to comply with the USDA SOE.
Our organic certification process is now complete and we are live on the USDA’s Organic Integrity Database. https://organic.ams.usda.gov/integrity
Please reach out to organic@elentenyimports.com to obtain Elenteny’s NOP ID number and discuss your organic importing needs.
Webinar : We recently held a webinar to answer all your Questions about Importing Organic Wine with Elenteny.
September 2024 Update :
Since the beginning of the new requirements Elenteny has imported over 45,ooo cases of wine for our customers. To ensure that we are able to seamlessly handle the volume of imports and remain compliant with USDA requirements, our customers enroll their wine with us before they import. This allows us to discuss our fee structure and be completely transparent about our process.
We do this so that there are no surprises.
How to Enroll
- We ask our customers to complete a Matrix (excel) and returned to us before the shipment arrives. This provides us all of the information we need to certify the wine before it arrives. For example: This asks for details about the SKU name, item code, Country of Origin, COLA, Wine Type & NOP particulars.
- We require PDFs of the COLAs for all the wines being registered. All must say “Made with Organic Grapes” on the brand (back) label.
- We require a copy of the Operator Certificate from the EU TRACES system. Example attached. The certificate number from TRACES must be on the matrix for the corresponding supplier.
When are the Enrollment Periods?
The next enrollment period provides the opportunity for you to register the organic wine you intend to import. You must register wines with a label including the word ORGANIC. This can be any of the following:
“Organic”. “Organic Wine” “Made with Organic Grapes” “Made using Organic practices”
These, and only these are wines in-scope of the USDA’s Strengthening Organic Enforcement Program.
The enrollment periods are :
June 1, 2024 – June 21, 2024 – Ended
September 1, 2024 – September 20, 2024 – OPEN NOW
December 1, 2024 – December 20, 2024
March 2, 2025 – March 21, 2025
The full schedule of 2025 periods will be published in early 2025.
What are Elenteny’s Fees?
We believe strongly in the value that small, organic producers and distributors offer US consumers, and we will work with you to ensure the continuity of your organic products in the marketplace.
We have a fee structure that includes an annual SKU Registration Fee and then a shipment charge per supplier each time the SKU is imported. The fees are standardized for those SKUs which are registered during an enrollment period.
For SKUS which meet the following conditions a RUSH fee is applied.
- An order that has not been declared ORGANIC on the PO appears as ORGANIC on the Commercial Invoice
- You are not currently opted into the program (see enrollment periods above) .
- If any item that is not enrolled appears on the Commercial Invoice.
Please reach out to organic@elentenyimports.com to learn more about our fee structure.
For new customers thinking about importing Organic Wine
For our customers considering importing organic wine in the future, please talk to our team first.
We need to ensure compliance and you will need to speak with you about what is required. For more information, please email organic@elentenyimports.com
MORE INFO AND CONTACTS
Fact Sheet : https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/SOE-FR-Fact-Sheet.pdf
SOE Rules: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/strengthening-organic-enforcement
USDA FAQ: https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/strengthening-organic-enforcement/faq
Certifier Look Up: https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/becoming-certified
Example certificate: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/NOP%20Import%20Certificate.pdf
USDA Handbook : https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/2024NOPProgramHandbookUpdate.pdf
Contact us : organic@elentenyimports.com
Submit your PO
LCL customers submit here
Elenteny Partners Submit POs here
*USDA/CBP Agriculture has already begun requesting photos, COLAs and other documentation to prove that the final imported wine is compliant with this program
