## Food and Agricultural Code - FAC ## DIVISION 17. FRUIT, NUT, AND VEGETABLE STANDARDS [42501 - 49021] ( Division 17 enacted by Stats. 1967, Ch. 15. ) ## CHAPTER 10. Organic Foods [46000 - 46029] ( Chapter 10 added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 1262, Sec. 2.5. ) ## 46004.1. Unless defined pursuant to the National Organic Program (NOP), the following words and phrases, when used in this act, shall have the following meanings: (a) “Accredited certification agency” means an entity accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture to certify operations as compliant with the federal organic standards. (b) “Act” means the California Organic Food and Farming Act. It also means the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.) and the regulations adopted pursuant to the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.). (c) “Categorical products” means categories of products of like commodity, such as apples, salad products, etc., and does not require variety-specific information. (d) “Certified operation” means a crop or livestock production or a wild crop harvesting or handling operation, or a portion of that operation, that is certified organic by an accredited certification agency as using a system of organic production or handling, as described by the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.) and implemented pursuant to the National Organic Program. (e) “Data” means the information provided annually by persons registered under the act, including certified organic acreage and gross sales of certified organic products. (f) “Director” means the director and State Public Health Officer for the State Department of Public Health. (g) “Enforcement authority” means the governmental unit with primary enforcement jurisdiction, as provided in Section 46008. (h) “Exempt handler” means a handling operation exempt from certification under federal organic standards that sells agricultural products as “organic” but whose gross agricultural income from organic sales totals five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less annually, that only handles agricultural products that contain less than 70 percent organic ingredients, as described in Section 205.301(d) of Title 7 of the Code of Federal Regulations, or that only identifies organic ingredients on the information panel. (i) “Exempt operation” means a production or handling operation, retail establishment, or broker that sells agricultural products but is exempt from certification under federal organic standards. (j) “Exempt producer” means a production operation that sells agricultural products as “organic” but whose gross agricultural income from organic sales totals five thousand dollars ($5,000) or less annually. An “exempt producer” is exempt from certification under federal organic standards. (k) “Federal organic standards” means the federal regulations governing production, labeling, and marketing of organic products as authorized by the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.) and implemented pursuant to the National Organic Program (7 C.F.R. Sec. 205.1 et seq.), and any amendments to the federal act or regulations made subsequent to the enactment of this chapter. (l) “Handle” means to sell, process, or package agricultural products, and includes, but is not limited to, trading, facilitating a sale or trade on behalf of a seller or oneself, importing to the United States, exporting for sale in the United States, combining, aggregating, culling, conditioning, treating, packing, containerizing, repackaging, labeling, storing, receiving, and loading. (m) “Handler” means a person who handles agricultural products, except final retailers of agricultural products that do not process agricultural products. (n) “Handling operation” means an operation that handles agricultural products, except final retailers of agricultural products that do not process agricultural products. (o) “Inspection” means the act of examining and evaluating production or handling operation to determine compliance with state and federal law. (p) “National Organic Program” or “NOP” means the National Organic Program established pursuant to the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.) and the regulations adopted for implementation. (q) “Organic Integrity Database” means the National Organic Program’s electronic, web-based reporting tool for the submission of data, completion of certificates of organic operation, and other information, or the tool’s successors. (r) “Person” means an individual, firm, partnership, trust, corporation, limited liability company, company, estate, public or private institution, association, organization, group, city, county, city and county, political subdivision of this state, other governmental agency within the state, and any representative, agent, or agency of any of the foregoing. (s) “Processing” means cooking, baking, curing, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, churning, separating, extracting, slaughtering, cutting, distilling, fermenting, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, chilling, or otherwise manufacturing, and includes packaging, canning, jarring, or otherwise enclosing food in a container. (t) “Producer” means a person who engages in the business of growing or producing food, fiber, feed, and other agricultural-based consumer products. (u) “Prohibited substance” means a substance the use of which in any aspect of organic production or handling is prohibited or not provided for in state or federal laws, including statutes and regulations. (v) “Residue testing” means an official or validated analytical procedure that detects, identifies, and measures the presence of chemical substances, their metabolites, or degradation products in or on raw or processed agricultural products. (w) “Retail food establishment” means a restaurant, delicatessen, bakery, grocery store, or any retail business with a restaurant, delicatessen, bakery, bulk food self-service station, salad bar, or other eat-in, carry-out, mail order, or delivery service of raw or processed agricultural products. (x) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Food and Agriculture. (y) “State Organic Program” or “SOP” means a state program that meets the requirements of Section 6506 of the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.), is approved by the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, and is designed to ensure that a product that is sold or labeled as organically produced under the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. Sec. 6501 et seq.) is produced and handled using organic methods. (z) “USDA” means the United States Department of Agriculture. (Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 456, Sec. 3. (SB 1117) Effective January 1, 2025.)
