CCIA obtained its accreditation from the National Organic Program (NOP) as an Organic Certifying Agent in 2002. This accreditation allowed CCIA to certifiy qualified domestic and international producers, processors, and handlers of agricultural products who comply with the Federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.

   CCIA was audited by NOP in June 2007. CCIA responded to minor issues of noncompliance and requested additional time to respond to 2 of the issues. Without receiving any response from NOP, CCIA received a letter of intent to revoke our accreditation in July 2008.Our accreditation was then revoked In October 2008 due to a late response to this letter. CCIA intends to work with NOP to regain our ability to act as an Organic Certifying Agent.
   This does not affect the certification status of our clients; their organic certification is still in effect. However, we are required to begin the process of transferring their files to other organic certifying agents.

The following information is from the NOP web site on December 19, 2008:

Question: What does revocation of the California Crop Improvement Association’s accreditation mean?

Answer: Operations certified by CCIA must make arrangements with another certifying agent to provide their certification as soon as possible. CCIA clients may make arrangements to transfer their certification by contacting any NOP accredited certifying agent. Operations certified by CCIA remain certified until certification is surrendered, suspended, or revoked. Properly certified and labeled products from CCIA certified operations are still eligible for sale as organic during this transition.

Useful information and links:

» Applicant Rights and Responsibilities

» OMRI Product List

» Retail Compliance with NOP Regulations (pdf)

» CDFA (CA Department of Food & Agriculture Organic Program)

» California Organic Products Act of 2003 (pdf)

» California Organic Retail Practices (pdf)