July 1, 2006 - June 30, 2007 Accomplishments
This year, in an effort to save valuable resources, OTA published an abridged Annual Review (4.1 MB .pdf) to showcase the association's fiscal year highlights (e-mail membership@ota.com to receive a hard copy of the report). A more detailed explanation of OTA’s 2006/2007 work on behalf of the organic business community can be found here:
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**FY07 SPOTLIGHT**
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 OTA members and researchers have noted that the scarcity of organic agricultural ingredients is dampening the growth of the market. To expand North American organic agriculture (which provides additional benefit to our environment), and to increase the supply of organic products, OTA created and launched HowToGoOrganicTM.com as a resource for farmers and processors seeking to transition to organic methods. The site includes general as well as region-specific information, and features profiles of organic businesses. |
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In legislative and advocacy work, OTA: |
Recalibrated its proposals for Congress for the Farm Bill to focus on four objectives: expanding U.S. supply by supporting technical assistance, transition/conversion and cost share; overcoming hurdles like organic crop insurance; expanding economic and agronomic research on organic agriculture; and support for the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and specifically the National Organic Program (NOP).
Testified before the new Subcommittee on Horticulture and Organic Agriculture to urge that organic farmers have the same resources provided to conventional farmers.
Encouraged its members to invite their legislators and legislative staff to visit their organic facilities and businesses as part of OTA’s “Bring Your Legislator to Work Month” in August.
Hosted two briefings on Capitol Hill for congressional staff in September.
Held a members-only OTA Policy Conference in early October in Baltimore focusing primarily on OTA’s outline for organic provisions in the next Farm Bill.
Instituted OTA’s Farm Bill Forecasts the first Thursday of each month beginning Feb. 1, 2007.
Held OTA’s Policy Conference & Hill Visit Day in March in Arlington, VA, and Washington, D.C.
Briefed the informal USDA organic working group on OTA's Farm Bill priorities and participated in a discussion of how agencies could work more closely to provide the best use of scarce resources.
Influenced USDA’s Farm Bill proposal, especially regarding data collection.
Increased amount of specialty (organic) sugar allowed to be imported without a tariff.
Held a briefing for key agriculture reporters to gain their early interest in organic agriculture’s interest in the Farm Bill resulting in stories in several national public affairs journals.
In regulatory and standards activities, OTA:
Submitted five public comments to USDA: on the definition of “natural” for meat and poultry (FSIS); the inclusion of organic in WIC benefits (FNS); allowed materials issues (NOP); the definition of “organic Agricultural Industry” (FCIC); and pet food standards (NOSB).
Submitted a public comment on cloning to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Recognized the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) as the global standard for organic textile certification in January 2007.
Established the 18-participant OTA Food Safety Task Force to track and analyze food safety issues facing US organic growers and manufacturers and to develop recommendations for food safety standardization to meet organic production needs.
Established the 20-participant Mexico Federal Seed Treatment Task Force to detail the scope and implications of Mexico’s federal seed treatment requirements and recommend a course of action to the OTA Board and staff.
Helped improve the regulatory environment for, and increase the awareness of, fertilizers and soil amendments allowed in organic production with the advice of the 17-participant National Organic Fertilizer Task Force.
Participated in the first International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) conference on Animals in Organic Production in St. Paul, MN.
Continued to defend the U.S. organic standards in response to another legal action filed against the USDA seeking to reopen a long settled case. To uphold the rules that were promulgated after years of public comment, OTA retained counsel to file complex amicus briefs. The court’s ultimate dismissal allowed the continued use of needed materials in the post harvest handling of organic products in demand by today's consumers.
Filed an official comment to USDA, as another safeguard against possible supply disruption, about a small number of non-organic agricultural ingredients that are recommended for listing on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, if organic versions are determined by the user and certifier to be commercially unavailable. OTA’s goal is to develop the market, and subsequently boost the demand for the organic counterparts to these minor ingredients.
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In Canadian focused efforts, OTA:
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Realized its long-term goal of having full-time staff in Canada and, in early 2007, named Matthew Holmes managing director for its Canadian operations.
Held an election for the first OTA Canada Advisory Committee.
Issued a press release in early September hailing the pre-publication of Canada’s organic regulations in the Canada Gazette Sept. 2.
Established the 9 participant Canada Regulation Task Force to examine the Canadian organic regulation, and the Quality Management System Manual to help develop OTA's comment.
Established the 8 participant Canada Permitted Substances List Task Force to examine the Permitted Substances List, referenced in the proposed Canadian organic regulation, to determine what substances need to be reviewed and considered for addition to the list.
Submitted its official comments on the proposed Canadian organic regulation.
Issued a press release in response to Canadian government’s Dec. 22 publication of a federal regulation for organic food and livestock feeds.
Expanded OTA presence from coast to coast with small offices in New Brunswick, Vancouver and Ottawa, Ontario.
Worked with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to plan the world’s first list of Harmonization System codes for organic products to allow for data tracking of imports and gauging of consumer demand in Canada.
Remained proactive in public relations, promoting the industry and protecting organic product integrity in such media as the Globe and Mail, the Vancouver Sun, the Ottawa Citizen, Maclean’s Magazine, CBC, CTV Canada AM, the Walrus, Canadian Living, Canadian Meat Business, Alive, Organic & Wellness, Organic Processing, Viva, Farm Focus, Western Producer, and others.
Grew OTA Canadian trade membership approximately 12% in the 2006/2007 fiscal year.
In public relations and consumer education arenas, OTA:
Partnered once again with Earth Day Network and MusicMatters to produce the third annual Organic! for Earth DayTM campaign in which more than 3,500 retailers and 40 manufacturers participated. The Go Organic! for Earth DayTM campaign was selected by Nutrition Business Journal to receive an NBJ 2006 Business Achievement Award for organic excellence.
Provided organic information and inspiration monthly to nearly 4000 subscribers to The O’Mama Report e-newsletter. One thousand web sites have links to OTA’s “The O’Mama Report” web site.
Took part in Taste for Life’s Organic Harvest and Earth Day buyorganic! editions.
Executive Director, Caren Wilcox, was interviewed by The New York Times, Associated Press, CNBC, and various other trade press regarding a variety of industry issues. Wilcox also spoke at the U.S. Agriculture Reporters Annual Meeting in Washington, and presented a paper on Organic and Food Safety at the University of Georgia symposium on food safety.
Was mentioned in the news in thousands of articles. Examples include National Public Radio, Wall Street Journal, Apparel, Chicago Tribune, O the Oprah Magazine, Alaska Airlines, Family Circle Magazine, Redbook, Des Moines Register, Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Boston Globe, St. Louis Post Dispatch, L.A. Times, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Today’s Dietitian, Hawaii Beverage Guide, Financial Times (English and U.S. editions), Bloomberg Online, Business Week, Forbes, E-The Environmental Magazine, Entrepreneur, DSN Retailing Today, Al-Jazeera, Greenhouse Management & Production, PowerHomeBiz, and DSRwire.
Countered inaccurate information about organic agricultural practices and products. When another organization put out erroneous information about organic practices under the guise of science, OTA’s quick action prevented potential disaster.
Represented the industry by being well-informed and taking action at the right time. When one major crop was found to be the cause of food-borne illness, OTA acted immediately to prevent misinformation about organic practices from spreading. Using the advice from crisis communications experts, OTA worked to ensure that members and key organizations had accurate talking points in case organic products were found to be involved.
In “business to business” market development, OTA:
Provided exposure for member companies looking for ways to purchase or sell organic products through The Organic Pages OnlineTM which logged over 310,000 visitors in the fiscal year.
Added a new search to The Organic Pages OnlineTM dedicated to available organic certification services.
Launched a new search on The Organic Pages OnlineTM dedicated to organic personal care products.
Launched a new search on The Organic Pages OnlineTM dedicated to organic private label manufacturers.
Launched the Ingredients Posting List Serve, upon member request, which has connected 55 members for the purpose of posting commercial requests related to the trade of organic ingredients.
Distributed $48,570 in Martin-Fabert T-shirt grant funds to four non-profit organizations. Each of these groups completed their third year with the program and were successful in transitioning to using organic cotton, despite smaller grants each year. Together the non-profits, including the Earth Day Network, Farm Aid, Transportation Alternatives, and National Wildlife Federation, produced 38,000 organic t-shirts this year.
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OTA's All Things OrganicTM Conference and Trade Show:
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Is now the largest all organic trade show in North America. There were over 600 booths in 2007 for All Things Organic™, a 22% increase over last year.
Attracted over 16,000 attendees to the show floor.
Was awarded Trade Show Weekly’s “ Fastest 50” for the second year in a row, in recognition of ATO’s phenomenal growth.
Established the 11-participant All Things Organic 2007 Conference Task Force to advise the OTA staff during the development and review phases of the 2007 All Things OrganicTM conference.
Used wind energy to power the trade show floor, conference rooms, and hotel room block. Many attendees and exhibitors also voluntarily bought green credits to offset their travel to the show. The green tags purchases offset the 162,400 lbs. of greenhouse gases emitted by the event. This is the equivalent of planting 22 acres of trees or taking 13 cars off the road for one year.
Collected a total of 20,265 pounds of food (equivalent of 15,237 meals) at the Power of Five, for The Greater Chicago Food Depository, of which 16,812 pounds was collected from All Things Organic exhibitors.
Pre-registered 5,000 attendees at the 2007 event for complimentary trade show passes to the 2008 show.
Signed up a record 85% of All Things Organic™ 2006 exhibitors for the 2007 show at the 2006 show!
Launched plans to continue All Things Organic™ in 2008 in cooperation with Fancy Food Show and National Association of State Departments of Agriculture (NASDA) at McCormick Center in Chicago from April 26 -29.
Had 25 conference sessions and over 100 speakers and moderators representing a cross section of topics that help members manage their businesses and keep informed about new developments in the organic industry. Among the speakers this year was the USDA Secretary of Agriculture.
Extended the Member Hospitality Lounge onto the tradeshow floor at the OTA booth, providing a comfortable place for members to meet customers and access their e-mail.
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In international trade and marketing activities, OTA: |
Received a 21% increase, from $350,000 to $422,000, in funding for organic promotion through the Market Access Program (MAP) program of USDA.
Received a $249,000 grant from the Technical Assistance for Specialty Crops (TASC) program of USDA to analyze trade issues impacting US organic trade.
Launched its second Organic Export Survey.
Issued two new international market research reports from Taiwan and Southeast Asia through its Organic Export Program.
Established the 10-participant International Marketing and Promotion Task Force to assist OTA staff with the development of marketing and promotional programs funded by the USDA's Market Access Program and the OTA, for project year 2007 and 2008.
Ensured organic representation at trade shows in Germany, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Dubai.
In membership benefits and service development, OTA:
Redesigned the OTA News Flash, OTA Advantage, and OTA’s Organic Policy Update electronic newsletters for an updated look and enhanced usability.
Established 7 new task forces, in a wide variety of program areas boasting 80 participants representing 75 companies.
Increased forum participation to 1156 participants representing 878 companies.
Grew OTA’s Skill and Interest Bank to 80 individual submissions from 80 different companies, encompassing 33 different skill and interest categories.
Established the 14-participant Retailer Involvement Task Force to provide the OTA Board Community Relations Committee information on a variety of strategic questions related to opportunities and challenges in retailer recruitment and service.
Made it possible for its members to participate in the Internet Master Series—12 live teleseminars featuring respected and successful names in marketing—for free.
Revamped its pension and employee savings plan for members enabling investment in sustainable and green investments for members and employees alike.
The OTA Annual Report to Members for the 2006 fiscal year (July 1, 2005- June 30, 2006) can be viewed as a .pdf document (6 MB).
