March 24/Washington/Agriculture Department Documents and Publications -- The Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the circulation of a fraudulent National Organic Program (NOP) organic certificate produced by an uncertified operation based in South Africa.
Reported to the NOP by an accredited certifying agent, the certificate falsely represents agricultural products as certified organic under the NOP regulations. The NOP has not found evidence that any product was sold, labeled, or represented as organic using the fraudulent certificate. The falsification violates the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990.