California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF) is a USDA accredited organic certifying agency and trade association located in Santa Cruz, California. CCOF offers organic certification to the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) standards throughout North and South America to farms, livestock operations, processors, private labeler, brokers and retailers. Formed in 1973, CCOF currently has more than 2,000 certified clients, certifies over 1,300 organic crops, products and services, more than 600,000 acres in 29 states and three foreign countries; Mexico, Costa Rica and Canada, and nearly 80% of the organic farmland in California. CCOF also has more than 300 supporting members, individuals and businesses who support the trade association’s activities and the mission of the organization to certify, educate, advocate and promote organic.
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CCOF was founded in 1973 as a mutual assistance and certification organization for organic farmers and was one the first organizations to perform organic certification in North America.
In 1979 the California Organic Food Act was signed into law. While it was a state-mandated local program, there was no budgetary appropriation given to the law for enforcement. Any infractions would have to be taken up in the courts by organizations like CCOF.
In 1990 California Governor George Deukmejian signed the California Organic Foods Act (COFA) of 1990, closing a 20-month marathon effort by CCOF. Third-party certification was still voluntary under the new law. CCOF’s standards were used as the foundation for the COFA.
CCOF founded the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF) in 1990 to fund the educational objectives of CCOF and on-farm research of organic growing practices. Today, as a separate entity from CCOF, OFRF is widely recognized as a leader in the worldwide organic community, having awarded more than $1 million to organic farming research and public education projects since 1990.
In 1997 CCOF helped launch the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) as a joint materials review/testing program with Oregon Tilth (OTCO). The two certifiers felt that in order to make the program more legitimate and self-sustaining, it needed to become entirely independent. Today, OMRI is the primary organic materials review clearinghouse for the nation.
Another milestone in 1997 was the release of the first draft of the NOP regulations. To a shocked organic community, the “big three”—irradiation, genetically modified organisms, and sewage sludge—were subtly incorporated into the rule. Nearly 280,000 people nationwide wrote letters, emails and faxes to contest the inclusion of the “big three” in the organic standards, and their actions paid off. This issue generated more comments than any other issue in the history of the USDA.\
The NOP rules were finalized and published in 2002 and were the first set of federal regulations governing organics. They were based on CCOF regulations developed in California by CCOF farmers.
In the final NOP regulations the USDA determined that certifying organizations, now quasi “agents” of the USDA and licensed by the government to ensure compliance to the regulations, to certify organic and grant the right to use the USDA ‘Certified Organic seal, must be free from conflict of interest if consumers were to be assured of the integrity of organic products and to have trust in the seal. This meant that CCOF certified members could no longer have oversight of the certification program that certifies their own businesses. CCOF was forced to restructure or face non-accreditation by the USDA. After several proposals and much negotiation, success was finally achieved in the formation of a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), separate from the member-directed CCOF, Inc., the nonprofit trade association.
By 2008 CCOF reached a major milestone, surpassing a half million certified organic acres. By the end of 2008, CCOF grew by 11% and surpassed the 2,000 mark for the total number of operations certified.
The CCOF Trade Association actively works to expand the organic marketplace consumers depend on. The trade association builds consumer demand and public support for organic products through organic education, public relations and marketing assistance. Political advocacy, to protect and encourage organic food and agriculture, is also a large focus for the trade association. Trade association members include all CCOF certified clients and other supporting individuals and businesses. Membership is organized into 11 regional chapters, one processor/handler chapter and one at-large chapter. To become a member of CCOF visit http://www.ccof.org/support.php
CCOF Certification Services, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of the CCOF Trade Association, provides a wide array of cost-effective, organic certification programs. CCOF Certification Services certify farm and livestock operations, processors, retailers, private labelers, and restaurants that are truly farm-to-fork. CCOF Certification Services is accredited by USDA National Organic Program. To ensure international trade access for clients, CCOF maintain ISO Guide 65 accreditation with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service and IOAS for EU Equivalency and Canadian Organic Regime accreditation and are CARTV registered for sales Quebec. Visit CCOF for more information.
In 2001, the CCOF Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was created to expand CCOF's education and outreach activities. The mission of the CCOF Foundation is to protect the environment and enhance human health by promoting the production and consumption of nutritious organic food. The CCOF Foundation's programs aim to: