S. 1398 — Organic Imports Verification Act of 2025

This section defines terms for purposes of the Act, including: (1) covered organic feedstuff, as any organic feedstuff included on the list established under section 4(b) that is shipped in bulk and for which there is a national organic program import certificate; (2) national organic program import certificate, as defined in section 2103 of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 6502); (3) organic, with respect to a feedstuff, as organically produced per such section 2103; (4) Secretary, as the Secretary of Agriculture acting through the Administrator of the Agricultural Marketing Service; and (5) shipped in bulk, as shipment loose in a ship hold, railcar, container, super sack, or similar method (excluding packaged goods).

This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture to submit to Congress, not later than 180 days after enactment and annually thereafter, a report on residue testing conducted under specified authorities—including OFPA section 2107(a)(6) (7 U.S.C. 6506(a)(6)) requiring periodic testing of certified organic products—for covered organic feedstuffs and bulk imported organic feedstuffs with national organic program import certificates. Each report must include (1) the frequency of such testing, (2) testing methods, (3) results, (4) analysis standards, and (5) actions taken.

This section requires the Secretary of Agriculture, in consultation with the Secretary of Homeland Security and the organic agricultural product imports interagency working group (established under 7 U.S.C. 6521a), to develop and update risk-based protocols for (1) annually selecting imported organic feedstuffs for residue testing and (2) determining testing parameters, including frequency, quantity, type, and responsibility. The Secretary must maintain a confidential annual list of covered feedstuffs (not publicly available), conduct residue testing on each annually, and—beginning on the date of enactment—exclude from organic sale (and prohibit organic labeling or representation of) any shipment with detectable prohibited substances exceeding tolerances under the National Organic Program (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.) or an equivalent state program. (Thus, the provision targets potential fraud or contamination in imported organic animal feed used for certified organic livestock production.)