On December 4, 2020 OCIA received notice from the State of California as well as the National Organic Program regarding Agro Gold WS. The State of Washington issued a stop sale order on December 17, 2020. An edited version of the NOP’s communication is below. Operations not in California who have this product listed on their Organic System Plan (OSP) should take the same steps as noted below. Please review this information and contact OCIA to speak with your reviewer if AGRO GOLD WS (which has been sold in a kit with WEED SLAYER) is currently listed on your OSP.
Today, December 4, 2020, the California Department of Food and Agriculture’s (CDFA) Fertilizing Materials Inspection Program (FMIP) issued a statewide quarantine and stop use notice for the product AGRO GOLD WS. The product AGRO GOLD WS has been distributed within a co-packed box that also contains the product WEED SLAYER, an herbicide also listed as approved for use in organic agriculture.
The product AGRO GOLD WS has been found to contain both Diquat and Glyphosate, both of which are prohibited substances under the USDA organic regulations at 7 CFR §205.105: Allowed and prohibited substances, methods, and ingredients in organic production and handling.
California operations have been instructed to discontinue the use of Agro Gold WS on land registered as organic immediately. Those producers have also been instructed to contact their certifying agents to notify you of any changes they need to make to remove AGRO GOLD WS from their organic system plan (OSP).
Any operation using AGRO GOLD WS should evaluate whether they need to update their OSP to reflect the discontinued use of this product.