7 U.S.C. § 6504
Section 6504 · National standards for organic production
Amended 2 times on record
Applied in 8 court decisions — leading case Johnson v. Paynesville Farmers Union Cooperative Oil Co. (2012)
Most recently applied in Marentette v. Abbott Labs., Inc. (March 2018)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
To be sold or labeled as an organically produced agricultural product under this chapter, an agricultural product shall—
(1) have been produced and handled without the use of synthetic chemicals, except as otherwise provided in this chapter;
(2) except as otherwise provided in this chapter and excluding livestock, not be produced on land to which any prohibited substances, including synthetic chemicals, have been applied during the 3 years immediately preceding the harvest of the agricultural products; and
(3) be produced and handled in compliance with an organic plan agreed to by the producer and handler of such product and the certifying agent.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
1991—Par. (2). Pub. L. 102–237 substituted “; and” for period at end.