Your favorite imported organic wine might not be available in the US soon thanks to a bureaucratic boondoggle. Or, it might no longer be organic – either in name, or possibly in practice.

For no good reason whatsoever, the US Department of Agriculture decided last year that for a bottle of wine to be sold in the US as organic, not only must the vineyard and winery be certified organic – the importer must also be certified organic. This is ridiculous on its face, because the importer doesn't touch the wine itself.

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Putting aside how stupid the regulation is, the current crisis is entirely the USDA's fault. Importers are trying to apply for certification, and 1853 "handling operations" in the US have been certified, according to the USDA. But there's a backlog of bureaucrats processing applications. The deadline for compliance was last week, with many importers still uncertified and uncertain about what to do about it.

As of today, if a wine that was made from USDA-certified organically grown grapes, in a USDA-organically certified winery in France or Chile or New Zealand, is imported by a company whose paperwork hasn't been processed by the slow-moving USDA bureaucracy, everyone involved is subject to "significant monetary penalties," and worse.

I asked the USDA what happens if a wine whose importer is not certified organic appears in a store with "organic" on the label. Here's the answer from a USDA spokesperson:

"Failure to comply with the USDA organic regulations can result in significant monetary penalties, both in the form of holding fees by US Customs and Border Protection where there is evidence of trademark violations and in the form of cease/desist notices and civil penalties from USDA. USDA also works with the Office of Inspector General and the Department of Justice in cases involving high market impact and fraud."

The DOJ? For wine labels? Seriously? I guess the DOJ has a lot of time on its hands because it didn't consider inciting insurrection worth pursuing.

The situation could be complicated even more by a looming dockworker strike on the East Coast, currently scheduled to start next week. Who knows how long wines that say "organic" on the label could be trapped on unloaded container ships – and what happens if the USDA decides to start enforcing the law before those containers are cleared.

I write all this as a longtime advocate of certified organic fruit, including wine grapes. I'm skeptical of "sustainable" as an amorphous feel-good term that doesn't restrict use of herbicides or anything else that organic advocates care about. But it seems to me that the only way to get some of Europe's best truly organic wines into the US in the immediate future will be to stop calling them "organic." I don't see the benefit of that. Moreover, if a winery can't sell its certified organic wine as "organic," what's the motivation to stay certified?

Congressman Nick Langworthy, a Republican who represents an upstate New York district that includes two of the Finger Lakes, took the lead on a letter sent to the USDA last week asking for a 120-day extension to the deadline for importers to get certified. (Not coincidentally, that would lead into the next presidential term, when a new head of the USDA could be appointed.) Langworthy is a member of the House Committee on Agriculture and the letter was signed by eight other committee members, both Republicans and Democrats.

"The rule that they have put forward has created a pretty massive and unexpected burden on many of our importers," Langworthy told Wine-Searcher. "A lot of times you get bureaucrats searching for a solution to a problem that doesn't really exist. This doesn't come from an act of Congress. It comes because someone in a bureaucracy made a decision."

Langworthy said he hasn't asked for the silly rule to be overturned, though the Supreme Court's decision earlier this year to end the Chevron deference to federal agency decisions seems to open a rule like this up to lawsuits. Organic wine importers, though, are not known for their deep pockets to pay lawyers.

Chain reaction

I asked the USDA what the rationale is for requiring wine importers to be certified organic. It took two weeks to get this reply. Two weeks! Bureaucracy churns slowly.

"Organic is a vital part of the US food system," wrote the USDA spokesperson. "Any time an industry grows, and there are new financial opportunities, there are also opportunities for fraud. The USDA organic regulations are not industry or product-specific. To better protect the industry, certified operations, and consumers and prevent fraud in the supply chain, USDA requires organic certification of most businesses in organic trade, including wine importers. Organic certification is the only way USDA can enforce accountability and traceability for shipments coming in from across the border so the organic status of an imported product can be verified back across supply chains. Importers of organic products, regardless of packaging, must be certified under USDA's organic regulations."

Do you see a rationale there? I do not. Shipments of bottled wines are already traceable to the source; there's already a thick sheaf of paperwork. There's no need to make importers of organic wine work more. Importers of wines made with buckets of Roundup don't have to take this extra paperwork step.

In other words, the USDA is punishing importers for bringing in organic wine. This will lead to slightly higher costs for organic wines. I fail to see anyone who benefits from this.

There is hope for a change. The Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America (WSWA) is the most powerful organization in wine and this nonsensical rule affects them more than anyone else.

"On behalf of WSWA Members who are organic wine importers of record, we want to express our deep concerns regarding the challenges brought by the recent USDA National Organic Program's Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule," the WSWA said in a statement to Wine-Searcher. "Our members, many of whom were previously exempt from certification, now face substantial delays and operational disruptions due to the overwhelmed certification process. These delays threaten not only their ability to conduct business but also the integrity of the international wine market that depends on timely and compliant imports."

Did you see the giant nationwide WSWA coming to the defense of tiny urban importers bringing in funky zero-zero wines for the hipster market? Yet that's where we are: the USDA's rule is just that stupid. It hurts people trying to bring Americans organic wines and benefits no one. A delay is nice, but dropping the rule would be better.

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