H.R. 3871: Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2017

115th Congress · introduced 2017-09-28 · Agriculture and Food · Latest: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

federal

Follow this bill, step by step

Where it came from: introduced 2017-09-28 · official record
Who proposed it: Rep. Faso, John J. [R-NY-19] · what a sponsor is
What happened next: no floor votes in our records yet. Why?
Where it stands now: Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture. Not final yet: this can still change. We check for updates every day.
If it becomes law and spends money: follow the money to money laws, then agencies and contracts and grants.

What does this mean?

Official title

Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2017

Plain summary

Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2017 This bill amends the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 to reauthorize through FY2023 and modify the Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP). USDA must modernize the international trade tracking and data collection systems of the NOP, which must include ensuring that trade and transaction certificates are fully traceable without unduly hindering trade. The bill authorizes mandatory funding to be used for this purpose and for maintaining previous database and technology upgrades. The bill modifies requirements for recordkeeping, investigations, and enforcement with respect to the organic certification process to: allow parties to an active investigation to share confidential business information with government officers or employees and certifying agents involved in the investigation, require federal agencies that administer cross-border documentation systems to provide USDA with access to the data from the systems, allow the NOP to grant an accredited certifying agent the authority to require additional documentation or verification before granting certification, and require USDA to issue regulations limiting the type of operations that are excluded from certification. With respect to the accreditation process for certifying agents, the bill: (1) authorizes USDA to oversee and approve certifying agents operating in a foreign country, and (2) requires certifying agents that intend to operate in a foreign country to be annually authorized.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

What a vote does

A “Yea” vote

If it passes both chambers and is signed, it becomes law.

A “Nay” vote

If it is not passed, current law stays as it is.

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What does this mean? (plain words)

Official text

Organic Farmer and Consumer Protection Act of 2017

Source: Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)

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The strongest published arguments

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How did my representative vote? · This bill's floor votes

Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Faso, John J. [R-NY-19] · 42 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Glenn Grothman (R-WI), Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE), Darren Soto (D-FL), Steve Cohen (D-TN), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Jerrold Nadler (D-NY), Jared Huffman (D-CA), Alma S. Adams (D-NC), Salud O. Carbajal (D-CA), Claudia Tenney (R-NY), Jimmy Panetta (D-CA), James P. McGovern (D-MA), Mark Pocan (D-WI), Peter Welch (D-VT), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Chellie Pingree (D-ME), Glenn Thompson (R-PA), Seth Moulton (D-MA), Ted Lieu (D-CA), David G. Valadao (R-CA), Elise M. Stefanik (R-NY), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), John Garamendi (D-CA)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Words on this page, explained (3)

Authorization: A law that creates or continues a government program and says what it may do, often with a suggested spending ceiling. An authorization alone does not provide money; a separate appropriation does.
Bill: A proposed law. It becomes law only if it passes the legislature and is signed by the president or governor (or a veto is overridden).
Rulemaking: The process agencies use to write regulations that carry out laws passed by Congress or a legislature. Usually an agency publishes a proposed rule, takes public comments, then publishes a final rule.

Plain meanings written from linked sources. All words.

Sources

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
Congress.gov
Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-115hr3871.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/115/hr>

Record fed-us-cong115-hr3871 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong115 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong115