For the purposes of this Article, unless otherwise apparent from the context, certain words and phrases are defined as follows:
(a) “Accreditation” means a determination made by the Secretary that authorizes a private, foreign, or State entity to conduct certification activities as a certifying agent under the National Organic Program.
(b) “Act” means the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, as amended (7 U.S.C. section 6501, et seq.).
(c) “Administrator” means the Administrator for the Agricultural Marketing Service, United States Department of Agriculture, or the representative to whom authority has been delegated to act in the stead of the Administrator.
(d) “Agricultural Commissioner” means the Yolo County Agricultural Commissioner or the Commissioner’s designated representative.
(e) “Agriculture” means the science, art and business of cultivating the soil, producing crops and/or raising livestock.
(f) “Agricultural commodities” means commodities or products of agriculture, raw or processed, including any commodity or product derived from livestock that is marketed for human or livestock use or consumption.
(g) “Area” means the physical space surrounding food where there is more than a negligible chance of a prohibited material being absorbed by, incorporated into, or adhered to the food, soil, or growing medium. The area may differ significantly depending on the circumstances. Except in the case of the production of food, area shall not include any physical space surrounding food if an intervening event, such as the use of a cleaning method for processing equipment, or the passage of time, has made the chance of a prohibited material being absorbed by, incorporated into, or adhered to the food, negligible.
(h) “Certify,” “certification,” or “certified” means a determination made by a certifying agent that a production or handling operation is in compliance with the Act and its regulations, applicable provisions of California law, and this ordinance, which shall be documented by a certificate of organic operation.
(i) “Certified organic products” refers to Agricultural Commodities that are certified in accordance with the Act and its regulations, applicable provisions of California law, and this ordinance.
(j) “Certified operation” or “certified organic operation” means a crop or livestock production, wild-crop harvesting or handling operation that is certified by an accredited certifying agent as utilizing a system of organic production or handling as described by the Act and its corresponding regulations.
(k) “Certifying agent” means any entity accredited by the federal Secretary of Agriculture as a certifying agent for the purpose of certifying a production or handling operation as a certified organic operation.
(l) “Change in Ownership” means any change in the names, ownership interest, or status of the business ownership, other than a change among sole proprietorship and solely owned corporation.
(m) “Enforcement Action” means an action taken to enforce the provisions of this ordinance. Examples of enforcement actions are civil penalties, suspension or termination of organic certification, or formal referral to the District Attorney for civil or criminal adjudication. Reference California Food and Ag Code Section 46009, et seq.
(n) “Enforcement authority” means the Agricultural Commissioner, County of Yolo, or the District Attorney.
(o) “Field” means a contiguous area of land for agricultural production that is managed with a consistent set of production methods.
(p) “Growing medium” means a substance that provides nutrients for plants or fungi but which is separate from the land surface of the world.
(q) “Handled” means shipped, packed, repacked, sold for resale, warehoused, wholesaled, imported into the state, or stored by other than a grower, producer, processor, or retailer of that food.
(r) “Inspector” means a person who performs inspections on behalf of a certification agent.
(s) “Inspection” means the act of examining and evaluating the production or handling operation of an applicant for certification or certified operation to determine compliance with the Act and the regulations in this part.
(t) “Label” means the information affixed to the product container that designates the identity, quantity and responsibility for the product
(u) “Livestock” means any cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry, equine animals, domesticated game or other cultivated animals raised for food, fiber, or the production of food and fiber.
(v) “National List” means a list of allowed and prohibited substances as provided in the Act.
(w) “National Organic Program” means the program authorized by the Act for the purpose of implementing its provisions.
(x) “Organic agriculture” means a holistic production management system which promotes and enhances agro-ecosystem health, including biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil activity; emphasizes the use of management practices over the use of off-farm inputs; and utilizes cultural, biological and mechanical methods as opposed to synthetic materials.
(y) “Organic certification program” refers to the certification process established pursuant to this ordinance.
(z) “Organic Integrity” means the qualities of an organic product which are obtained through adherence to organic standards at the production level, which must be maintained through handling to the point of final sale, in order for the final product to be labeled and/or marketed as organic.
(aa) “Organic production” means a production system that is managed in accordance with the Act and regulations in this part to respond to site-specific conditions by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.
(bb) “Processed” means cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, grinding, crushing, pressing, churning, separating, extracting juices or other materials, peeling, fermenting, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing, or manufacturing that materially alters the flavor, keeping quality, or any other property, or the making of any substantial change of form. “Processed” does not include refrigeration at temperatures that are above the freezing point nor any other treatment that merely retards or accelerates the natural processes of ripening or decomposition.
(cc) “Produced” means grown, raised, harvested, handled, or stored under the control of the grower or producer.
(dd) “Producer” means a person who engages in the business of growing or production of food, fiber, feed, and other agricultural-based consumer products.
(ee) “Raw Agricultural Commodities” means unprocessed agricultural commodities.
(ff) “Reciprocity” means a mutual recognition between organic certification agents based on equivalent standards and verified competency assessment.
(gg) “Retailer” means a person engaged in the sale to consumers of food sold as organic and not engaged in the production, handling or processing of food sold as organic.
(hh) “Secretary” means the federal Secretary of Agriculture or a representative to whom authority has been delegated to act in the Secretary’s stead.