Section 76-22-4 - Definitions.
76-22-4. Definitions.
As used in the Organic Commodity Act:
A. "advertise" means to present a commercial message in any medium, including but not limited to print, radio, television, sign, display, label, tag or oral statement;
B. "agricultural commodity" means any distinctive type of agricultural, horticultural, floricultural, viticultural, vegetable or animal product of any class in its natural or processed state;
C. "assessment" means funds collected by the commission as provided for in the Organic Commodity Act;
D. "certification" means formal verification by a certifying agent that food articles are organically produced;
E. "certification handbook" means a collection of production and handling standards and rules adopted and promulgated by the commission;
F. "certifying agent" means the commission and any other person designated as a certifying agent by the United States department of agriculture;
G. "commission" means the organic commodity commission;
H. "food article" means any raw or processed agricultural commodity or product derived from livestock, including any fruits, vegetables, berries, eggs, seeds or dairy or grain products marketed in New Mexico for human or animal consumption;
I. "handle" means to sell, process, transport or package organically produced food articles;
J. "handler" means any individual in the business of handling organically produced food articles;
K. "handling operation" means any operation or portion of an operation that:
(1) receives or otherwise acquires organically produced food articles from the producer of those organically produced food articles;
(2) prepares organically produced food articles for market; or
(3) processes, packages, transports or stores organically produced food articles;
L. "label" means a commercial message in a printed medium that is affixed by any method to a receptacle, including a container or package;
M. "materials list" means a list of approved and prohibited substances to be determined by the commission, in compliance with the national materials list, and set forth in the certification handbook;
N. "ombudsman" means a member of the commission, who has the function of facilitating communication between certified persons and the commission by addressing certified persons' complaints, participating in the fact-finding process, investigating complaints, arbitrating when possible and advocating for the certified person when necessary; except that the ombudsman shall not represent a certified person before the commission or any other fact-finding body;
O. "organic certification program" means a program designed to ensure that a product is produced, handled, transported and marketed in compliance with the Organic Commodity Act and the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990;
P. "organically certified farm" means a farm or portion of a farm that is certified by the commission as utilizing organic productive techniques as set forth by the commission in the certification handbook provided for in the Organic Commodity Act;
Q. "organically certified handling operation" means any handling operation or portion of any handling operation that is certified by the commission and operated by organically certified handlers;
R. "organically produced label" means a label established for the purpose of indicating compliance with the certification standards promulgated pursuant to provisions of the Organic Commodity Act;
S. "organically produced" means food articles produced using organic productive techniques on an organically certified farm and handled by an organically certified handling operation;
T. "organic productive technique" means a system of farming that substitutes appropriate farm management practices for chemical and technological methods and enhances rather than replaces existing biological systems to ensure minimum adverse effects on human health and the environment;
U. "person" means any individual, group of individuals, corporation, association, cooperative or other entity;
V. "processing" means cooking, baking, heating, drying, mixing, churning, separating, extracting, cutting, fermenting, eviscerating, preserving, dehydrating, freezing or otherwise manufacturing food articles and includes packaging, canning, jarring or otherwise enclosing such food articles in a container;
W. "producer" means a person who engages in the business of growing or producing organically produced agricultural commodities; and
X. "steward" means an individual appointed by the commission to oversee the verification component of the certification program.