Organic Inspection Training to be Held in Hawaii

Limited spaces remain, Dec. 12 deadline

Hawaii Organic Farmers Association News Release

A unique opportunity is available for organic inspectors or those interested in working in the organic field, including county extension agents, regulatory agency staff, organic processors and industry activists, in order to better understand the organic inspection and certification process.

The Hawaii County Department of Research and Development has provided a grant to enable the International Organic Inspectors Association (IOIA) and Hawaii Organic Farmers Association (HOFA) to offer Basic Organic Farm (Crop) Inspector Training, to be held January 25-29, 2011, and Process and Handling Inspector Training, to be held February 1-5, 2011, in Hilo, Hawaii Island. Registration deadline is December 12, 2010.

Organic Crop Inspection Training includes instruction on the organic standards; how to inspect organic farms; audit trail requirements; risk assessment; inspector conduct, understanding the difference between inspecting and consulting; and a field trip to a certified organic farm.

Organic Processing Inspection Training includes instruction on how to conduct processing facility inspections, organic processing and handling standards, organic quality management, HACCP, audit control, regulations, structural pest management, sanitation, labeling, report writing, and inspector protocols, and field trip to a certified organic processing facility

Certificates of Completion are awarded to attendees who meet all course completion criteria and pass a graded written assignment (inspection report), and final test. A limited number of spaces are available. Acceptance to any IOIA training course is dependent on meeting IOIA course acceptance criteria. Application forms are available from:
HOFA
PO Box 6863
Hilo, HI 96720

Call (808) 969-7789 for more information or visit hofa@hawaiiorganic.org