Four major U.S. commercial beekeeping operations are suing the Agriculture Department, alleging imported honey can carry the USDA organic seal through certification systems unavailable to domestic producers, creating an unlawful double standard that misleads consumers and harms American beekeepers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
Four major U.S. commercial beekeeping operations have filed a federal lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, alleging the agency allows imported honey to be marketed with the USDA organic seal under certification rules that American honey producers cannot use.
The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington, was brought by commercial beekeeping operations based in Washington, South Dakota and Texas.
The plaintiffs contend that USDA policies have created two different standards for organic honey: one that imposes strict requirements on domestic beekeepers and another that allows foreign products to reach U.S. consumers under different certification systems.
They argue that the arrangement violates federal organic law, misleads shoppers who believe products carrying the USDA organic seal meet uniform standards and places American honey producers at a competitive disadvantage.
Rather than seeking monetary damages, the beekeepers are asking the court to order an end to what they describe as false or misleading organic labeling.
At the center of the case is a dispute over how honey can qualify for organic certification.
According to the lawsuit, USDA organic requirements effectively require bees to forage within a 1.8-mile radius of land that meets organic standards.
Because honeybees travel considerable distances while searching for nectar and pollen, the plaintiffs argue that meeting that requirement on a commercial scale is extremely difficult across most of the continental United States.
The lawsuit states that only four certified organic honey operations currently exist in the United States and that all four are located in Hawaii.
Industry experts have similarly said that most American apiary sites cannot satisfy the existing organic requirements because beekeepers cannot control all agricultural activity, pesticide use or other potential sources of contamination throughout the area in which their bees forage.
Locations that can meet those standards often provide comparatively limited forage for bees, further restricting commercial production.
The result, according to those familiar with the industry, is that very little certified organic honey is produced in the continental United States.
The plaintiffs argue that foreign honey producers do not face the same practical restrictions.
Brazilian producers are among those specifically cited in the lawsuit as operating under certification arrangements that allegedly allow them to market organic honey in the United States without satisfying the same requirements imposed on American beekeepers.
That disparity has become increasingly important because imported honey dominates the U.S. market.
OrganicEye, a nonprofit organization that monitors the organic food industry, estimates that approximately 80% of honey sold in the United States is imported.
American beekeepers sold approximately 116 million pounds of honey in 2025, according to figures cited in the complaint. That represented a 14% decline from the previous year.
During the same period, organic honey imports surpassed 78 million pounds.
The lawsuit further alleges that approximately 60 million pounds of domestically produced honey remained unsold, leaving some U.S. producers holding as much as three years of inventory.
For commercial beekeepers, the plaintiffs argue, the issue extends beyond labeling and directly affects whether they can remain financially viable.
Imported honey can often be sold for less than domestically produced honey, and products carrying an organic designation can command additional consumer interest and higher retail prices.
American producers contend they cannot fairly compete when they are effectively excluded from organic certification while imported honey can receive the same USDA seal through alternative systems.
The lawsuit focuses in particular on two certification mechanisms the plaintiffs say contribute to that imbalance.
One is group certification.
Under that approach, agricultural organizations can obtain certification covering multiple individual producers without requiring a separate inspection of every participating operation.
The plaintiffs allege that group certification is widely available to producers outside the United States but is not available on equivalent terms to American commercial beekeepers.
That creates a pathway, they argue, through which large foreign producer organizations can supply honey carrying the USDA organic seal without every apiary being independently inspected under the standards domestic producers must satisfy.
The lawsuit also challenges the consequences of the U.S.-Canada Organic Equivalency Arrangement.
Under that agreement, certain products certified as organic in Canada can be sold in the United States using the USDA organic seal.
The beekeepers argue that Canadian organic honey standards differ from U.S. requirements, particularly regarding pesticide exposure and the amount and type of forage surrounding an apiary.
As a result, honey may qualify as organic under Canadian rules and subsequently enter the American market carrying USDA organic labeling even though the same operation might not qualify if judged directly under U.S. domestic standards, according to the complaint.
The plaintiffs characterize those arrangements as hidden certification pathways that allow foreign honey producers to obtain access to the American organic marketplace under conditions unavailable to their U.S. competitors.
They argue that consumers generally understand the USDA organic seal to mean that products have met a common federal standard, regardless of where those products originated.
If imported honey is being certified under materially different standards, the lawsuit contends, that assumption is undermined.
Attorney Bruce Kaser, who represents the beekeepers, has argued that consumers who depend on the federal organic label are being misled and has called for greater public awareness of the certification differences raised in the case.
Mark Kastel of OrganicEye has said the problem extends beyond honey and affects other imported organic agricultural products.
Kastel argues that American farmers cannot compete fairly against lower-priced imports when foreign producers are permitted to use certification systems that do not impose equivalent standards.
He has also pointed to the federal government’s efforts to expand domestic organic agriculture.
According to Kastel, the USDA has spent approximately $100 million training new organic farmers, but those producers could struggle to survive if the government does not also ensure that the marketplace applies consistent standards to imported and domestic products.
The dispute therefore raises broader questions about what the USDA organic seal represents and whether consumers can assume the certification standards behind imported and domestically produced foods are substantially equivalent.
Concerns about inconsistent enforcement of organic standards have surfaced previously within the food industry, particularly as international supply chains have become increasingly important to the U.S. organic marketplace.
For honey producers, certification presents an unusually difficult problem because bees cannot be confined to a single field in the same way crops can.
Colonies may forage across several miles, potentially encountering conventional farms, treated landscaping, roadsides and other environments outside a beekeeper’s control.
The plaintiffs argue that those realities make domestic compliance with the USDA’s requirements exceptionally difficult while imported products continue entering the United States under certification mechanisms that do not impose the same burden.
Their lawsuit asks the court to determine whether the USDA can legally continue allowing those different pathways while presenting the resulting products to consumers under the same federal organic seal.
The case could have consequences extending beyond the four beekeeping companies bringing the complaint.
If the court agrees that foreign organic certification arrangements do not satisfy federal requirements, the USDA could be forced to reconsider how imported honey is certified, how equivalency agreements are applied and whether group certification can continue to provide access to the U.S. organic market.
Changes could also affect importers, retailers and consumers who have come to rely on the availability of organic honey from overseas producers.
For American beekeepers, however, the dispute is fundamentally about market access.
Domestic producers contend they are being required to meet standards that make commercial organic certification nearly impossible while competing against tens of millions of pounds of imported honey bearing the same USDA seal.
The lawsuit seeks to force the federal government to apply what the plaintiffs say should be a single transparent standard to honey marketed as organic in the United States, regardless of whether it was produced domestically or abroad.
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