What does "Certified Organic" really mean?

As I was standing in line this morning to get my much needed americano (shade grown & organic) from Ladro I noticed this label "Certified Organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture" on the coffee packaging . This isn't the first time I've noticed this label, I saw it a lot of the weekend while on my hunt for local foods, but I don't remember seeing it before this weekend. Is this something new? I'm curious What does "Certified Organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture" actually mean. If we see can we determine that it is local? I guess not if Ladro has it on their packaging. Is the government finally getting on board and setting some guidelines around what is organic? I think back to the days of when the big food companies, used to slap "lite" on their packaging so people would think that the food was low in fat or sugar or something, but turns out that it wasn't the case and it was all a big marketing hoax. Hence why we need to be cautious when we see "organic" on packaging. Here is some information on Washington's Organic certification process. I'll do some more research and report back.