It’s that time of year again! Share your story and help shape the future of organic.
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) recently announced the tentative agenda for the fall 2015 National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) meeting to be held in Stowe, Vermont from October 26-29, 2015.
Prior to the meeting, the USDA invites the public to comment on what should be included in and excluded from the organic standards. NOSB—a committee of certified organic farmers, processors, and other representatives—reviews these public comments, then recommends changes and adjustments to the organic standards to the USDA.
At the October meeting this year, NOSB will review various petitions related to changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances for organic production and processing. In addition to these petitions, NOSB will complete the review of the 2017 Sunset Materials.
You can find a detailed summary of the items included on the 2015 October NOSB meeting agenda, as well as more information on the sunset review process, at the end of this post. The full set of discussion documents, materials descriptions, and questions posed by the NOSB provides more background on each item to be discussed during the 2015 October NOSB meeting.
USDA truly wants to hear from you. Submit your comments on the agenda of the October 2015 NOSB meeting in writing or in person at one of NOSB’s oral testimony sessions.
You can submit written comments on this meeting’s proposals until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 8, 2015, at www.regulations.gov (click on the “Comment Now!” button).
You can sign up to present oral comments in person at the meeting itself on October 26-29, 2015.
NOSB will also hear oral testimony virtually via webinar. Register to give webinar testimony on October 13 or October 20 from 1- p.m. EST via the NOSB oral comment sign-up webpage.
NOSB will accept in-person and webinar oral testimony registrations until 11:59 p.m. EST on Thursday, October 8, 2015.
Visit the NOSB Meeting 2015 webpage for more information on the October 2015 NOSB meeting.
One function of NOSB is to advise the USDA on which substances should be allowed or prohibited in organic farming and processing based on criteria specified in the Organic Foods Production Act. In general, organic regulations prohibit the use of synthetic substances and allow the use of non-synthetic substances. The National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (the National List) spells out the exceptions to these rules, naming allowed synthetic substances and prohibited non-synthetic for organic production/processing.
NOSB reviews every substance on the National List every five years. This review process is referred to as Sunset Review. During the October meeting, NOSB will review the 2017 Sunset Materials, which include the substances on the original National List.
NOSB subcommittees have voted to propose the removal of various 2017 Sunset Materials from the National List. NOSB requests public comment on the proposed removals.
2017 Sunset Materials proposed for removal from the National List:
Crop Materials:
Livestock Materials:
Handling Materials:
2017 Sunset Materials with split votes:
For a number of materials, the subcommittee’s vote to maintain or remove the material from the National List was split. NOSB requests more information for these materials, including:
Crop Materials:
Livestock Materials:
Handling Materials:
NOSB also requests public comment on a number of additional proposals and discussion documents to be considered during the October 2015 NOSB meeting.
Proposals and discussion documents considered during the 2015 October NOSB Meeting:
Crops Subcommittee:
Livestock Subcommittee:
Handling Subcommittee:
Materials Subcommittee:
Development Subcommittee:
* See the full set of discussion documents, materials descriptions, and questions posed by the NOSB for more background on each item to be discussed during the October 2015 NOSB meeting.