Det a i l s SPECIAL REPORT
NOSB 2009 Fall Meeting
By Jennifer Rose
Standing before a crowded room of organic stakeholders at the Fall
2009 meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) in
Some people saw this as an important first step toward establishing an-
imal welfare standards for organic, while others expressed concerns that
the document was too prescriptive and outlined standards that would be
difficult, if not impossible, to meet. The Livestock Committee revised its
original recommendation substantially to incorporate such feedback, re-
moving all metrics related to stocking densities and a requirement that
producers must include information about animal welfare in their
organic system plans. The revised recommendation passed by a vote of 13
to 0.
Nanotechnology. The Board reviewed a recommendation that called
upon the NOP to implement a rule change clarifying that nanotechnol-
ogy is excluded from all organic production,
processing and packaging, except as required
by law. Several Board members proposed
amendments to the recommendation in hopes
of bringing the group to some sort of consensus
on the issue. Ultimately, however, the Materials
Committee withdrew its recommendation. The
committee will continue to revise the recommendation and present an updated version at
the Spring 2010 NOSB meeting.
Material Recomendations. The Board also
voted on a number of materials, many of which
were up for sunset review. Materials that were
recommended or re-listed include chlorhexi-dine, xylazine, egg white lysozyme, L-malic acid,
microorganisms, activated charcoal, cyclohexy-lamine, diethylaminoethanol, octadeclyamine,
sodium acid pyrophosphate, tetrasodium pyrophosphate, hydrogen chloride for de-linting
cotton and peracetic acid (with the annotation
to allow up to 5 percent in hydrogen peroxide).
Additional Issues. Other topics covered at
the Fall meeting were recommendations on the
role of the executive director and the NOSB
secretary, communication between committees
and the executive committee, the process by
which presenters are invited to speak at NOSB
meetings, voluntary retailer certification, vaccines and excipients.
NOSB also reviewed recommendations on
molluscan bivalve aquaculture and the classification of materials, as well as a discussion document on greenhouse production systems.
What’s Next? NOSB concluded its three-day
meeting with a discussion of its work plans for
the next meeting, which is slated to take place
this spring.
Among the topics that may be covered at
that meeting are:
• 100 percent and “made with organic”
labeling claims
• density tables in the animal welfare recom-
mendation
• 2011 and 2012 sunset items
• refine the nanotechnology recommendation
• food safety
• apiculture (beekeeping)
• classification of materials
To learn more about NOSB’s work plans
and read a complete transcript of the Novem-
ber 2009 meeting go to www.ams.usda.gov and
follow the links to the NOP and then the
NOSB.
