NOSB To Draft New Commercial Availability Description
The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) has posted its final recommendations from the April 2006 meeting at the National Organic Program website.
One of the most noteworthy recommendations from the list is a formal recommendation by the board to provide a draft that addresses the development of criteria for the determination of commercial availability of an organic material or ingredient when considering the addition of non-organic materials to the National List.
The objective of this draft is to establish acceptable criteria and procedures to be followed by all certification applicants, certified operators and accredited certifying agents (ACAs) when petitioning materials onto 205.606 and when making commercial availability decisions regarding the use of materials on 606.
The NOSB recommends that the document, entitled “Information to be Included in a Petition,” shown on the NOP website, should be amended to include a detailed description of the information needed for the determination of commercial availability of non-organically produced agricultural products. The recommended additions to the commercial availability document include adding a statement of why the non-organic material should be permitted in the production or handling of an organic product—including current industry information regarding availability—when petitioning for the inclusion on the National List of non-organically produced agricultural products.
Bleached Lecithin is Off the List
The final recommendations list from the April NOSB meeting also included 19 final sunset recommendations on a number of ingredients. The sunset provision is part of the National Organic Program statute that requires the NOSB to review every material that has been on the allowed synthetics list for five years to determine if it can or should be removed.
This is the first set of sunset provisions to be completed since the NOP was put into effect. Of note among the list was the unanimous vote by the 12 members in attendance not to renew allowance of bleached lecithin on the National List, noting that during the November 2005 NOSB meeting a manufacturer of organic lecithin announced and verified that it could produce an organic bleached lecithin to meet the current organic market needs.
In other recommendations, the board voted to renew the use of non-organic unbleached lecithin and non-synthetic flavors in handling. The list of recommendations also included the renewal of several synthetic materials for use in organic livestock production, including chlorine materials, oxytocin, and hydrated lime. The NOSB deferred its vote on the continued allowance of non-synthetic colors in handling until a full TAP review could be conducted after several commenters cited that non-synthetic colors had been placed on the National List without being petitioned and without the recommendation of the NOSB.
The NOSB also posted 11 new TAP reports for 11 substances added to the National List, including calcium chloride, carbon dioxide, natamycin, and sulfuric acid.
The NOSB, which meets again in October, is also considering petitions for 25 new additions to the National List of Approved Substances, including frozen galangal (also known as Thai ginger). Petitions have been filed for caramel, annatto, beta carotene, elderberry juice, fruit juice, paprika, turmeric and vegetable juice, as well as a general category of edible fruit and vegetable juice colors, as well as for strawberry, chocolate and vanilla flavors, and a general category of fructooligosaccharides. Included in the new petitions are requests for approval of ammonium salts of fatty acids, Chipotle Chile peppers, frozen galangal, kiji mold, and magnesium carbonate, potassium silicate supplemental, red peppers, sodium carbonate peroxyhydrate, sodium ferric hydroxyl, and Turkish bay leaves.
For a full explanation of the recommended additions to the commercial availability description, the sunset recommendations, and the National List petitions, see the Today’s News section of the NOP website at ams.usda.gov/nop.
Get Your OP in Frankfurt
Organic Processing Magazine is proud to present an organic industry educational seminar at the Health Ingredients (Hi) Europe Conference and Expo, to be held in Frankfurt, Germany, Nov. 14-16, 2006.
Featured as part of the meeting’s Innovation Seminars program, “Organic Processing Magazine Presents: Inside the Dynamic EU Organic Market” will take place from 2:00-3:30 pm on Nov. 16, 2006, followed by a “meet and greet” with speakers.
The seminar features organic industry experts who will provide Hi Europe delegates with an in-depth look at the status of the European Commission’s December 2005 proposal for a Council Regulation on organic production and labeling of organic products (Revision of EU Regulation 2092/91) and its projected impact on organic supply chain companies, the overall growth of the organic market, and trading practices. Experts will also deliver real-world advice on strategies to advance the growth of the organic marketplace.
For more information on registration for the Organic Processing Magazine seminar and others, visit hi-events.com.
OTA Welcomes Canadian Organic Regulation
The Organic Trade Association (OTA) hailed the pre-publication of Canada’s organic regulation in the Canada Gazette (Vol. 140, No. 35, Sept. 2, 2006) as a major milestone toward putting a national organic regulatory system in place.
“The Canadian organic community has been seeking mandatory national organic standards that will ease the way for trade of organic products both within Canada and with other countries,” said Caren Wilcox, OTA’s Executive Director.
This pre-publication marks the beginning 75-day comment period for international and domestic stakeholders. The government will review the comments and make any necessary revisions prior to final publication and enactment.
Although Canada has had an organic standard since 1999, it has not been codified into law. Certification of organic producers and handlers as well as accreditation of certifiers have been voluntary except in the province of Québec, which requires certification to the Québec organic standards by certifying bodies accredited by the Conseil des appellations agroalimentaries du Québec (CAAQ). A national regulation will pave the way for Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada to secure equivalency agreements with other countries, thus facilitating markets for Canadian-produced organic products.
When the regulation is finalized, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) will establish a Canada Organic Office (Bureau canadien du biologique). OTA recently established OTA Canada as an operating division of the trade association.
Visit http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partI/2006/20060902/html/regle2-e.html, to see the Canadian pre-regulation.
USDA Awards AMS Grants to Organic
Agriculture Deputy Secretary Chuck Conner announced in July 27 matching grants totaling $1,333,530 that support agricultural market research and demonstration projects are being awarded to 25 states. Of these, three states received grants targeted at organic marketing and research projects:
• $28,500 to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with the Hawaii Cooperative of Organic Farmers, the Hawaii Organic Farmers Association and the Hawaii Agriculture Research Center, to develop protocols for the production and marketing of certified organic seed from native Hawaiian fruit and vegetable varieties.
• $19,740 to the Texas Department of Agriculture, in cooperation with Sam Houston State University, to identify barriers faced by producers in adopting organic production methods and attaining organic certification, and develop strategies to address these challenges.
• $45,710 to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University on behalf of the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station, in cooperation with Texas A&M, to analyze the market for organic dairy products, focusing on consumer demand and the organic milk marketing structure.
Producers in 15 States to Get Aid to Defray Costs of Organic Certification
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced in August that $1 million in federal funds are available to defray the cost of organic producer certification in the states of Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
“The feedback we’ve received from organic producers about the cost-share program has been very positive,” said Lloyd Day, Administrator of the USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), “and we’re glad we can announce the program is continuing into its sixth year.”
The Agricultural Management Assistance Program, authorized by the Federal Crop Insurance Act, will allocate funds to the 15 states in proportion to the number of organic producers in each state. The states, in turn, will reimburse each eligible producer for up to 75% of its organic certification costs, not to exceed $500. Each state is allowed to retain 4% of the total amount granted as an administration fee.
In order to be eligible for reimbursement, an organic production operation must be located in one of the designated states, meet the USDA national organic standards for organic production, and have received or updated certification by a USDA-accredited certifying agent during the period from Oct. 1, 2006 to Sept. 30, 2007.
Applications by states for federal assistance must be requested from and submitted to: Robert Pooler, Agriculture Marketing Specialist, National Organic Program, USDA Stop 0268, Room 4008-S, 1400 Independence Ave. SW, Washington, DC 20250-0268; (202) 720-3252; fax (202) 205-7808; bob.pooler@usda.gov.
