[Federal Register: July 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 142)]
[Notices]
[Page 43116-43117]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26jy05-37]
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DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Doc. No. TM-05-07]
Notice of Meeting of the National Organic Standards Board
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as
amended, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) is announcing a
forthcoming meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).
DATES: The meeting dates are Monday, August 15, 2005, 10:30 a.m. to
5:30 p.m.; Tuesday, August 16, 2005, 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; and
Wednesday, August 17, 2005, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Requests from individuals
and organizations wishing to make an oral presentation at the meeting
are due by the close of business on July 25, 2005.
ADDRESSES: The meeting will take place at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel,
The Hillwood Room, 1330 Maryland Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20024.
Requests for copies of the NOSB meeting agenda, requests to make an
oral presentation at the meeting, or written comments may be sent to
Ms. Katherine Benham at USDA-AMS- TMD-NOP, 1400 Independence Avenue,
SW., Room 4008-So., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 20250-0200. Requests
to make an oral presentation at the meeting may also be sent via
facsimile to Ms. Katherine Benham at (202) 205-7808 or electronically
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Katherine E. Benham, Advisory Board
Specialist, National Organic Program, (202) 205-7806.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2119 (7 U.S.C. 6518) of the Organic
Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA), as amended (7 U.S.C. Section 6501
et seq.) requires the establishment of the NOSB. The purpose of the
NOSB is to make recommendations about whether a substance should be
allowed or prohibited in organic production or handling, to assist in
the development of standards for substances to be used in organic
production, and to advise the Secretary on other aspects of the
implementation of the OFPA. The NOSB met for the first time in
Washington, DC, in March 1992, and currently has six committees working
on various aspects of the organic program. The committees are:
Compliance, Accreditation, and Certification; Crops; Livestock;
Materials; Handling; and Policy Development.
In August of 1994, the NOSB provided its initial recommendations
for the National Organic Program (NOP) to the Secretary of Agriculture.
Since that time, the NOSB has submitted 69 addenda to its
recommendations and reviewed more than 267 substances for inclusion on
the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The last
meeting of the NOSB was held on February 28-March 3, 2005, in
Washington, DC.
The Department of Agriculture (USDA) published its final National
Organic Program regulation in the Federal Register on December 21, 2000
(65 FR 80548). The rule became effective April 21, 2001.
The principal purposes of the meeting are to provide an opportunity
for the NOSB to receive an update from the USDA/NOP and hear progress
reports from NOSB committees regarding work plan items and proposed
action items. The NOSB will also review materials to determine if they
should be included on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited
Substances.
The Policy Development Committee will discuss factors to be
considered for the development of guidance regarding temporary
variances for research. The committee will also discuss the future
development of criteria and procedures to be used by the NOSB when
reviewing substances petitioned for addition to or removal from
205.606. The committee will present, for NOSB consideration,
recommended changes to the Board Policies and Procedures Manual that
include the following: (1) New materials approval and TAP review
information; (2) sunset review process information; (3) procedures for
handling questions and answers from the NOP; (4) decision tree process;
(5) Chemistry 101 background information; and (6) formatting changes.
Finally, the committee will submit, for NOSB consideration, its
recommendations concerning the adoption of the collaboration policy
document as presented by the NOP as an amendment to the Board Policy
and Procedures Manual.
The Certification, Accreditation, and Compliance Committee will
present, for NOSB consideration, its recommendation on how to
operationalize the process of Peer Review. The committee will present a
draft statement concerning NOP's response to the American National
Standards Institute (ANSI) report. It will also present, for NOSB
consideration, a recommendation developed in cooperation with the
Handling Committee that contains certification questions and answers
related to retailers and private labelers.
*COM019*The Livestock Committee will discuss the future development
of apiculture standards (based on an existing NOSB recommendation). The
committee will present, for NOSB consideration, its recommendations to
provide guidance on requirements for access to pasture for ruminants
and the addition of Sucrose Octanoate Esters to the National List for
use in Apiculture Production.
The Materials Committee will discuss priority items for the sunset
review of substances identified by Crops, Livestock, Handling, and
Materials Committee. The committee will also discuss possible revisions
to the Federal Register Notice (65 FR 43259) that contains instructions
for the submission of petitions to add substances to or remove
substances from the National List. The committee will present
recommendations to (1) restructure the National List of Allowed and
Prohibited Substances to reflect the exemption
[[Page 43117]]
categories contained in OFPA; and (2) clarify the definition of
``synthetic'' as it applies to substances petitioned for the addition
to or removal from the National List.
The Handling Committee will present, for NOSB consideration, a
recommendation that provides guidance on determining the differences
between agricultural products vs. non-agricultural substances.
The Crops Committee will review and consider approving the
following substances for crop production: Soy Protein Isolate, Ammonium
Bicarbonate, Chitosan, and Sucrose Octonate Esters. The committee will
also submit, for NOSB consideration, recommendations to consider (1)
guidance on the allowed uses of Compost and Compost Tea, (2) revisions
to the ``natural resource'' sections of the sample NOSB Organic Farm
Plan; and (3) guidance on assessing commercial availability and
equivalent varieties of organic seeds.
For further information, see http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop. Copies of
the NOSB meeting agenda can be requested from Ms. Katherine Benham by
telephone at (202) 205-7806; or by accessing the NOP Web site at http://www.ams.usda.
gov/nop.
The meeting is open to the public. The NOSB has scheduled time for
public input on Monday, August 15, 2005, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.; and
Wednesday, August 17, 2005, from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. Individuals and
organizations wishing to make an oral presentation at the meeting may
forward their request by mail, facsimile, or e-mail to Katherine Benham
at addresses listed in ADDRESSES above. While persons wishing to make a
presentation may sign up at the door, advance registration will ensure
that a person has the opportunity to speak during the allotted time
period and will help the NOSB to better manage the meeting and to
accomplish its agenda. Individuals or organizations will be given
approximately 5 minutes to present their views. All persons making an
oral presentation are requested to provide their comments in writing.
Written submissions may contain information other than that presented
at the oral presentation.
Written comments may also be submitted at the meeting. Persons
submitting written comments at the meeting are asked to provide 30
copies.
Interested persons may visit the NOSB portion of the NOP Web site
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop to view available documents prior to the
meeting. Approximately 6 weeks following the meeting interested persons
will be able to visit the NOSB portion of the NOP Web site to view
documents from the meeting.
Dated: July 21, 2005.
Kenneth C. Clayton,
Acting Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 05-14768 Filed 7-21-05; 3:47 pm]
BILLING CODE 3410-02-P