{"id":32042,"date":"2022-12-12T00:01:17","date_gmt":"2022-12-12T05:01:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?p=32042"},"modified":"2022-12-11T09:52:47","modified_gmt":"2022-12-11T14:52:47","slug":"usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/","title":{"rendered":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

(Beyond Pesticides<\/em>, December 12, 2022)\u00a0It is time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow through on its duty to assess individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. In creating the original regulations for the National Organic Program (NOP), USDA\u2014based on the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)\u2014decided to postpone the evaluation of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients until active materials had been reviewed for the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. In this context, \u201cinert\u201d is a misleading legal term since the ingredient may be chemically or biologically active, but not included for purposes of attacking a target organism. The first regulation and all subsequent revisions have allowed the use of \u201cinert\u201d ingredients on EPA\u2019s former Lists 4A (\u201cminimal risk inert ingredients\u201d) and 4B (\u201cother ingredients for which EPA has sufficient information to reasonably conclude that the current use pattern in pesticide products will not adversely affect public health or the environment\u201d). A limited number on List 3 (\u201cinerts of unknown toxicity\u201d) were allowed in pheromone products.<\/p>\r\n

[This action requires a submission at Regulations.gov<\/a>. You can copy and paste from the suggested comment below. Comments are due December 31, 2022.]<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Tell USDA that the National Organic Program must evaluate \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production.<\/a>
\r\n<\/strong>[Need help in submitting comments?<\/strong>\u00a0Regulations.gov requires more than a single click, but it is not difficult. Please feel free to cut-and-paste language from the comments above into Regulations.gov and add or adjust the text to personalize it. See this\u00a0instructional video<\/strong><\/a>. (Regulations.gov has changed its look since this video was made.)]<\/p>\r\n

The Organic Foods Production Act<\/a> (OFPA) requires that no synthetic substance may be used in organic production unless evaluated and recommended by the NOSB and entered on the National List, which is contained in NOP regulations. Now USDA is accepting comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking<\/a> (ANPR) on \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. The ANPR reflects a lack of understanding on the part of the USDA authors of the character of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients and the requirements of the Organic Foods Production Act, as well as the history of efforts by the NOSB to address this issue. USDA refers to time, effort, and work required to implement the NOSB\u2019s recommended reviews of individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients. These references are disingenuous at best, considering the time that has elapsed since the issue became critical when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was no longer supporting the lists<\/a> to which NOP regulations refer\u201416 years ago.<\/p>\r\n

Some crucial facts must be acknowledged by USDA:<\/p>\r\n

* \u201cInert\u201d ingredients are not biologically or chemically inert.<\/strong> The Beyond Pesticides report \u201c\u2019Inert\u2019 Ingredients in Organic Production\u201d<\/a> compares the toxicity of active substances and \u201cinert\u201d substances used in organic production. In almost every category, there are more harmful \u201cinerts\u201d than active substances.
\r\n* OFPA allows the use of a synthetic substance in organic production only if it is listed on the National List<\/strong> \u201cby specific use or application\u201d based on a recommendation by the NOSB, following procedures in OFPA.
\r\n* The NOSB has repeatedly passed recommendations telling NOP to evaluate individual \u201cinerts.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

In moving forward,<\/p>\r\n

* There must be no more delay.<\/p>\r\n

* The first step must be the immediate publication in the Federal Register of all \u201cinerts\u201d known to be used in organic production, with a request that registrants of products approved for use in organic production to notify AMS if their products contain other \u201cinert\u201d ingredients.<\/p>\r\n

* USDA must allocate resources needed to review substances that are identified.<\/p>\r\n

* Former List 3 \u201cinerts\u201d must be relisted according to the Spring 2012 NOSB recommendation.<\/p>\r\n

* USDA must establish a process for production of technical reviews of substance on former Lists 4A and 4B.<\/p>\r\n

* The NOSB must evaluate the substances according to a process designed to complete the review of all \u201cinerts\u201d within five years of publication of the list, and USDA must complete rulemaking in accordance with OFPA and NOSB recommendations.<\/p>\r\n

* Known endocrine disrupting and persistent organic pollutants\u2014such as nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenols, and orthophthalates\u2014should not be permitted.<\/p>\r\n

* Every five years the materials will be subject to sunset review.<\/p>\r\n

This action requires a submission at Regulations.gov<\/a>. You can copy and paste from the suggested comment below. Comments are due December 31, 2022.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Tell USDA that the National Organic Program must evaluate \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production.<\/a>
\r\n<\/strong>[Need help in submitting comments?<\/strong>\u00a0Regulations.gov requires more than a single click, but it is not difficult. Please feel free to cut-and-paste language from the comments above into Regulations.gov and add or adjust the text to personalize it. See this\u00a0instructional video<\/strong><\/a>. (Regulations.gov has changed its look since this video was made.)]<\/p>\r\n

Suggested comment:<\/u><\/p>\r\n

It is time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow through on its duty to assess individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. In creating the original regulations for the National Organic Program (NOP), USDA\u2014based on the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)\u2014decided to postpone the evaluation of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients until active materials had been reviewed for the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The first regulation and all subsequent revisions have allowed the use of \u201cinert\u201d ingredients on EPA Lists 4A (\u201cminimal risk inert ingredients\u201d) and 4B (\u201cother ingredients for which EPA has sufficient information to reasonably conclude that the current use pattern in pesticide products will not adversely affect public health or the environment\u201d). A limited number on List 3 (\u201cinerts of unknown toxicity\u201d) were allowed in pheromone products.<\/p>\r\n

The Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) requires that no synthetic substance may be used in organic production unless evaluated and recommended by the NOSB and entered on the National List, which is contained in NOP regulations. Now USDA is accepting comments on an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) on \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. The ANPR reflects a lack of understanding on the part of the USDA authors of the character of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients and the requirements of the Organic Foods Production Act, as well as the history of efforts by the NOSB to address this issue. USDA refers to time, effort, and work required to implement the NOSB\u2019s recommended reviews of individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients. These references are disingenuous at best, considering the time that has elapsed since the issue became critical when the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it was no longer supporting the lists to which NOP regulations refer\u201416 years ago.<\/p>\r\n

Some crucial facts must be acknowledged by USDA:<\/p>\r\n

* \u201cInert\u201d ingredients are not biologically or chemically inert. The Beyond Pesticides report \u201c\u2019Inert\u2019 Ingredients in Organic Production\u201d compares the toxicity of active substances and \u201cinert\u201d substances used in organic production. In almost every category, there are more harmful \u201cinerts\u201d than active substances.<\/p>\r\n

* OFPA allows the use of a synthetic substance in organic production only if it is listed on the National List \u201cby specific use or application\u201d based on a recommendation by the NOSB, following procedures in OFPA.<\/p>\r\n

* The NOSB has repeatedly passed recommendations telling NOP to evaluate individual \u201cinerts.\u201d<\/p>\r\n

In moving forward,<\/p>\r\n

* There must be no more delay.<\/p>\r\n

* The first step must be the immediate publication in the Federal Register of all \u201cinerts\u201d known to be used in organic production, with a request that registrants of products approved for use in organic production to notify AMS if their products contain other \u201cinert\u201d ingredients.<\/p>\r\n

* USDA must allocate resources needed to review substances that are identified.<\/p>\r\n

* Former List 3 \u201cinerts\u201d must be relisted according to the Spring 2012 NOSB recommendation.<\/p>\r\n

* USDA must establish a process for production of technical reviews of substance on former Lists 4A and 4B.<\/p>\r\n

* The NOSB must evaluate the substances according to a process designed to complete the review of all \u201cinerts\u201d within five years of publication of the list, and USDA must complete rulemaking in accordance with OFPA and NOSB recommendations.<\/p>\r\n

* Known endocrine disrupting and persistent organic pollutants\u2014such as nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), bisphenols, and orthophthalates\u2014should not be permitted.<\/p>\r\n

* Every five years the materials will be subject to sunset review.<\/p>\r\n

Thank you for your consideration of this urgent issue.<\/p>\r\n

 <\/p>\r\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2022)\u00a0It is time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow through on its duty to assess individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. In creating the original regulations for the National Organic Program (NOP), USDA\u2014based on the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)\u2014decided to postpone the evaluation of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients until active materials had been reviewed for the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. In this context, \u201cinert\u201d is a misleading legal term since the ingredient may be chemically or biologically active, but not included for purposes of attacking a target organism. The first regulation and all subsequent revisions have allowed the use of \u201cinert\u201d ingredients on EPA\u2019s former Lists 4A (\u201cminimal risk inert ingredients\u201d) and 4B (\u201cother ingredients for which EPA has sufficient information to reasonably conclude that the current use pattern in pesticide products will not adversely affect public health or the environment\u201d). A limited number on List 3 (\u201cinerts of unknown toxicity\u201d) were allowed in pheromone products. [This action requires a submission at Regulations.gov. You can copy and paste from the suggested comment below. Comments are due December 31, 2022.] Tell USDA that the National Organic Program […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32055,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,53,276,1,368],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternativesorganics","category-inerts","category-take-action","category-uncategorized","category-us-department-of-agriculture-usda"],"yoast_head":"\nUSDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2022)\u00a0It is time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow through on its duty to assess individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. In creating the original regulations for the National Organic Program (NOP), USDA\u2014based on the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)\u2014decided to postpone the evaluation of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients until active materials had been reviewed for the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. In this context, \u201cinert\u201d is a misleading legal term since the ingredient may be chemically or biologically active, but not included for purposes of attacking a target organism. The first regulation and all subsequent revisions have allowed the use of \u201cinert\u201d ingredients on EPA\u2019s former Lists 4A (\u201cminimal risk inert ingredients\u201d) and 4B (\u201cother ingredients for which EPA has sufficient information to reasonably conclude that the current use pattern in pesticide products will not adversely affect public health or the environment\u201d). A limited number on List 3 (\u201cinerts of unknown toxicity\u201d) were allowed in pheromone products. [This action requires a submission at Regulations.gov. You can copy and paste from the suggested comment below. Comments are due December 31, 2022.] Tell USDA that the National Organic Program […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1920\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ByondPesticides\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Beyond Pesticides\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\"},\"headline\":\"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\"},\"wordCount\":1368,\"commentCount\":14,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg\",\"articleSection\":{\"0\":\"Alternatives\/Organics\",\"1\":\"Inerts\",\"2\":\"Take Action\",\"4\":\"US Department of Agriculture (USDA)\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\",\"name\":\"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg\",\"width\":1920,\"height\":1080},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog\",\"description\":\"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":2501,\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4\",\"name\":\"Beyond Pesticides\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Beyond Pesticides\"},\"description\":\"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","og_description":"(Beyond Pesticides, December 12, 2022)\u00a0It is time for the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to follow through on its duty to assess individual \u201cinert\u201d ingredients used in organic production. In creating the original regulations for the National Organic Program (NOP), USDA\u2014based on the recommendation of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)\u2014decided to postpone the evaluation of so-called \u201cinert\u201d ingredients until active materials had been reviewed for the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. In this context, \u201cinert\u201d is a misleading legal term since the ingredient may be chemically or biologically active, but not included for purposes of attacking a target organism. The first regulation and all subsequent revisions have allowed the use of \u201cinert\u201d ingredients on EPA\u2019s former Lists 4A (\u201cminimal risk inert ingredients\u201d) and 4B (\u201cother ingredients for which EPA has sufficient information to reasonably conclude that the current use pattern in pesticide products will not adversely affect public health or the environment\u201d). A limited number on List 3 (\u201cinerts of unknown toxicity\u201d) were allowed in pheromone products. [This action requires a submission at Regulations.gov. You can copy and paste from the suggested comment below. Comments are due December 31, 2022.] Tell USDA that the National Organic Program […]","og_url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/","og_site_name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","article_published_time":"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1920,"height":1080,"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Beyond Pesticides","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_site":"@ByondPesticides","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Beyond Pesticides","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/"},"author":{"name":"Beyond Pesticides","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4"},"headline":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law","datePublished":"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/"},"wordCount":1368,"commentCount":14,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg","articleSection":{"0":"Alternatives\/Organics","1":"Inerts","2":"Take Action","4":"US Department of Agriculture (USDA)"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/","name":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law - Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg","datePublished":"2022-12-12T05:01:17+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/Inert.ingredients.jpg","width":1920,"height":1080},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/2022\/12\/usda-urged-to-evaluate-undisclosed-inert-ingredients-in-organic-as-required-by-law\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"USDA Urged to Evaluate Undisclosed Inert Ingredients in Organic, as Required by Law"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","name":"Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog","description":"News on Pesticide Science, Policy and Activism","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#organization","name":"Beyond Pesticides","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/BeyondPesticides-Logo-Stacked-scaled.jpg","width":2560,"height":2501,"caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/?hl=en","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/1b5c0a0981b549cc5b628770073031f4","name":"Beyond Pesticides","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e26b7558fcb265e244c6e159abe5f0aab551822dc82fd0b1607e809bdfbed20a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Beyond Pesticides"},"description":"Beyond Pesticides is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., which works with allies in protecting public health and the environment to lead the transition to a world free of toxic pesticides. The founders, who established Beyond Pesticides (originally as National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides) as a nonprofit membership organization in 1981, felt that without the existence of such an organized, national network, local, state and national pesticide policy would become, under chemical industry pressure, increasingly unresponsive to public health and environmental concerns. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions that affect them directly. We believe decisions should not be made for us by chemical companies or by decision-makers who either do not have all of the facts or refuse to consider them. Learn more about our work, read A Year in Review\u20142021, our accomplishments are your victories! Beyond Pesticides seeks to protect healthy air, water, land, and food for ourselves and future generations. By forging ties with governments, nonprofits, and people who rely on these natural resources, we reduce the need for unnecessary pesticide use and protect public health and the environment. Beyond Pesticides provides hands-on services to the public and supports local action by: identifying and interpreting hazards; and, designing safe pest management programs. With the information provided by Beyond Pesticides, people may not only be able to make informed choices and adopt practices that protect themselves and their families from unnecessary exposure to pesticides, but they will be able to effect changes on community-wide pest management decisions and policies that govern pesticide use, such as pesticide uses in parks, schools, for community insect control and along roadsides. Beyond Pesticides believes that people must have a voice in decisions which affect them directly.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.beyondpesticides.org","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/beyondpesticides\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/beyond-pesticides\/","https:\/\/x.com\/ByondPesticides","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/bpncamp\/"],"url":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/author\/beyond-pesticides\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32042"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32056,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32042\/revisions\/32056"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/beyondpesticides.org\/dailynewsblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}