Spring 2025 NOSB Meeting

National Organic Standards Board

Spring 2025 NOSB Meeting
Comment by 11:59 pm EDT, Monday, April 28, 2025!

The NOSB Spring Meeting 2025 will be held virtually from Tuesday, April 29, through Thursday, May 1. Links to listen in to the virtual comment webinars and the public meeting are posted on this webpage

From the very beginning, with the passage of the Organic Foods Production Act in 1990, “organic” has meant “continuous improvement.” The primary mechanism for continuous improvement in organic production is the high level of public involvement that comes from twice-annual meetings of the stakeholder board.

The second mechanism is the sunset process, which helps move synthetic substances out of organic production as the market invests in growing organic inputs and ingredients. Despite USDA’s efforts to weaken the sunset process, the 5-year cycle of review of every synthetic substance currently used in organic production and processing offers us an opportunity to keep organic strong and strengthen any weaknesses.

For a more detailed analysis of all upcoming issues, please scroll down to the Table of Contents description and links. For a quick copy and paste, use the text below to comment at Regulations.gov.

Priority Issues

Beyond Pesticides' Priority Issues will be posted here shortly.

Due to updates to the Regulations.gov website, our team is now able to offer "click and submit" forms that prepopulate our comments on the following priority issues! (we will have a click to submit link available here shortly)

Not sure how to use our suggested language to comment via Regulations.gov? Follow these simple steps:

Select the text in our comments (place your cursor before the first word in the text, then press and hold down the left mouse button and, without releasing the button, move the cursor to the end of the comments).
Copy the selected text by selecting the Ctrl and C keys simultaneously.
Click on this link to to open a new tab and in that tab, click on the "Comment" button.
Paste the comments you copied by selecting the Ctrl and V keys simultaneously.
Personalize your comments before entering your contact information and selecting "Continue".

Watch video tutorial for commenting at Regulations.gov. (Note—this instruction video is slightly outdated, however will still show all of the basics to keep in mind when commenting. Stay tuned for a newer version!)

See the Regulations website's official "Tips for Submitting Effective Comments."

Spring 2025 NOSB Meeting

The Spring 2025 NOSB meeting dates have been announced and public comments are due by April 28, 2025, at 11:59 pm EDT. Your comments and participation are critical to the integrity of the organic label.

Where: The meeting will be held virtually. Online meeting access information is available here

When: Tuesday, April 29, Wednesday, April 30, and Thursday, May 1, 2025.

Written comments may be submitted through Regulations.gov until 11:59 pm EDT Monday, April 28, 2025. Reservations for oral webinar comments can be made here. Keep in mind they fill up fast and the deadline is also by 11:59 pm EDT April 9, 2025. The online webinar for comments will take place on Tuesday, April 22, and Thursday, April 24.

The proposals of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), as a part of its ongoing review of practices and materials, are published for public comment. The public comment period will end on September 30, 2024. On this page, Beyond Pesticides will be providing the public with a listing and analysis of the issues under consideration of the Board on our website pages. You can view USDA's announcement of the NOSB's meeting and proposals here. Please see Beyond Pesticides' analysis below (and more coming soon).

Issues Before the NOSB for Spring 2025

Materials in the list below are either the subject of petitions or the subject of sunset review. Petitioned materials must have evidence summarized in the proposals that they meet the OFPA requirements of essentiality, no adverse effects on humans and the environment, and compatibility with organic practices. Sunset items are already on the National List, and being considered for delisting. They are subject to the same criteria, but are being considered under NOP's new rules.

The NOSB will vote on materials subject to sunset review at the Fall 2023 meeting.

To truly make an impact in the future of organic, Beyond Pesticides encourages you to:

Become familiar with the issues below;
See previous comments submitted;
Submit a public comment by April 28, 2025 11:59 pm EDT (click here for guidelines!) and/or
Register by April 9, 2025 to share oral comments via the online webinars on April 22, or April 24, 2025.

Background descriptions of all Spring 2025 Issues, for all committees, will be posted below here, soon, along with Beyond Pesticides comments on each.

See the Draft Agenda and meeting issues here