WASHINGTON, DC - Recently, members of the International Fresh Produce Association’s (IFPA) Food Safety and Government Relations teams shared testimony and comments with the United States Department of Agriculture’s National Organics Standards Board (NOSB) regarding proposed changes to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. In its testimony, IFPA urged the urged the agency to continue its use of objective, science-based decision-making as it considers the proposed changes.

“We urge the NOSB to consider our recommendations to the National Organics Program with specific attention to the need for adequate tools for fresh produce growers, for objective scientific review, and with an understanding of the diverse needs for the many crops, growing regions, and production methods in the organic industry,” said IFPA Director of Production and Environment Sara Neagu-Reed. “With a limited toolkit already, it is imperative that organic growers can continue to access these critical listed substances to combat pests and nurture plants in a variety of scenarios.”

These recommendations were backed by industry expertise and the data provided by the association's Organics Committee.

IFPA provided feedback to the NOSB Spring Agenda on the following:

• Residue testing for a global supply chain: IFPA urged that NOSB ensure pesticide residue certifiers are adequately trained in proper sampling protocols (including chain of custody to safeguard accuracy and reduce cross-contamination) and understand the optimal time to conduct testing
• Climate-induced farming risk and crop insurance: IFPA called on the NOSB to level the playing field for producers, specifically improvements in quality factor considerations during loss adjustment, ensuring agents have expertise in organic markets for revenue protection, and appropriate length of time needed for in-field adjuster review specifically cited as focus areas for the agency
• Improving support for organic transition proposal: While supportive of NOSB assistance for organic transition, IFPA shared its members’ concerns over the adjusted gross income limitation placed on various USDA programs, which often prohibits growers from participating in organic transition programs
• Inert ingredients in pesticide products: IFPA cautioned against listing all inert ingredients individually on the National List as doing so would dramatically increase the number of substances subject to sunset review

“Individual listings will create unnecessary risk in the ability of NOSB to conduct sunset reviews in a timely manner,” stated IFPA Vice President of Regulatory Compliance and Global Food Safety Standards Emily Moyer. “The NOSB should prioritize refining an inert ingredients list where ingredients that can be approved as a whole, rather than individually in the current system, as well as collaborate with staff and specialists at the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure accuracy of ingredients and their use.”

For more details, click here, and to read the organization’s testimony in full, click here.

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