In order for an agricultural product to be certified organic, farmers must comply with the regulations set forth by their local certifying agency. Because the NOP accredits all local certifying agencies, the regulations that must be met to obtain organic certification from a local certifier are uniform and an extension of the regulations set forth by the NOP and the USDA.
The NOP accredits both government and private certifying agencies. In some states, such as Colorado and Florida, for example, the state department of agriculture is an NOP accredited certification agency. However, some states do not have a government accredited certification agency and such states rely on private accredited certification agencies to obtain the USDA certified organic label.
Regardless of whether or not the accredited certification agency is a government or private institution, all certification agencies must meet the same standards set forth by the NOP to become accredited certifying agencies. This results in organic standards that are uniform throughout the United States and abroad, where there are foreign NOP accredited certifying agencies
The organic standards set forth by the NOP, and in turn enforced by local certifying agencies, are determined by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), a panel of individuals that set forth agricultural organic standards.
According to the NOP website, the current NOSB consists of, “four farmers/growers, two handlers/processors, one retailer, one scientist, three consumer/public interest advocates, three environmentalists, and one USDA accredited certifying agent who sit on various committees.” The representatives of the NOSB come from all four regions of the United States and work with the agricultural industry to set forth and maintain fair standards for organic certification.
The standards set forth by the NOSB for organic approval generally relate to which chemicals are used during the farming process. Chemicals that are known to cause harm to the environment, such as certain pesticides or insecticides, are prohibited. Any chemical that affects an organism’s physiology, such as hormones or genetic modifiers, is also prohibited. There is an ongoing list of petitioned chemicals to make sure that the NOSB’s list of prohibited and permitted chemicals remains consistent with the most current scientific research.
If you have any further questions regarding organic certification standards, you may contact your local accredited certifying agency from the list below.
