In late December, 2018, the National Organic Program (NOP) issued a final rule to amend the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The rule changes the use restrictions for 17 substances allowed for organic production and/or handling, adds 16 new allowed substances, and prohibits rotenone in organic crop production and ivermectin as an allowed parasiticide.
Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the actions it is taking to address a recent federal court ruling that invalidated the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) guidance titled Allowance of Green Waste in Organic Production Systems (NOP 5016).
The California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) OIM program is a registration and approval program that requires fertilizers and other soil amendments marketed for use in organic agriculture to be registered with CDFA and reviewed for National Organic Program (NOP) compliance.
CCOF will now accept organic input materials that have been approved by the CDFA OIM program.
On September 11, 2015 the USDA National Organic Program released a Policy Memo updating the status of electrolyzed water under the USDA NOP regulations. The memo clarifies that hypochlorous acid generated by electrolyzed water systems is a type of chlorine material, and is now allowed to directly contact organic products in wash water, when followed by a fresh water rinse.
Farmers, do you send your fruit or other products to coolers or storage where it may be treated with an allowed material such as CO2 (marketed as Tectrol®) or ethylene? If so, that facility must be certified organic. Be sure to ask for an organic certificate before sending your crop or product to these facilities.
Handlers, do you treat organic fruit with Tectrol® or ethylene, or any other gasses or substances? If so, you must be certified organic before you receive organic crops or products.
To save you time and money, your Materials List in MyCCOF is now grouped by type of material, instead of only being grouped by scope. This means that all fertilizers or additives are grouped together instead merely listed alphabetically.
New this year, you can also use MyCCOF to export an Excel compatible list for your own use. Simply visit your Materials List in MyCCOF and click the Excel icon.
Your Materials List is now grouped by type of material, instead of only being grouped by scope. For example, all fertilizers will be in one section, and all pest control materials another. This change should help you identify the materials that are approved for use more quickly and easily! Look for the change when you receive your next updated materials list from CCOF. Remember that you can also view, manage, and print your own list in MyCCOF!
On April 25, 2014 the National Organic Program released a proposed guidance document regarding Substances Used in Postharvest Handling of Organic Products. This guidance addresses the materials that may be used in on-farm or other immediate postharvest situations. This guidance clarifies some confusion between what materials, such as diatomaceous earth or carbon dioxide, could be used in what contexts in a postharvest setting. Comments are due by June 24.
The CCOF materials revolution continued in January 2014 with a bold new offering free for all CCOF-certified members.