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Cob American Organic Standards Draft Available (Off Topic)Susan Tait suechef at bwn.netTue Jun 8 12:16:40 CDT 1999
Although off topic, many of you are interested in the American Organic Standards. Thought I'd share this with you. Sue Tait suechef at bwn.net | |>COPA MEMBERS AND FRIENDS |> |>OTA HAS A DRAFT OF THEIR AMERICAN ORGANIC STANDARDS AVAILABLE FOR COMMENTS |>AS REFERENCED BELOW. AS I UNDERSTAND IT, THESE STANDARDS ARE TO HELP INFORM |>THE DEVELOPMENT OF ADEQUATE USDA STANDARDS. PLEASE SEND THEM YOUR COMMENTS |>IF YOU CAN. |> |>JIM DYER, COPA |> |>===== |> |>At 5:59 PM 6/4/99, Ebrnrosen at aol.com wrote: |>>Organic Community invited to Comment on American Organic Standards Draft |>> |>>For Immediate Release |>>Contact: Holly Givens, Organic Trade Association, Phone: 413/774-7511 |>>May 21, 1999 |>> |>>Greenfield, MAA draft of the American Organic Standards developed by the |>>Organic Trade Association (OTA) will be available for comment June 1 |through |>>June 30. Growers, manufacturers, brokers, distributors, certifiers, |>>inspectors, retailers and others who produce, handle or sell organic |>>products, as well as environmental, public interest and consumer groups |are |>>urged to read the standards at the Organic Trade Association web site |>>(www.ota.com) and submit comments. |>> |>>Initiated by the OTAs Certifiers Council and developed in cooperation |with |>>the Quality Assurance Committee of the Organic Trade Association, the |>>American Organic Standards project is designed to update OTAs organic |>>industry guidelines and to build consensus in preparation for the release |of |>>federal organic regulations. The draft standards have been compiled by |Jim |>>Riddle, Emily Brown-Rosen and Lynn Coody. |>> |>>(SNIP) |>>Comments from within every sector of the organic community will be |analyzed |>>and used in subsequent drafts of the standards. The American Organic |>>Standards second draft is slated to go through a second public comment |period |>>in August, and the final draft will be completed by the end of October. |>>Funding to complete the project is still needed. Businesses or individuals |>>interested in contributing to the project can make payments available to: |>>Organic Excellence Fund, c/o Oregon Tilth, 1860 Hawthorne NE, Suite 200, |>>Salem, OR 97303. |>> |>(SNIP) |>> |>>The AOS draft, all 120 pages, is available in .pdf format at the OTA |>>website (www.ota.com) There is also an on-line form for comments. As a |>>writer working on this project I would like to invite all of you to read |and |>>give us your comments, as we are working to make this a consensus based |set |>>of standards. At this point it is already a useful comparative document, |as |>>it represents a compilation of existing standards, NOSB recommendations, |OTA |>>guidelines and previous comments to the USDA, with references to OFPA, |CODEX, |>>and EU regulations, among others. |>>We have identified a number of areas where different approaches are in |use, |>>and have suggested some alternative options ( see the list on page 119). |>>We are hoping this process will facilitate more dialog on some of the |>>unresolved problem areas in organic standards, and provide a unified |approach |>>toward dealing with USDA when the next version of their rule is released. |>> |>>Sincerely, |>>Emily Brown Rosen |>>Technical Director |>>Northeast Organic Farming Association of NJ |>>33 Titus Mill Rd. |>>Pennington, NJ 08534
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