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NAT'L PORK PRODUCERS COUNCIL COMMENTS ON USDA'S ORGANIC PRODUCTION RULES WITHDRAWAL
Dec. 18, 2017
National Pork Producers Council reports:
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue last week announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will withdraw a proposed organic rule for livestock and poultry.
The Obama-era regulation - the Organic Livestock and Poultry Practices rule - would have incorporated into the National Organic Program welfare standards that were not based on science and that were outside the scope of the Organic Food Production Act of 1990. The act limited consideration of livestock as organic to feeding and medication practices.
NPPC raised a number of problems with the regulation, including animal and public health concerns and the fact that animal production practices have nothing to do with the basic concept of "organic."
NPPC also cited the complexity the standards would have added to the organic certification process, creating significant barriers to existing and new organic producers.
In withdrawing the rule, the USDA determined the regulation exceeded the agency's authority - something NPPC pointed out in comments on the rule - and that it would have had a greater economic impact on farmers than originally estimated. NPPC applauds the decision to withdraw by Sec. Perdue and his department.
The withdraw notice, to be published in the Federal Register this week, is subject to a public comment period.
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