The NOSB Is Short Five Seats, Leaving the Organic Industry Exposed

(The 10 — not the required 15 — members of the National Organic Standards Board. Image from the USDA.)

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The organic industry has absorbed one setback after another from the current administration, and last week brought another one.

At the semi-annual National Organic Standards Board meeting in Omaha, Nebraska, it became clear that the entity tasked with shaping the rules of our $76 billion industry is not operating as Congress intended — and the consequences could be far-reaching.

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is the 15-member advisory panel that recommends to the USDA which ingredients, substances and practices should be allowed or prohibited in organic production. For the first time in the National Organic Program’s 25-year history, the USDA has failed to fill regular-term vacancies on the NOSB, leaving it without the full statutory complement of 15 members and casting doubt on the legality of the board’s activities and decisions.

Under sections 6518(a) and (b) of the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, the Secretary of the USDA “shall establish a National Organic Standards Board,” and “the Board shall be composed of 15 members” representing a range of stakeholders, including farmers, handlers, retailers and consumers.

Today, only 10 of those 15 seats are filled.

According to Dr. Jennifer Tucker, Deputy Administrator of the National Organic Program (NOP), a list of potential candidates was submitted to the administration. The fault, in other words, does not lie with the NOP. It lies with an administration that has not complied with the law established by Congress.

At the Omaha meeting, Dr. Tucker said the gathering could proceed and votes could be taken because there were sufficient members for a quorum.

Not everyone believes it is that cut-and-dried.

Mark Kastel, executive director of the watchdog group OrganicEye, said that because of the board’s incomplete composition, “Any business that transpires at this meeting could very well be legally challenged.”

The administration’s inaction adds to a growing list of pressures on a sector that grew 6.8% last year, evidence that organic needs more, not fewer, resources.

Last December, it emerged that the NOP staff had been reduced by roughly one-third, and Politico recently reported that the Natural Resources Conservation Service, which helps farmers transition to organic, has lost 22% of its staff. Additionally, organic farmers are still waiting on their 2025 cost-share reimbursements.

SEVERE CONSEQUENCES FOR ORGANIC

The questions surrounding the NOSB’s legal standing go even further.

At the Omaha meeting, induced mutagenesis — a plant breeding technique that began in the early 1940s — was discussed, with a proposal expected this fall. If the board remains at 10 members, any recommendation could be challenged in court on the grounds that the NOSB is not lawfully constituted, and the fallout for organic could be severe.

The work of the NOSB is too important to be done at anything less than 100 percent. Falling short of that mark is not just a procedural lapse — it is a direct threat to the integrity of the organic label and the industry built around it.

With gratitude, Max Goldberg, Founder