National Organic Program (NOP)

Providing national organic certification standards, information, and accreditation for certifying agencies

Program Basics
The National Organic Program (NOP) was established under the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) and developed national organic standards, which were implemented in 2002.

The NOP develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products. The NOP accredits certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to ensure that they meet USDA standards. There are currently 97 certifying agents and 26,000 NOP-certified organic operations worldwide. The NOP also handles compliance and enforcement of the standards. The NOP recently signed its first organic equivalency agreement—with Canada.

The OFPA provided that an advisory board, the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), be given jurisdiction over the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances section of the NOP standards. No substance can be added from this list without the recommendation of the NOSB. The NOP also consults with the NOSB when developing new or amending current standards. The board is composed of 15 members, each representing different segments of the organic industry.

Information Available
Interested parties can obtain a wealth of information about U.S. organic regulations and practices from the National Organic Program. This includes information about:

• Certifying agents: Includes accredited certifying agents, accreditation status table, application for accreditation, appeals process, compliance and enforcement, and cost share.
• Consumer issues: Includes background information about NOP, the USDA organic seal, organic labeling photo, fact sheets such as Organic Standards, Labeling and Certification.
• NOP regulations and policies: Includes NOP standards, National List information, policy statements, and trade issues.
• Producers, handlers, and processors: Includes National List information, labeling packaged products, labeling alcoholic beverages, and questions and answers.
• State programs: Includes approval procedures, approved state programs, accredited state Departments of Agriculture, state contacts, and the cost-share program.

Website
www.ams.usda.gov/nop/

Contact Information
USDA-AMS-TMP-NOP
Room 40084-South Building
1400 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20250-020068
Phone: (202) 720-3252
Fax: (202) 205-7808