Urgent announcement: IFOAM’s position and appeal for public comments on the CACC recommendation to the NOSB -
Oct 23rd 2008
Recommendation on Certifying Operations with Multiple Production Units, Sites and Facilities under the National Organic Program
As communicated in recent announcements, IFOAM has been working on preparing a response to the recommendation of the Certification, Accreditation and Compliance Committee (CACC) of the US National
Organic Standards Board (NOSB) regarding the certification of operations with multiple production units, sites and facilities.
Click here to see the CACC recommendation.
This recommendation is intended to lead to a guidance document or regulation that would replace or complement the 2002 NOSB recommendation on group certification.
Based on several rounds of consultation among its membership and other stakeholders during the spring and summer, IFOAM prepared a draft position on the latest CACC recommendation published in
September 2008. The draft position has been sent out for a final round of comment in the past couple of weeks, and received broad support and valuable inputs from nearly 20 organizations. Based on
these inputs, we developed the final IFOAM position which you can download by clicking here.
IFOAM will submit and defend this position prior to and at the mid-November NOSB meeting in Washington DC. However, numbers matter, which is why we encourage each of you to submit a similar comment,
or letter of support for the IFOAM position, to the NOSB before the deadline, which is November, 3rd 2008.
Here you also find the “How to file your comment” document which explains how to submit your
comment to the NOSB, either by Internet (which we recommend) or by post, and how to view comments that have already been posted.
You can find all related documents and background information on the IFOAM website, at the following URL: http://www.ifoam.org/about_ifoam/standards/ics/GG_US.html
This is a strategic opportunity for the organic movement to shape its own future by ensuring the continued acceptance of group certification for all those smallholders whose livelihood has already
been significantly improved through access to international organic markets. With coordinated efforts and a massive participation, we have a chance to influence the outcome of the NOSB discussions,
as well as the resulting rule by the US National Organic Program. I count on your active participation to make this action an influential one. I also encourage you to circulate this announcement
within your own network. Please, be reminded that the deadline for comments is the 3rd of November.
Counting on your active support,
Katherine DiMatteo
IFOAM President
IFOAM Special Announcement, Responsible: Angela B. Caudle de Freitas
Head Office Contact
Charles-de-Gaulle-Str. 5
53113 Bonn, Germany
Tel: +49-228-92650-10
Fax: +49-228-92650-99
Email: headoffice@ifoam.org
http://www.ifoam.org
