From January 22, 2001
EPA Proposes Guidance
for Labeling Pesticides Under the National Organic Program
EPA is releasing for comment a draft Pesticide Registration (PR) Notice describing how pesticide registrants can apply to have their labels indicate that a product meets the criteria defined in the U.S. Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) Rule. Under the proposal, registrants can seek EPA approval to place an "NOP" symbol on the labels of pesticide products that are suitable for use on organic farms. Approved label language would state the following: "The ingredients in this product meet the requirements of the USDA National Organic Program."
EPA developed this proposal in support of the recent NOP Rule issued on December 21, 2000, by USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service. The NOP rule establishes national standards for the production and handling of organically produced products. USDA maintains a national list of approved and prohibited substances, which include pesticide active ingredients, for use in organic production and handling.
According to the proposal, EPA would begin processing applications for review of new or amended product labels when the PR Notice goes into effect and EPA has received a list of acceptable active and inert ingredients from USDA. EPA would only review labeling submissions for pesticide products that are registered or proposed to be registered.
Information on the
USDA National Organic Program is available at www.ams.usda.gov/nop/. The
draft proposal will be available on EPA's web site: www.epa.gov/PR_Notices/.