Notice of Meeting of the National Organic Standards Board

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE

Agricultural Marketing Service

[TM-98-00-3]

Notice of Meeting of the National Organic Standards Board

AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as

amended, the Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) announces a

forthcoming meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).

DATES: March 16, 1998, at 12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.; March 17, 1998, from 8

a.m. to 5 p.m.; March 18, 1998, from 8:00 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and March 19,

1998, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for the NOSB.

PLACE: Doubletree Hotel Ontario Airport, 222 N. Vineyard, Ontario,

California 91764. Phone: (909) 983-0909.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Michael I. Hankin, Senior Marketing

Specialist, Room 2510 South Building, U.S. Department of Agriculture,

AMS, Transportation and Marketing, National Organic Program Staff, PO

Box 96456, Washington, DC 20090-6456. Phone (202)720-3252.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 2119 (7 U.S.C. 6518) of the Organic

Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA), as amended (7 U.S.C. 6501 et seq.)

requires the establishment of the NOSB. The purpose of the NOSB is to

assist in the development of standards for substances to be used in

organic production and to advise the Secretary on any other aspects of

the implementation of OFPA. The NOSB met for the first time in

Washington, D.C., in March 1992 and currently has six committees

working on various aspects of the program. The committees are: Crops

Standards; Processing, Labeling and Packaging; Livestock Standards;

Accreditation; Materials; and International Issues. In August 1994, the

NOSB provided its initial recommendations for the National Organic

Program (NOP) to the Secretary of Agriculture and since that time has

submitted 30 addenda to the recommendations and reviewed more than 170

substances for inclusion on the National List of Allowed and Prohibited

Substances. The last meeting of the NOSB was held in September 1996, in

Indianapolis, Indiana. The Department of Agriculture (USDA) published

its proposed rule for the NOP in the Federal Register (62 FR 65849) on

December 16, 1997. An extension of the comment period on the proposed

rule was published in the Federal Register (63 FR 6498-6499) on

February 9, 1998. The comment period has been extended until April 30,

1998.

Purpose and Agenda

The main purposes of this meeting are to provide an opportunity for

the NOSB to listen to comments from interested persons regarding the

proposed rule for the NOP, for the NOSB to review its Committee reports

on the proposed rule, and for the NOSB to prepare comments on the

proposed rule to be submitted to USDA. Minutes of the NOSB meeting,

including minutes of oral presentations to the NOSB, will be included

in the public record of comments for the proposed rule.

A final agenda for this meeting will be available on March 2, 1998.

Persons requesting copies of the final agenda should contact Ms. Karen

Thomas at the above address or phone (202) 720-3252.

Type of Meeting

All meetings will be open to the public. Individuals and

organizations wishing to provide oral presentations to the NOSB on

issues related to the proposed rule should forward the request to Ms.

Karen Thomas at the above address or by FAX to (202) 690-3924 by March

10, 1998, in order to be scheduled. The NOSB has scheduled time for

public input on March 16, 1998, beginning at 1 p.m. and continuing

until 5 p.m. While persons wishing to make a presentation may sign up

at the door, advance registration will ensure an opportunity to speak

during the allotted time period and will help the NOSB better manage

the meeting and accomplish the agenda. It is our intention to give each

individual or organization approximately 5 minutes to present orally

their views on the key issues of concern. All persons making an oral

presentation are asked also to provide their views in writing. Such

written submissions may of course supplement the oral presentation with

additional material. Attendees who do not wish to make an oral

presentation are invited to submit written comments to the NOSB at this

meeting. Those persons submitting written comments should provide 20

copies to the NOSB. All such comments will be included in the minutes

of the meeting and placed in the rulemaking record.

Dated: February 9, 1998.

Eileen S. Stommes,

Deputy Administrator, Transportation and Marketing.

[FR Doc. 98-3868 Filed 2-13-98; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 3410-02-P