The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is a Federal Advisory Board that makes recommendations on issues involving the production, handling, and processing of organic products. OSA’s Executive Director Cat McCluskey was elected to the Board by former USDA Secretary Vilsack in January 2025.
The NOSB meets twice per year in the spring and fall. Prior to meetings, the NOSB reviews written public comments. During meetings, the NOSB discusses agenda items and then votes on recommendations to the Secretary in a public forum. The next meeting will be held virtually and streamed January 13-14, 2026. (This replaces the originally scheduled fall meeting on November 4-6, which was cancelled.) The meetings are free and open to the public.
The Board is seeking input of particular importance to organic seed and plant breeding communities via discussion documents: 1) consistency in organic seed usage (p 203) and 2) induced mutagenesis (p 231). The Board will also discuss substances petitioned for addition to or deletion from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances (National List), substances due to sunset from the National List in 2027, and recommendations on organic policies.
The window for the public to submit written comments at the January 2026 meeting is open until 11:59 p.m. ET on December 30, 2025.
If the issues of organic seed usage and/or induced mutagenesis affect you, we urge you to submit written comments to the Board. For additional meeting information, including links to join virtually, visit the NOSB meetings page.
