National Organic Standards Board

Crops Subcommittee Proposal

Strengthening the Organic Seed Guidance (NOP 5029)

 

February 15, 2017

Introduction

Seed is much more than just an input. It is the fundamental starting point for transforming

agriculture through nutritious ecologically grown food, feed and fiber, especially when coupled 

with the principles behind organic production of building healthy soils, using non-toxic inputs, 

and stewarding natural resources and the environment. As the foundation for organic farming 

systems, seed deserves continuous attention, from protecting its genetic resources, to 

preventing contamination, to building a strong organic seed sector that can supply the needs of 

a diverse and resilient agriculture.

The organic community has repeatedly noted that progress towards full adoption of organically 

grown seed in organic systems is too slow. While organic seed availability continues to improve, 

there has been inconsistent progress in the proportion of organic seed in use by many growers.

The state of the organic seed industry has changed since the first circulation of the 2011 NOP 

draft guidance, with further evolution since 2013 when the final guidance became official. The 

final guidance does not reflect the progress that has been made in the organic seed sector since 

the regulations and the 2005 and 2008 NOSB recommendations were written.

Therefore, the NOSB started soliciting public comment in 2016 on ways the organic seed 

guidance could and should be strengthened in order to achieve full compliance with the 

statements in the federal rule in §205.204 (a). This proposal addresses the main points brought 

up during both the public comment periods and the NOSB discussions of this and related topics.

Background

The NOSB has worked on organic seed policies since its formation in 1992. This has enabled an 

organic seed industry to rise to fill the need for high quality organic seed since the USDA 

organic rule was implemented in 2002. After the NOSB made additional recommendations on 

the need for guidance on how the organic seed requirements should be explained and 

enforced, the NOP published the Guidance on Seeds, Annual Seedlings, and Planting Stock in 

Organic Crop Production in 2013 (NOP 5029). The guidance adopted many of the NOSB 

recommendations but not all of them, and many stakeholders felt they were not strong or 

specific enough to make sure that multiple benefits provided by organic seed were fully 

embraced on organic farms. Organic seed producers incorporate characteristics that are 

needed in organic farming systems and are not always present in nonorganic seed varieties. 

Organic seed breeders do not breed seeds with a “one size fits all” outlook, instead they include 

regional adaptions that provide more resilience for organic producers. 

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Since the mid-2000s, genetically engineered seeds have led to contamination of the seed 

supply, and organic seed companies are struggling to stay viable when the adoption of organic 

seed is not growing at the same rate as the organic products market. Therefore the NOSB feels 

it is important to revisit the topic of organic seed.

Relevant Areas of the Rule and Guidance

From the NOP Rule:

§205.2 Terms defined

Practice standard. The guidelines and requirements through which a production or handling 

operation implements a required component of its production or handling organic system plan. A 

practice standard includes a series of allowed and prohibited actions, materials, and conditions to 

establish a minimum level performance for planning, conducting, and maintaining a function, such 

as livestock health care or facility pest management, essential to an organic operation.

§205.201 Organic production and handling system plan.

(a) The producer or handler of a production or handling operation, except as exempt or 

excluded under §205.101, intending to sell, label, or represent agricultural products as “100 

percent organic,” “organic,” or “made with organic (specified ingredients or food group(s))” must 

develop an organic production or handling system plan that is agreed to by the producer or 

handler and an accredited certifying agent. An organic system plan must meet the requirements 

set forth in this section for organic production or handling. An organic production or handling 

system plan must include:

.....

(5) A description of the management practices and physical barriers established to prevent 

commingling of organic and nonorganic products on a split operation and to prevent contact of 

organic production and handling operations and products with prohibited substances; and

(6) Additional information deemed necessary by the certifying agent to evaluate compliance with 

the regulations.

§205.204 Seeds and planting stock practice standard.

(a) The producer must use organically grown seeds, annual seedlings, and planting 

stock: Except, That,

(1) Nonorganically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce an 

organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially 

available: Except, That, organically produced seed must be used for the production of edible 

sprouts;

Excerpts from the Guidance on Seeds, Annual Seedlings, and Planting Stock in Organic Crop 

Production published March 4, 2013 (NOP 5029).

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4. Policy 

Producers should develop and follow procedures for procuring organic seeds, annual seedlings,

and planting stock and maintain adequate records as evidence of these practices in their organic 

system plan (OSP). 

4.1 Sourcing of Seeds, Annual Seedlings, and Planting Stock 

4.1.3 The following considerations could be acceptable to justify use of non-organic seeds and 

planting stock as not commercially available. These considerations must be described by 

the operation in their organic system plan (OSP), pursuant to § 205.201(a)(2), and 

approved by the certifying agent. 

a. Form Considerations: Examples of forms may include, but are not limited to, treated or 

non-treated seeds or planting stock, use of pelleted seed...

b. Quality Considerations: Examples may include, but are not limited to, germination rate of 

the seed; presence of weed seeds in the seed mix; shelf life and stability of the 

seeds; and disease and pest resistance. 

c. Quantity Considerations: Producers may provide evidence that quantities are not available 

in sufficiently large or small amounts given the scale of the operation. 

4.2 Recordkeeping for Organic Producers 

4.2.1 The following records should be maintained by organic producers: 

a. A list of all seed and planting stock, indicating any non-organic seeds or stock used, and the 

justification for their use including lack of equivalent variety, form, quality or quantity 

considerations. Records describing on-farm trials of organic seed and planting stock can 

be used to demonstrate lack of equivalent varieties for site specific conditions. 

b. The search and procurement methods used to source organic seed and planting stock 

varieties, including: 

1. Evidence of efforts made to source organic seed, including documentation of contact 

with three or more seed or planting stock sources to ascertain the availability of 

equivalent organic seed or planting stock. Sources should include companies 

that offer organic seeds and planting stock...

4.4 Role of Certifying Agents 

4.4.1 Certifying agents must verify the procedures that certified operations utilize to obtain and 

plant organic varieties suitable for their operations as part of their annual review of the 

OSP. 

...... 

4.4.3 Certifying agents shall verify the commercial availability requirements on an annual basis, 

in their review of the OSP, pursuant to§ 205.402(a)(1). 

4.4.4 Certifying agents should review an operation’s progress in obtaining organic seeds, 

planting stock and transplants by comparing current source information to previous 

years. 

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Discussion

This discussion will be framed around each major point brought up in public comment and 

NOSB deliberations, with a resulting proposal based on how and where “The Guidance on 

Seeds.....” (NOP 5029 for reference purposes) should be improved. Also discussed in brief is the 

possibility of a rule change for some of these issues.

A. Crops at risk from GMO contamination might need to be acknowledged, emphasized and 

have additional requirements for sourcing seeds.

The NOSB has worked for almost four years on trying to ensure seed purity for at-risk crops but 

has not yet come to a recommendation that can be implemented within the NOP. Each time 

this subject is raised, growers, handlers, accredited certifying agents (ACAs) and the public all 

indicate that there needs to be more incentive for seed companies to develop organic seed, 

keep it protected from contamination, and require growers to use it consistently. The fact that 

the NOP 5029 does not even mention this subject is of concern to many stakeholders.

Commenters provided useful suggestions about strengthening the guidance itself, and we 

heard from certifiers that better guidance and training for ACAs on non-GMO status verification 

as well as what level of contamination would lead to a non-compliance for seed, is needed. This 

issue is important and the NOSB will continue the conversation in a future discussion 

document, planned for fall 2017, which will address seed purity from excluded methods. 

For this discussion document, we are exploring possible places in NOP 5029 where seed purity 

from excluded methods could be included.

i. In the introduction to section 4. 

a. Policy—In addition to the procedures mentioned for procuring organic seeds and 

documenting them, procedures for preventing and avoiding contamination of atrisk crop seed could be mentioned. This could then lead into specific subsections in 4.1, 4.2, and 4.4 about how to do this. This is supported by the 

language in §205.201(a)(5) that states that an OSP must describe prevention 

from contamination. As of the writing of this discussion document (winter 2017) 

the at-risk crops would be: corn, soybeans, canola, alfalfa, beets, chard, cotton, 

rice, and summer squash. More at-risk crops can be added to the NOP guidance 

document if they become commercially available in the marketplace.

ii. 4.1.2 could include the additional clause about excluded methods, "Certified 

operations may use non-organic seed and planting stock only if equivalent organicallyproduced varieties of organic seeds and planting stock are not commercially available, 

and the conventional replacement variety can be documented as being produced 

without the use of Excluded Methods. (italics added). 

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iii. An alternative idea would be to add a section 4.1.6 which specifies that non-organic 

seed must be produced without excluded methods. While both of these ideas are 

good, amending 4.1.2 is cleaner and is preferred. 

iv. Contamination level can be a valid reason not to use organic seed if an operation is 

testing seed. We would hope that organic seed tests lower in GMOs but without a 

threshold or testing program in place there is no assurance of that. Therefore 4.1.3 

could have a part d, which states that contamination level is a valid reason to choose 

non-organic seed: d. Contamination from GMO consideration: non-organic seed can be 

used if organic seed cannot be sourced because of GMO contamination.

v. Section 4.2 on recordkeeping could be strengthened in several ways. 4.2.1 (b1) 

indicates that a minimum of three seed sources should be contacted and documented. 

Several commenters believed the search for at-risk crops should be raised to five 

sources, with a stronger emphasis on the last sentence that the sources used should be 

companies that offer organic seeds. The NOSB Crops Subcommittee agrees with this 

suggestion. See below for language.

Certifying agents (ACAs) have the ability under the NOP rule

§ 205.201(a)(6) Organic production and handling system plan, to require: 

"Additional information deemed necessary by the certifying agent to 

evaluate compliance with the regulations." 

vi. With this in mind, section 4.4.1 could be amended to not only obtain organic varieties 

but to avoid contamination for seeds at-risk of GMO contamination. An appropriate 

addition to 4.4 of NOP 5029 could be to add 4.4.5 : Certifying agents review prevention 

measures taken to avoid contamination from seed of at risk of GMO contamination

crops:

4.4.5 Certifying agents should review the prevention measures taken to avoid 

contamination for seed of at-risk crops. 

The NOSB has already passed a comprehensive set of GMO prevention strategies 

that includes a section on seed, so it would be appropriate and logical to have 

ACAs verify those actions in the context of the seed guidance.

B. Organic seed usage as an Organic System Plan "goal"

The way that § 205.201 (Organic system plan (OSP)) is written in the regulations mandates the 

OSP meets the requirements of the section on organic production and must include 

descriptions of practices currently in use and records kept. It does not say anything about goals 

or future practices planned. That being said, part of compliance with the regulations includes 

§ 205.204, seed and planting stock. If the practices currently used are not sufficient to result in 

using organically grown seed or determining that such seed is not available, the certifying agent 

may require additional information deemed necessary (§ 205.201(a)(6)).

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It seems reasonable for ACAs and their inspectors to request seed lists of non-organic varieties 

used by producers along with reasons for using those varieties over organically available 

versions of that crop type. Since producers often use dozens if not hundreds of seed varieties, 

having complete documentation in the OSP on each of them is neither sound nor sensible. 

Having inspectors look at this information on-site is more appropriate. The OSP is an

appropriate vehicle for producers to indicate the practices they use to source seed, the 

measures they take to avoid contamination, and the reasons why they need to use non-organic 

seed that is in compliance with the "equivalent variety" clause. The ACA must then evaluate if 

those efforts are sufficient and if they are not then the ACA can issue a path towards a 

correction. However this is different than an "OSP goal". Therefore the NOSB is not choosing to 

act on this particular point in this way.

C. Continuous improvement 

Almost every commenter wanted to have the concept of continuous improvement 

incorporated into the NOP 5029. However, much of the discussion section above about OSP 

goals applies here. Nowhere in the NOP regulations is there a statement which mandates 

improvement: not in ingredient selection for processed foods, choices of materials on the 

national list, or livestock management. Yet this has philosophically been one of the core values 

of the organic movement. 

The seed portion of the rule is a "practice standard" and the definition of this term in § 205.2 

above is that it is a minimum level of performance. Yet the minimum level of performance 

should be to use organic seed. Therefore if a producer has not reached that level of 

performance the ACA may require additional conditions to establish that performance.

That leaves the NOSB with two possible avenues to make a recommendation: seeking a rule 

change to the seed practice standard § 205.204 to require a demonstrable improvement over 

time until 100% organic seed use is achieved, or to work at strengthening the guidance NOP 

5029 in ways that are consistent with the existing rule. These are not mutually exclusive; while 

waiting for a proposed rule change, the guidance could be strengthened as well. The issue 

becomes whether the NOSB should propose a rule change or not.

The simplest approach to a rule change might to add a subsection to § 205.204(a)(1) so it reads 

(new language in underlined italics): 

§ 205.204 Seeds and planting stock practice standard.

(a) The producer must use organically grown seeds, annual seedlings, and planting 

stock: Except, That,

(1) Nonorganically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce an 

organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially 

available: Except, That, organically produced seed must be used for the production of edible sprouts;

(i) Improvement in sourcing and use of organic seed and planting stock must be demonstrated 

every year until full compliance with (a) is achieved. 

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If this were adopted then the guidance could specify a measure for sufficient improvement, i.e. 

an increase in percentage of acreage per year planted with organic seed and planting stock, 

increased sourcing efforts, etc.

D. Documentation of quality, quantity and equivalent variety

Working within the existing definition of a practice standard still leaves room for increased 

efforts on the part of producers to source organic seed and increase consistency by ACAs as 

they evaluate compliance. ACAs in particular noted that they did not have enough enforcement 

tools to use in situations where there is not much improvement from year to year in the 

amount of organic seed used on a specific operation. We believe it is reasonable for ACAs to ask 

for improvement in compliance over time and to impose increased efforts to achieve

compliance if progress is too slow.

Some possible changes include:

i. 4.1.3 is considered too vague. It was frequently pointed out by commenters that one 

reference to the OSP for describing the considerations leading to use of non-organic 

seed is not being diligently enforced by ACAs. Commenters requested clarification about 

form, quality and quantity, as well as more explicit guidance on what would not be 

allowed. It is not clear to the CS what could be added here except to the section on 

quantity. In this case it would be appropriate for the OSP to state what quantity of a 

variety is needed and the seed search to document what quantity was or was not 

available. For large operations with many seed varieties used, a few major ones could be 

represented in the OSP in this way, while others evaluated during inspections. It is not 

clear that this needs new language however, or is already covered in other sections, so 

no proposal is made for this section.

ii. 4.2.1 is the main section that could be strengthened according to most commenters. 

This is also the area where enforcement is very inconsistent. Some specifics include:

a. 4.2.1(a) Justification for use of varieties needs to be specific to each variety on 

the list and which issue (form, quality, quantity, or equivalence) is the problem. 

This must be done in a consistent enough manner that an ACA can look for 

increasing the level of compliance over time. We suggest adding a sentence in 

this area:

b. 4.2.1(a). A list of all seed and planting stock, indicating any non-organic seeds or 

stock used, and the justification for their use including lack of equivalent variety, 

form, quality or quantity considerations. Justification for use of varieties needs to 

be specific to each variety on the list and which issue (form, quality, quantity, or 

equivalence) is the reason. Records describing on-farm trials of organic seed and 

planting stock can be used to demonstrate lack of equivalent varieties for site 

specific conditions.

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iii. A better description is needed for the role of variety trials. ACAs felt that they could not 

mandate or even suggest them, yet they are one of the best ways to determine 

equivalence and quality of other organic varieties. Many growers perform variety trials, 

but documenting them has been a problem for both producers and ACAs. We suggest 

that this does not truly belong in the recordkeeping section because it is a production 

practice and therefore we are suggesting adding it as §4.1.2(c):

§4.1.2(c) On-farm variety trials of organic seed may be used by producers to evaluate 

equivalency and quality of varieties that are available as organic seed. Trials are 

encouraged and records should be kept of results to show inspectors but they are not 

mandatory. 

iv. 4.2.1(b) generates much discussion because of the three sources requirement. While 

this is the cornerstone of what ACAs require of producers, it is very prescriptive about 

the number, but not prescriptive enough about the quality of information that is 

received. Some companies just issue the same form letter every year without indicating

which specific varieties they are referring to, while some growers use seed brokers and 

they simply say they checked their sources but don't name them. The most common 

suggestion for changes, was to require five sources. Other ideas included limiting the 

number of years that three sources could be used as an excuse for not using organic 

seed, or to require more or different sources when improvement is not seen over time.

v. The CS agrees that checking more than three sources makes sense especially for at-risk 

crops. Most of these crops have had more development in the supply of organic seed 

that the vegetable industry. Trying to set a limit of three years on compliance is not 

feasible for inspectors or ACAs to monitor. We feel that a better approach is to aim for 

better compliance from both the producers and the seed companies and brokers who 

are the sources. Things like not checking the same three sources every year, specifying 

that brokers have to name the places they looked in their letters, and making seed 

sources prove that they carry organic seed are some examples. We have chosen not to 

be prescriptive about acreage or number of varieties planted because flexibility is 

needed for a great variety of cropping systems and markets, and because we do not 

want to inadvertently lead to a reduction of the genetic diversity in or crop choices. 

However we feel that ACAs can use benchmarks in improvement as a tool to verify 

compliance.

vi. A proposed rewrite of §4.2.1(b)(1) (changes in underlined italics):

1. Evidence of efforts made to source organic seed, including 

a. documentation of contact with three or more seed or planting stock sources 

to ascertain the availability of equivalent organic seed or planting stock. Five 

sources must be contacted for seed of at-risk crops when this number of sources 

is available for a specific variety or cultivar.

b. Sources should include companies that offer organic seeds and planting stock. 

Such sources should provide evidence of their organic certification (if relevant), 

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ability to source organic seed and planting stock, and specific varieties sourced 

every year.

c. Failure to demonstrate improvement in sourcing organic seed and planting 

stock over time may result in an increase in the required number of additional 

seed and planting stock sources, or the addition of steps taken to procure organic 

seed and planting stock. 

vii. It is clear from public comment and from the report given during the Fall 2016 meeting 

on the State of Organic Seed report, that the organic seed requirements are not being 

enforced equally among all certifiers and upon all scales of operations. The conclusion is 

that the certifying agents, as described in section 4.4 of NOP 5029, are not doing a 

complete job, or are not following section 4.4 in a careful manner. Much of this issue 

could be resolved with training for ACAs rather than changes to section 4.4, but if it is

possible to put specific language about what constitutes non-compliance the ACAs 

would really appreciate it.

viii. §4.4.4 contains the statement regarding the review of progress in obtaining organic 

seeds compared to previous years. This is interpreted as meaning that improvement is 

required. Inserting language parallel to what we are suggesting in §4.2.1(b)(1)(iii) is one 

way to strengthen it:

4.4.4 Certifying agents should review an operation’s progress in obtaining organic 

seeds, planting stock and transplants by comparing current source information to 

previous years

a. If sufficient progress is not demonstrated a certifying agent may ask for a 

corrective action plan and require additional seed sources be researched, encourage 

variety trials, or require additional steps to procure organic seed.

b. Non-compliances should be issued for repeated lack of progress in sourcing

and using commercially available organic seed over time.

E. Handlers supplying seed to contract growers 

This issue was included in the 2008 NOSB recommendation on organic seed but not adopted by 

the NOP with the following comment:

"Handlers Purchasing Seed for Contracted Growers. Several commenters stated that 7 

CFR §205.204 applies to handlers purchasing seed for contractual growing purposes, 

and that language should be included in the guidance emphasize this. However, this 

guidance is applicable to crop producers subject to requirements of §205.204, and 

handlers are not typically certified as crop producers subject to this requirement. All 

growers must meet the same standard and use organic seeds unless they can 

demonstrate that organic seeds are not commercially available. All producers must 

provide the necessary documentation regarding lack of commercial availability of 

organic seeds to justify use of non-organic seed or planting stock. Contracted growers 

should inform their buyers of the need to use organic seeds unless they are not 

commercially available."

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It has been very clear that this has turned into a loophole where contract producers are not 

pressuring their buyers enough and buyers are not held accountable for promoting and 

requiring the use of organic seed when contracting with crop producers. The Crops 

Subcommittee believes that the guidance could explicitly contain a statement similar to the last 

sentence above, and this would support both growers and certifiers to put more pressure on 

buyers who may require a specific variety be grown to fulfill a contract for organic crops. Also

when appropriate, it should state in the grower's OSP the handler is sourcing or requiring a 

specific seed. This would then trigger inspectors and ACAs to require documentation

illustrating organic seed sourcing and trialing would have been done. Many buyers work with 

specific seed sources and those sources could be encouraged to develop organic seed offerings, 

or equivalent organic varieties.

Therefore we are proposing addition of §4.2.1 (b) (3) (in underlined italics):

4.2.1 The following records should be maintained by organic producers: 

3. If seed sourcing is carried out or mandated by the buyer of a contracted crop, the 

producer must keep records of the buyer's documentation on attempting to source 

organic seed as part of the producer's own Organic System Plan. Such documentation 

must be comparable to that required of a producer who sources their own seed.

F. Organic Seed Finder

In order for producers to find organic seed, there needs to be a more comprehensive and 

accessible clearing house for listing the availability of seed varieties serving crop, vegetable and 

livestock producers. While we have a website www.organicseedfinder.org, managed by the 

Association of Official Seed Certifying Agencies (AOSCA), there is a cost for companies to list 

their available organic varieties, which leads to less than optimal use of this resource. There are 

other options that could be considered, such as having certifiers provide organic seed 

availability of their certified clients, in such a way as to include this information in a separate 

field in the National Organic Program Organic Integrity Database. Operators could then search 

that field for a specific variety of organic seed, and all certified operations who carry that seed 

would then be found. 

Another option is for the National Organic Program to provide some funds to an entity to 

manage an organic seed variety availability database, which could provide more in-depth 

information than the Organic Integrity Database. A more in-depth listing would cover varietal 

characteristics, to aid seed purchasers in determining if there are organic equivalent varieties to 

the nonorganic seeds they are currently purchasing and planting.

One public commenter discussed the direction specific countries in the European Union have 

taken in promoting more organic seed use on organic operations. These countries no longer 

allow the use of nonorganic seed in certain crops that have been determined to have sufficient 

quantity of organic seed supply. This is not the direction the NOSB Crops Subcommittee is 

suggesting, but it is interesting to see how other certifying bodies are addressing this issue. Our 

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preference would be to provide more consistent and accessible information on the availability 

of equivalent organic seed varieties.

G. Accredited Organic Certifier and Organic Inspector Training

NOP guidance 5029 states:

4.4.6 Certifiers are responsible for training their reviewers and inspectors on what protocols and 

documentation would constitute acceptable compliance in meeting commercial availability 

requirements when reviewing the organic seed mandate. 

While it is beyond the scope of this discussion document to start development of possible 

trainings that would aid consistency in verifying commercial availability of organic seed at onsite inspections and certification review, this is still an important topic that must be addressed 

in some future activity or discussion document. Numerous public comments were received 

from both the certification community as well as other stakeholders, stating more training is 

needed for certification personnel who are reviewing use of organic seed. Each certifier and 

inspector has their own approach on how to verify compliance to the various requirements 

surrounding the use of organic seed. The entire organic community could benefit from a more 

consistent and comprehensive approach, so all understand what is expected and how best to 

meet the requirements. 

The Accredited Certifiers Association, as well as the International Organic Inspectors 

Association (IOIA) both hold trainings tailored for their audiences, at a minimum of once per 

year, providing venues for the dissemination of information, once a curriculum has been 

developed.

The NOSB would be willing to work with these groups, within the Certification, Accreditation 

and Compliance Subcommittee structure to develop the requirements that should be met as 

part of a comprehensive training on organic seed use and determination of commercial 

availability. ACA and IOIA, as well as other stakeholders should provide us with feedback if they 

feel this approach is acceptable, or if there are other methods for achieving the goal of 

consistent implementation of the organic seed search and use requirement.

Proposals (all proposed text is in underlined italics)

1. To amend the National Organic Regulations §205.204 Organic seed and planting stock 

practice standard as follows:

(a) The producer must use organically grown seeds, annual seedlings, and planting 

stock: Except, That,

(1) Nonorganically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce 

fan organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially 

available: Except, That, organically produced seed must be used for the production of edible 

sprouts;

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(i) Improvement in sourcing and use of organic seed and planting stock must be 

demonstrated every year until full compliance with (a) is achieved. 

2. Changes to NOP 5029 Guidance

The Guidance for Seeds, Annual Seedlings, and Planting Stock in Organic Crop Production

should be amended as follows:

5029 - 4. Policy

Producers should develop and follow procedures for procuring organic seeds, annual seedlings, 

and planting stock and maintain adequate records as evidence of these practices in their 

organic system plan (OSP). Producers must also provide clear documentation regarding the 

inputs and materials used during crop production (as required at § 205.201(a)(2)). Producers 

must prevent and avoid contamination from excluded methods in seed of at-risk crops (corn, 

soybeans, canola, alfalfa, beets, chard, cotton, rice and summer squash). Certifying agents must 

assess procedures and documentation of certified production and handling operations as they 

source seeds, annual seedlings, and planting stock on an annual basis. Each of these concepts is 

described in more detail below. 

4.1 Sourcing of Seeds

4.1.2 Certified operations may use non-organic seed and planting stock only if equivalent 

organically-produced varieties of organic seeds and planting stock are not commercially 

available, and the conventional replacement variety can be documented as being produced 

without the use of Excluded Methods.

§4.1.2(c) On-farm variety trials of organic seed may be used by producers to evaluate 

equivalency and quality of varieties that are available as organic seed. Trials are 

encouraged and records should be kept of results to show inspectors, but they are not 

mandatory. 

4.1.3 The following considerations could be acceptable to justify use of non-organic seeds

d. Contamination from GMO consideration: non-organic seed can be used if organic 

seed cannot be sourced because of GMO contamination

4.2 Recordkeeping for Organic Producers

4.2.1 The following records should be maintained by organic producers: 

a. A list of all seed and planting stock, indicating any non-organic seeds or stock used, 

and the justification for their use including lack of equivalent variety, form, quality or 

quantity considerations. Justification for use of varieties needs to be specific to each 

variety on the list, and include the reason for use (form, quality, quantity, or 

equivalence). Records describing on-farm trials of organic seed and planting stock can 

be used to demonstrate lack of equivalent varieties for site specific conditions.

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b. The search and procurement methods used to source organic seed and planting stock 

varieties, including:

1. Evidence of efforts made to source organic seed, including 

i. documentation of contact with three or more seed or planting stock sources to 

ascertain the availability of equivalent organic seed or planting stock. Five 

sources must be contacted for seed of at-risk crops when this number of sources 

is available for a specific variety or cultivar.

ii. Sources should include companies that offer organic seeds and planting stock. 

Such sources should provide evidence of their organic certification (if relevant), 

ability to source organic seed and planting stock, and specific varieties sourced 

every year.

iii. Failure to demonstrate improvement in sourcing organic seed and planting 

stock over time may result in additional seed sources being required or additional 

steps taken to procure organic seed and planting stock. 

....

3. If seed sourcing is carried out or mandated by the buyer of a contracted crop, the 

producer must keep records of the buyer's documentation on attempting to source 

organic seed as part of the producer's own Organic System Plan. Such documentation 

must be comparable to that required of a producer who sources their own seed.

4.4 Role of Certifying Agents

4.4.4 Certifying agents should review an operation’s progress in obtaining organic seeds, 

planting stock and transplants by comparing current source information to previous years

a. If sufficient progress is not demonstrated, a certifying agent may ask for a corrective 

action plan and require additional seed sources be researched, encourage variety trials, 

or require additional steps to procure organic seed.

b. Non-compliances should be issued for repeated lack of progress in sourcing organic 

seed over time.

4.4.5 Certifying agents should review the prevention measures taken to avoid contamination for 

seed of at-risk crops. 

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Vote in Crops Subcommittee

Motion to accept all additions as described in the proposal section above, to both the National 

Organic Program Regulation and the National Organic Program 5029 Guidance.

Motion by: Francis Thicke

Seconded by: Jesse Buie 

Yes: 9 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent: 0 Recuse: 0

Approved by Francis Thicke, Subcommittee Chair to transmit to NOSB, February 17, 2017

NOSB APRIL 2017 proposals and discussion documents 118/137