National Organic Standards Board 

Materials Subcommittee 

Inert Ingredients in Organic Pesticide Products

February 13, 2024

Introduction: 

NOP issued a memo to NOSB on June 23, 2023 requesting NOSB provide a recommendation related to inert 

ingredients used in pesticide products allowed in organic production. This memo provides a history of the 

inerts issue, describes four options NOP is considering for the future regulation of inert ingredients and 

provides a synthesis of the public comments received regarding these options in its Advanced Notice of 

Proposed Rulemaking published September 2, 2022. The four options as described by NOP in its memo are 

as follows:

● Allow inert ingredients in EPA-registered pesticides without further review. This would be the 

easiest to implement and an effective way to evaluate products for compliance. This option would 

require stakeholders to actively engage in EPA rulemaking and may delegate some control of inert 

ingredients in organic production to the EPA. 

● Reference a subset of EPA regulations (e.g., inerts exempt from the requirement of a tolerance) for 

allowed inert ingredients. This could be combined with an initial list of prohibited inert ingredients. 

Further prohibitions or allowances may be added through the petition process. This option 

maintains much of the simplicity of allowing all EPA registered pesticides while allowing more 

control. Specifically, it allows stakeholders to submit petitions to prohibit or allow certain inert 

ingredients as more research is published. 

● Develop a single, external list of allowed inert ingredients. The National List would reference this 

list for allowed inert ingredients. This would function similarly to the current system of referencing 

EPA List 3 and List 4. This option reduces the sunset burden but is inflexible, like the current 

reliance on EPA List 3 and List 4. The initial list could be developed from EPA List 3 and List 4, but it 

is unclear how and by whom this list would be maintained or updated, and how it would fit within 

the regulatory framework of the National List. 

● List allowed inert ingredients individually on the National List in the organic regulations. While the 

NOSB may be able to initially review these inert ingredients in groups to recommend adding them 

to the National List, they would need individual sunset reviews every five years. This could nearly 

double the Board’s sunset workload.

NOSB received this memo without adequate time to bring forward a discussion document for the Fall 2023 

meeting. However, the topic was referred to the Materials Subcommittee (MS) who formed a workgroup 

to focus on this agenda item. The Subcommittee submitted the following questions into the public docket 

for stakeholders to consider and to ensure there would be multiple opportunities for stakeholders to 

provide comments on the topic of inert ingredient review and approval:

National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Proposals and Discussion Documents April 2024 85 of 267
1. Capacity - NOSB members devote a considerable amount of time and energy in the 

sunset review of the materials that make up the National List. Adding significant numbers 

of individual listings will increase this workload. To what extent should NOSB consider 

current and potential future workload when evaluating the options for modernizing the 

approval of inert ingredients in pesticide products?

2. Authority - Congress granted the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to 

determine efficacy and safety of pesticide products and the NOP and NOSB the authority to 

determine which pesticide products aligned with the Organic Foods Production Act and 

National List Criteria. When should NOSB rely on EPA’s evaluations of safety, necessity, and 

efficacy in evaluating inert ingredients used in pesticide products? And when should NOP 

and NOSB assert its additional statutory constraints and regulatory criteria in the evaluation 

of inert ingredients in pesticide products?

3. Flexibility - A stable list of approved inert ingredients can provide assurance to 

manufacturers and producers that the tools they need to control pests and disease will be 

there when preventive measures have failed. These manufacturers will continue to 

innovate and develop tools, and scientific research will emerge regarding safety and 

necessity that may require additions and removals from the list of inert ingredients 

approved for use in pesticide products. How rigid or flexible should the approved list of 

inert ingredients be to balance competing concerns? What mechanisms provide 

stakeholders the ability to simultaneously raise concerns, advance innovation, and maintain 

confidentiality in amending the approved list of inert ingredients used in pesticide 

products?

NOSB received numerous comments on the topic of inert ingredients at our Fall meeting, and the general 

themes of the comments are summarized below:

● There are two options which garner the most support: 1. To list each inert ingredient allowed for 

use in organic pesticide formulations on the National List individually; and 2. To reference a subset 

of EPA regulations in combination with an initial list of prohibited inert ingredients.

● There is consensus that inert ingredients allowed in minimum risk (“25(b)”) pesticides and inert 

ingredients allowed in pheromone type pesticides should be allowed in organic production.

● There is little interest from stakeholders in allowing all inert ingredients permitted in EPA pesticides 

in organic pesticide formulations, as this would delegate too much of the regulatory authority away 

from NOSB and NOP.

● Several stakeholders pointed out that the number of inert ingredients currently in use is a relatively 

small subset of those permitted and should be the starting point for handling this issue. MRO’s can 

disclose the inerts in formulations they approve, without revealing confidential information about 

specific products.

Subcommittee Next Steps:

The Materials Subcommittee focused on ensuring the various options are fairly considered and in order to 

do so, requested NOP provide NOSB with a way to evaluate; which substances are currently allowed as a 

National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Proposals and Discussion Documents April 2024 86 of 267
List 4 or List 3 inert, which would be allowed under the various options, which are nonsynthetic and 

therefore categorically allowed in organic pesticide products, and which are currently in use according to 

Material Review Organizations who review pesticide formulas for compliance to the organic regulations. 

The data for this last category of substances was drawn from comments received in response to the 2022 

Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPR). NOP staff have delivered a draft of this analysis in the 

form of a spreadsheet, and the MS has included it in this discussion document as Appendix A (See 

Regulations.gov Docket # AMS-NOP-23-0075: Supporting and Related Materials). 

The MS also intends to invite experts on the topic of inert ingredients to its meetings in preparation for a 

proposal for the Fall 2024 meeting in Portland, OR. We hope the additional information received at the 

Spring 2024 meeting and through discourse with experts will lay a foundation of understanding for the 

entire board on this complicated topic, so that a recommendation can be reached advising the NOP on its 

intention to move forward with rulemaking related to inert ingredients.

Questions for Stakeholders:

The MS has the following specific questions for stakeholders and, as always, welcomes any additional 

perspectives, solutions, and information related to inert ingredients used in organic pesticides.

1. Please provide feedback on the format and analysis of Appendix A. The Board will use this to 

comprehend the practical impact the various options will have on the number of substances that 

would need to be added to the National List based on the corresponding option (e.g. if all inerts are 

listed individually or that would be allowed under various subsets of EPA regulations depending on 

the option)?

2. What areas of expertise should the MS consider when inviting speakers to subcommittee meetings 

in order to obtain the fullest and most accurate understanding of this topic?

3. Please provide feedback on whether the list of inert ingredients currently in use (see Appendix A), is 

accurate.

4. Does the potential reduction in the number of substances the Board must review outweigh the 

inflexibility associated with the option to develop a single, external list of allowed inert ingredients?

5. Would designation of a specific entity responsible for maintaining the single external list of allowed 

inert ingredients change stakeholder’s opinions of this option?

Subcommittee Vote:

Motion to accept the discussion document on Inert Ingredients used in Organic Pesticide Products

Motion by: Nate Lewis

Seconded by: Brian Caldwell 

Yes: 6 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Recuse: 0 Absent: 2

Appendix A (See Regulations.gov Docket # AMS-NOP-23-0075: Supporting and Related Materials).

National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Proposals and Discussion Documents April 2024 87 of 267
National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) Proposals and Discussion Documents April 2024 88 of 267