GMOadhoc:SeedPurity

National Organic Standards Board 

GMO Ad hoc Subcommittee 

Discussion Document

GMOs and Seed Purity

August 17, 2012

Introduction

Organic stakeholders are concerned about keeping genetically modified organisms (GMOs)

(i.e., the products of transgenic plant or animal breeding) out of organic livestock feed, crops, 

and food. The production and handling of organic goods prohibits the use of “excluded 

methods” including transgenic modification. This prohibition applies to seeds used on organic 

farms. The organic community continues to be proactive in developing positions, procedures, 

and practices to encourage GMO prevention. An important part of this is ensuring genetic 

purity of seed used on organic farms. Pure seed is a cornerstone of true sustainability in an 

organic farming system.

Policy Memo 11-13 from the National Organic Program (NOP) affirms that organic certification 

is process based. The public comments to National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and 

NOP continue to indicate a strong concern by both producers and consumers of organic foods

for stronger steps to limit the potential and/or unintended presence of GMOs. 

In 2012, the NOSB established the GMO Ad hoc Subcommittee. In this discussion document,

the sub-committee seeks the input from organic stakeholders on the possibly of strengthening 

seed purity as one step to avoid the potential contamination of crops with GMOs. Seed may 

be the most impactful and efficient point in the supply chain at which GMO contamination of 

organic feed, crops, and food could be limited and controlled. This suggestion implies that 

recommending standards for the genetic content of seeds used in organic production would be 

an appropriate point of focus for NOSB.

Background

• The NOP Organic Rule refers to Genetic Engineering (GE) as an "excluded method". 

“Organic” is a label that indicates that a process has been followed to exclude GMOs. 

• Producing organic feed, crops, and food ‘free’ of GMOs requires starting with seed that 

is not contaminated by GMOs. 

• Public and marketplace expectations for the absence of GMOs in organic goods call for 

implementing best practices on conventional and organic farms to minimize the 

potential for such contamination.

• We suggest that the process for ensuring genetic purity of commercial seeds in organic 

production must be stricter than conventional crop production. Clean seed must be 

planted for the farmer to harvest uncontaminated food or feed. Planting and harvesting 

contaminated seed can increase the likelihood of “creeping contamination” from year to 

year, since any additional GE drift into a field planted with partially contaminated seed 

would produce food, crops, or feed with a higher level of contamination than in the 

original seed.
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• Genetic purity in seed cannot be addressed by field observations of various visual offtypes as has been practiced by the seed industry in the past. Genetic purity must also 

now encompass the presence or absence of GE contamination, with the protocols for 

making such a determination structured to meet the concerns and demands in the 

marketplace.

Relevant Areas of the Rule

NOP standards1 adopted by USDA in a final rule published in December 2000 and 

fully implemented in October 2002 prohibited the use of GMOs in the production and 

handling of organic products certified to national organic standards.

The terminology used for GMOs in the NOP Regulation is “excluded methods” and is 

specified under section 205.2 (Terms Defined) as:

Excluded methods. A variety of methods used to genetically modify 

organisms or influence their growth and development by means that are not 

possible under natural conditions or processes and are not considered 

compatible with organic production. Such methods include cell fusion, 

microencapsulation and macroencapsulation, and recombinant DNA 

technology (including gene deletion, gene doubling, introducing a foreign 

gene, and changing the positions of genes when achieved by recombinant 

DNA technology). Excluded methods do not include the use of traditional 

breeding, conjugation, fermentation, hybridization, in vitro fertilization, or 

tissue culture.

Detection and Testing Requirements: Under the residue testing requirements of NOP, 

products from certified organic operations may require testing when there is reason to 

believe that certified products have come into contact with prohibited substances or 

have been produced using excluded methods. 

This requirement is specified in Subpart G (Administrative) of the regulations:

§ 205.670 Inspection and testing of agricultural product to be sold or 

labeled “organic.”

(b) The Administrator, applicable State organic program's governing State 

official, or the certifying agent may require pre-harvest or post-harvest testing of 

any agricultural input used or agricultural product to be sold, labeled, or 

represented as “100 percent organic,” “organic,” or “made with organic 

(specified ingredients or food group(s))” when there is reason to believe that the 

agricultural input or product has come into contact with a prohibited substance 

or has been produced using excluded methods. Such tests must be conducted 

by the applicable State organic program's governing State official or the 

certifying agent at the official's or certifying agent's own expense.

 1 Title 7 CFR Part 205 - National Organic Program
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NOP Policy: The NOP finalized a Policy Memo on July 22, 2011 (Policy Memo 11-13) 

on GMO. This policy memo reiterates that the use of GMOs is prohibited under NOP 

regulations, and answer questions that have been raised concerning GMOs, organic 

production, and handling. The clarification provided is consistent with the explanations 

provided in the preamble, thus emphasizing that organic certification is a process-based 

standard and the presence of detectable GMO residue alone does not necessarily 

constitute a violation of the regulation.

Commercial Availability of Organic Seed: The NOP regulations at 7 CFR § 205.204 

require that organic producers use organic seeds, annual seedlings, and planting stock. 

The regulations allow producers to utilize non-organic seeds and annual or perennial 

planting stock when organic varieties are not commercially available.

The term “commercial availability” is defined under section 205.2 (Terms Defined) as:

The ability to obtain a production input in an appropriate form, quality, or quantity to 

fulfill an essential function in a system of organic production or handling, as determined 

by the certifying agent in the course of reviewing the organic plan.

Discussion

1. Currently the organic standards require that seed used in organic production not be 

produced using excluded methods; and the marketplace is increasingly sensitive to 

contamination of organic crops by GMOs yet no standard or system exists to determine 

that the foundation of the value chain – seed - is free of GMOs.

2. The private sector has a variety of requirements and standards related to quantification 

of genetic materials (GM) content yet most of that data is not accessible to an 

accredited certifying agent and, therefore, is not currently helpful in terms of oversight 

and compliance. If it were available, there is no protocol within the organic sector for 

evaluating and using the testing results.

3. Farmers growing seed are increasingly being required to test for GMOs by their buyers

in an ad hoc manner. Buyers may have different test protocols and evaluation of results

which makes it difficult to compare and use the information.

4. Securing a supply of GMO free seed is critical to the long-term ability of organic to meet 

consumers’ expectation of organic vis-a-vis GMOs.

5. Current NOP policy doesn’t require verification that seed is free of GMO. However, if 

someone desires to have as thorough a process as possible to exclude GMOs, they 

may want to address their seed purity to the extent possible.

6. Despite the distinction between “excluded methods are not used” and “no traces of 

GMOs are present,” the expectations of some consumers confuse these claims (and 

some marketers encourage this confusion).
GMOadhoc:SeedPurity

7. The NOSB may consider in the future a universal genetic purity standard for seed to be 

used in organic production systems. An example of the standard would be the 

presence or absence of GE content, and the standard is equally applicable to 

conventional and organic seed. For example- no GE seeds found in a 3,000 seed 

sample. “None found” in a 3,000 seed sample corresponds statistically to a 95% 

probability that the actual GE contamination level in the seed lot is between zero 

percent and 0.10%. The use of terms like “non-detect” or” none found in the sample” is 

consistent with this goal, and less confusing than the statistical expression summarizing 

what “none found” in a sample means relative to the level of certainty that the whole lot 

is not contaminated.

8. The need to use organically grown seed is affected by the need for commercially 

available GMO tested seed to satisfy buyers. Farmers are challenged to balance 

prevention of GMO with adherence to the guidance on organic seed.

Discussion Questions

The GMO ad-hoc subcommittee is seeking response from the organic community to several 

questions regarding seed purity as follow:

1. Is there a need to establish a seed purity standard or protocol to ensure that planting 

seed meets the requirements of the NOP rule? Explain your answer. 

2. What is currently known about the level of GMO contamination of seed used by organic 

farmers and any associated testing of seed on the farm or in the supply chain? 

Comments from farmers, seed companies, or buyers describing the following would be 

relevant: 

• the scope of testing (e.g. frequency, methods, costs);

• the threshold used for rejection; and 

• the outcome of seeds that are rejected.

3. What testing methods are appropriate to use in order to determine and label for seed 

purity and to verify compliance to a seed purity standard?

4. How would an example such as proposed in Discussion point #7 above affect your farm 

or business?

5. Is there a better suggestion for a seed purity standard than that proposed in Discussion 

point #7 above? Describe. 

6. What is known about relevant sampling, testing, and detection level protocol necessary 

to implement such a standard?

7. What training, guidance, or resources do certifiers need to verify compliance for to a 

seed purity standard?

8. What approach could an organic seed producers used to safeguard against GMO 

contamination from an adjacent or neighboring conventional farm? Buffer zones, 
GMOadhoc:SeedPurity

distance, planting time, pollination factors, and contamination possibilities/solutions 

could be included in your response. 

Subcommittee Vote:

Motion to adopt the proposed Discussion Document on GMOs and Seed Purity.

Moved: Zea Sonnabend Second: Calvin Walker

Yes: 6 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent: 1