FORMAL RECOMMENDATION BY THE

NATIONAL ORGANIC STANDARDS BOARD (NOSB)

TO THE NATIONAL ORGANIC PROGRAM (NOP)

Date: _ 05/06/09 ____

Subject: __ New Member Guide Recommendation 

Chair: __ Jeff Moyer ______________

Recommendation

The NOSB hereby recommends to the NOP the following:

Rulemaking Action: ___ __

Guidance Statement: ________

Other: ___X_____

Summary Statement of the Recommendation (including Recount of Vote):

Add to New Member Guide:

 Glossary of Acronyms

 E Bulletin Board Procedures

NOSB Vote: Motion: Barry Flamm Second:Bea James

 

Board vote: Yes - 14 No- 0 Abstain- 0 Absent - 1 

Summary Rationale Supporting Recommendation (including consistency with OFPA and 

NOP):

To provide useful information to Board Members, especially new members.

Response by the NOP:

No objections

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 NATIONAL ORGANIC STANDARDS BOARD

 Policy Development Committee

 

Recommendation to add a glossary of acronyms to the New Member Support Guide.

Recommendation:

It is recommended that a glossary of acronyms be added to the New Member Support 

Guide as appendix 3. This glossary will assist, particularly, the incoming member. 

Future recommended changes to the list should be sent to the PDC and the list will be 

updated as other content changes are made. These changes will not require Board 

approval.

GLOSSARY OF ACRONYMS

 ACA – Accredited Certification Agency, also

ACA – Accredited Certifiers Association

AFBA- American Farm Bureau Federation

AFT- American Farmland Trust

AMS – Agricultural Marketing Service (home of NOP)

ANPR – Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking 

ANSI- American National Standards Institute ( private, non profit)

AOS – American Organic Standards (OTA industry guidelines)

APHIS – Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA)

ARC – Audit, Review and Certification (USDA)

ARCD – Audit Review and Compliance Division, AMS, (USDA) 

ARS – Agricultural Research Service (USDA)

ATO – All Things Organic, OTA’s trade show

ATTRA – Appropriate Technology Transfer for Rural Areas (within NCAT)

CAS- Chemical Abstract Service

CBI- Confidential business information

CEQ- Council on Environmental Quality

CODEX- Internationally recognized standards for foods.

CRP- Conservation Reserve Program

CSREES – Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service (USDA)

EPA- Environmental Protection Agency

EQIP – Environmental Quality Incentives Program

ERS – Economic Research Service (USDA)

FACA- Federal Advisory Committee Act

FAO- Food and Agriculture Organization (UN)
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FAS – Foreign Agriculture Service (USDA)

FCIC – Federal Crop Insurance Corporation

FDA – Food and Drug Administration

FIFRA- Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act

FMNP – Farmers' Market Nutrition Program

FNS – Food and Nutrition Service (USDA)

FSIS – Food Safety and Inspection Service (USDA)

GAO – General Accounting Office (investigative arm of Congress)

GIPSA – Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration (USDA)

GMO (GEO) – Genetically Modified (Engineered) Organism

GRAS – generally regarded as safe, used by FDA

HACCP – Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point

IFOAM – International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements

IUCLID- International Uniform Chemical Information Database

IOAS – International Organic Accreditation Service

IQF-Individual quick frozen

ISO – International Organization for Standardization

ISO 17011 – Standards for Certification Agencies (used to be ISO Guide 65)

ISO Guide 61 – Guide for Accreditation Agencies

ISO Guide 65 – Guide for Certification Agencies (see ISO 17011)

NASDA – National Association of State Departments of Agriculture

NASOP – National Association of State Organic Programs (now within NASDA)

NASS – National Agricultural Statistics Service (USDA)

NCAT – National Center for Appropriate Technology (private non-profit)

NSAC – National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

NCGA – National Cooperative Grocers Association

NFFC – National Family Farm Coalition

NFU – National Farmers Union

NGO- Non Governmental Organization, also know as Civil Society Organization

NIST – National Institute of Standards and Technology

NOC – National Organic Coalition (RAFI, Ctr. for Food Safety, NOFA, NCGA, others)

NOP - National Organic Program (USDA)

NPDES- National pollution discharge elimination system ( Clean Water Act provision)

NRCS – Natural Resource Conservation Service (USDA)

OCA – Organic Consumers Association

OFARM – Organic Farmers Association for Relationship Marketing

OFPA – Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (Title XXI of FACTA, the 1990 Farm Bill)

OMRI – Organic Materials Review Institute

OTA – Organic Trade Association

PR – Proposed Rule

RAFI – Rural Advancement Foundation International (now the ETC Group)

SAN, SANET – Sustainable Agriculture Network (USDA)

SARE – Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (grant program of USDA)

SAWG – Sustainable Agriculture Working Group (SARE-funded; national and regional)
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TAP – Technical Advisory Panel

TMD – Transportation and Marketing Division of USDA (contains NOP)

USDA – United States Department of Agriculture

WHIP – Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program

WHO – World Health Organization

WRP – Wetland Reserve Program

WTO – World Trade Organization

Committee vote:

Moved: Barry F. Second: Steve D.

Yes 5 No 0 Absent 0 Abstain 0
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National Organic Standards Board

Policy Development Committee

Recommendation for an addition to the NOSB New Member Support Guide:

The NOSB e-Bulletin Board

January 26, 2009

INTRODUCTION:

The Policy Development Committee is recommending adding a new section to 

the New Member Guide document which will provide a general background on 

how to use the NOSB e-bulletin board. 

BACKGROUND:

The NOP provided the NOSB with access to a password-protected bulletin board 

which allows sharing, editing and publishing documents. The goal was to 

improve communication and coordination among NOSB members. The 

proposed new section is expected to work as a general user manual or reference 

document. 

RECOMMENDATION:

The recommended section is presented in the next pages and it is titled “THE 

NOSB E-BULLETIN BOARD”. If approved by the NOSB, the proposed section

will be added to the NMG in chapter 5, “Suggested Best Practices”, 

immediately after section E, “Tracking Changes in Work Documents”. The 

section titled “List of Common Technical Sources Used by NOSB Members” 

will become section G. 

COMMITTEE VOTE:

Moved: RDelgado Second: BFlamm

Yes- 5 No- 0 Absent- 0
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NEW MEMBER SUPPORT GUIDE

5. SUGGESTED BEST PRACTICES

F. THE NOSB e-BULLETIN BOARD

What is the NOSB e-Bulletin board? It is a browser-based collaboration tool that 

allows Board members to share, update, and finalize documents. Each NOSB 

member will be assigned a password-protected account to use. The e-Bulletin is 

restricted for NOSB business and can be used only by NOSB members. For 

security reasons, all account information and password should be kept 

confidential and stored in a secure place. 

There are many benefits of using the NOSB e-Board among them: 

• It avoids confusion over the latest version of a document.

• It speeds up the process of creating recommendations.

• It provides a safe and secure place to store documents.

• It allows several people to work on a single document.

• It improves communication by avoiding confusion over “latest” version of 

document.

• It provides a place where all committee members can store versions of the 

document to compare and update new recommendations

Strategies for Document Sharing 

• A Maximum of 10 members can share the e-bulletin board at once. 

• The committee chair names a lead to coordinate management of the file 

under review.

• Document author, or lead, loads on to the e-Board a draft of a new 

recommendation.

• Committee members review proposal and add comments, make edits, or 

approve.

• Final version of document, after approved by committee can be shared by all 

Board members.
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Main Areas of the e-Bulletin Board 

If you made it this far you are in the NOSB e-bulletin board Home page. 

Notice the e-bulletin board is organized into sections, the general NOSB 

committee Board area, and the specific NOSB committees sections.

In this screen you will also be able to change your password and reset your 

account
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In the NOSB Committee Board area you will find information and tools relevant to 

all members.

Important links on the left side of the screen:

• Shared Documents: where general NOSB materials are stored

• Pictures: Important pictures are placed here (e.g., Kevin’s farm pictures)

• Lists: Links to other sites of interest to the NOSB team

• General Discussion: Newsgroup-style sessions on topics relevant to your 

team.

• Surveys: you can post questions, in survey format, to all NOSB members.

Important links on the right side of the screen:

• NOSB committees

Important buttons on the top of the screen:

• Document and Lists: Provides a summary of content for sections in this page

• Create: Better ignore this button for now – provides advanced SharePoint 

functions

• Site Settings: Here you can customize your site and update your contact 

information
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Steps In Editing Existing Documents 

1. Locate the file you want to edit. 

2. Once you have located your document, highlight the document and Click on 

the down arrow. Select Check Out from the menu. This will allow you to 

make changes and keep others from modifying the document.

3. After checking out the document, open the document by double clicking the 

file. 

Notice the document status is changed to “Check Out”
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4. You document will appear as shown below and you are ready to do your 

edits. Make sure you have the Track Changes tool on!

5. After you are done editing, save your document using the SAVE command 

found under the File menu. Note that you can save your edits as a new file

version or under the same file name. 
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6. After saving your document, you need to Check In the document. This will 

allow others to see your edits!

You have two options for checking in your document. After saving the document 

a window will prompt you to Check In the document and add comments:

Or, after closing the document select the Check In function:
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What if you need to upload a new document?

1. Click the Upload Document button found over the list of documents

2. Find the appropriate document using the Browse button and click the Upload 

button.

G F. List of Common Technical Sources Used by NOSB Members