National Organic Standards Board

Policy Development Committee

Ad Hoc Committees

July 22, 2010

Introduction

This recommendation allows for the formation of Ad Hoc Committees comprised of NOSB 

members when deemed necessary to carry out critical work. 

Background

The National Organic Standards Board is comprised of six standing committees: Crops (CC), 

Livestock (LC), Handling (HC), Policy Development (PDC), Certification, Accreditation, and 

Compliance (CACC), and Materials (MC), and an Executive Committee (EC) comprised of the 

NOSB officers and the chair of each of the standing committees. At times, policy or guidance 

development cuts across multiple committee jurisdictions and requires the expertise of, and 

input from, members of several standing committees to be completed. In these cases, it would 

be beneficial for a provision in the NOSB Policy and Procedures Manual (PPM) allowing for the 

formation of Ad Hoc committees to effectively carry out NOSB work. 

Relevant Areas in the Rule

Sections §205.600, §205.607.

Discussion

Currently, although they have been formed in the past, there are no provisions in the NOSB 

Policy Manual for commissioning Ad Hoc committees when policy or guidance development 

would clearly benefit from the experience and input of members from various standing 

committees, or from the combination of two or more standing committees. A recent example of 

this arrangement is the Joint Handling and Materials Committee that was formed to collaborate 

on and develop recommended policy regarding classification of materials for the National List. 

Additionally, at times, excessive workload could require formation of an ad hoc or joint 

committee to tackle large NOSB mandated tasks, such as sunset material reviews or 

evaluation of large numbers of concurrently submitted petitions to add materials to the National 

List. With input from standing committee chairs, the NOSB Chairperson should monitor 

committee work plans and workload, and determine when and if the formation of an ad hoc 

committee would benefit the effectiveness of the NOSB. Once a determination is made by the 

NOSB chair that an ad hoc committee should be formed, that decision would be brought to the 

Executive Committee for discussion and approval. 
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Recommendation

The Policy Development Committee recommends that the formation of ad hoc committees be 

allowed when required, and that procedures for doing so be described in Section IV of the 

NOSB Policy Manual, as attached. 

Committee Vote:

Motion: Steve DeMuri Second: Jay Feldman

Yes: 4 No: 0 Abstain: 0 Absent: 1
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Ad Hoc Committees

July 22, 2010

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SECTION IV

Board Committees 

Committees play an important role in administering the Board’s responsibilities. Committees 

exist to provide greater depth and clarity in the Board’s responsibility to make informed 

decisions. For example, at the request of the Secretary seeking advice on a matter related to 

the NOP, the full Board may request that a committee conduct research and analysis or draft 

proposed recommendations to be considered by the full Board. Except for the Executive 

Committee, no committees are authorized to act in place of the Board. Committees are 

empowered to analyze information and bring draft recommendations to the Board for action. 

Committee chairs are appointed by the Board Chair. The current standing committees are: 

• Certification, Accreditation, and Compliance 

• Crops 

• Handling 

• Livestock 

• Materials 

• Policy Development 

The Livestock Committee, the Crops Committee and the Handling Committee will each have 

co-chairs. One co-chair will guide all committee discussion and will oversee the committee’s 

work plan. The other co-chair will be responsible for the committee’s consideration of materials 

and will serve as the liaison to the Materials Committee. 

1. Committee recommendations are finalized by the NOSB according to the following 

process: 

2. Committee drafts the recommendation. 

3. Draft recommendation is posted for public comment. 

4. Public comments are considered by committee when making recommendation to the 

Board. 

5. Board takes action on the recommendation

Board actions may include adoption of the recommendation as presented by the committee, 

amending and then adopting the recommendation, rejecting the recommendation, or referring 

the recommendation back to committee for further development. 

Committee Meetings 

Committees may hold meetings via telephone conference calls. Two weeks’ notice should be 

provided in scheduling such calls. The date and time set for the call is a product of committee 

dialog regarding the most conducive schedule. This dialog may occur on a previous 

conference call or through E-mail. All E-mail requests for meeting times should allow 48 hours 

to respond. 
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Emergency calls may be scheduled with less notice only after each member is contacted to 

reach a consensus on time and date of the meeting. If the members do not respond to E-mail 

requests, the chair or their designee must contact the member by phone. 

Standing Committees 

Certification, Accreditation, and Compliance Committee (CACC) The Certification, 

Accreditation, and Compliance Committee drafts recommendations for consideration by the 

Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed standards of certification, accreditation 

and compliance sections of the organic regulations [7CFR Part 205] and OFPA. The CACC 

occasionally works with other committees to develop joint recommendations where certification 

and compliance issues are involved.

Crops Committee (CC) The Crops Committee drafts recommendations for consideration by 

the Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed standards of the crop production 

section of the organic regulations as contained in [7CFR Part 205] and OFPA. The CC reviews 

petitions, substances scheduled to sunset, technical advisory panel reports, and public 

comments concerning materials used for crop production which have been requested for 

addition to or removal from the National List. The CC occasionally works with other committees 

to develop joint recommendations where crop issues are involved.

Handling Committee (HC) The Handling Committee makes draft recommendations for 

consideration by the Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed standards of the 

handling and labeling sections of the organic regulations as contained in [7CFR Part 205] and 

OFPA. The HC reviews petitions, substances scheduled to sunset, technical advisory panel 

reports and public comments concerning materials used for processing and handling which 

have been requested for addition to or removal from the National List. The HC occasionally 

works with other committees to develop joint recommendations where handling issues are 

involved.

Livestock Committee (LC) The Livestock Committee drafts recommendations for 

consideration by the Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed standards of the 

livestock and livestock feed sections of the organic regulations as contained in [7CFR Part 

205] and OFPA. The LC reviews petitions, substances scheduled to sunset, technical advisory 

panel reports and public comments concerning materials used for livestock production which 

have been requested for addition to or removal from the National List. The LC occasionally 

works with other committees to develop joint recommendations where livestock issues are 

involved.

Materials Committee (MC) The Materials Committee drafts recommendations for 

consideration by the Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed standards of the 

National List section of the organic regulations as contained in [7CFR Part 205] and OFPA. 

The MC works with the NOP, NOSB Committees and TAP Contractors in managing the 

Materials Review Process including tracking petitions, sufficiency reports, materials scheduled 

to sunset and sunset review process In addition to a chair appointed by the Board Chair, the 

MC shall include in its membership one of the co-chairs from each of the Livestock, Crops, and 

Handling committees. Other members may be appointed as needed. The MC occasionally 
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works with other committees to develop joint recommendations where materials are involved.

Policy Development Committee (PDC) The Policy Development Committee makes draft 

recommendations for consideration by the Board to provide guidance, clarification or proposed 

standards of Board operations, policies and procedures. The PDC maintains the content and 

updates to the NOSB Policy and Procedures Manual and New Member Guide. The PDC 

occasionally works with other committees to develop joint recommendations where policy 

issues are involved.

Task Forces 

As determined by the Board or Executive Committee, task forces shall be appointed to explore 

specific issues and present draft recommendations to the Board or to a committee. Task forces 

may include non-Board members of the public. Each task force shall include at least one 

member of the NOSB. Minutes shall be taken of task force meetings. Each task force shall 

submit a final report to the Board. Each task force shall be disbanded when its work has 

concluded or when the Board determines the task force is no longer necessary. 

Ad Hoc Committees

At the discretion of the NOSB Chairperson, with approval of the Executive Committee, an ad

hoc NOSB committee may be formed to develop policy and guidance on specific issues that 

involve multiple standing committee jurisdictions, or for issues or tasks that are very large and 

require additional resources to complete. Ad hoc committees may be comprised only of current 

NOSB members, and could either be a combination of two or more standing committees to 

form a “joint” committee, or could be a totally new committee comprised of selected NOSB 

members from various standing committees. Commissioned ad hoc committees will disband 

when the assigned task(s) is complete, at the discretion of the NOSB chairperson.