Since USDA's proposed rule adds materials to the list despite this prohibition, many see this as a deliberate attempt on the part of USDA to challenge the authority of the NOSB, a citizen board. As troubling as all of these issues are, the rule proposes other regulations that may have even more sweeping implications. These regulations could affect every American, not just those interested in the purity of organic food. The proposed rule gives some examples of the kind of labels that would be prohibited. If they became law, these broad, prohibitory regulations would force many U.S. companies and grower associations to refrain from marketing eco-labelled products that they currently produce.
Several examples come to mind.
Numerous companies and grower associations that are presently marketing products produced by reduced-pesticide practices. The proposed rule takes the power of preference away from consumers, limits the market opportunities of producers, restricts commercial free speech, and leaves chemically sensitive and allergic people without any reliable choices in the marketplace to protect them from possible harm. Ironically, the proposed rule does not place such restrictions on imported products or on foreign certifiers. In effect, then, the regulations would allow foreign certifiers to certify that foods were produced without sewage sludge. This same regulation would also force international certifiers doing business in the United States, who want to uphold the standards they have become identified with over the past few decades, to move their base of operation out of the U.S. to retain the value of their trademarks.