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Regulating Organic Food Production
Organic foods are produced by farmers that do not use many of the conventional synthetic pesticides, rather they use only specific pesticides defined by the U. S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP). Organic food production under the NOP is defined by the Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990. In addition to regulating the pesticides and other chemicals that can be used in organic food production, the NOP also regulates the harvest and handling of those foods as well as the organic claims on the product labels.
If you have questions about this, or any pesticide-related topic, please call NPIC at 1-800-858-7378 (7:30am-3:30pm PST), or email at npic@ace.orst.edu.
Additional Resources:
- What is organic? FAQs - Oregon Tilth
- Understanding Organic - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Understanding Organic Labeling - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Organic Foods Production Act (OFPA) of 1990 - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- National Organic Program - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- The Certification Process - Oregon Tilth
- OMRI Certified Product List - Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI)
- Organic Labeling and Marketing Information - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Labeling Packaged Products under the National Organic Standards - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Organic Certification - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Labeling of Pesticide Products under the National Organic Program - Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- 2008 Organic Production Survey - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Agricultural Statistics Service
