Paper pots and Organic Certification: Report on the Fall 2019 NOSB Meeting

As mentioned in our previous post, we originally expected a vote on our petition to place paper pots on the allowed materials list at the Fall 2019 meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB). However, the committee in charge of reviewing the petition and drafting rule language decided they need more time and input so paper pots were only on the agenda as a "discussion item" rather than for a vote.

A vote is now expected at the Spring 2020 meeting.

The fall meeting revealed, again, unanimous support from the organic farming community (farmers, consumers and certifiers) for paper pots. The committee is struggling to craft rule language that will allow paper pots with “acceptable” ingredients while avoiding “unacceptable” ingredients. Given that paper itself is considered a “synthetic” (and can contain a host of different ingredients), crafting rule language is complicated.

The net outcome is that we are in status quo mode: the NOP will continue to allow paper chain pots on certified organic farms until a vote occurs and rules are put in place. This means that the existing version of the paper chain pots WILL be allowed on certified organic farms in 2020.

I have attended the last 3 NOSB meetings and it is abundantly clear that the majority opinion on paper pots is that they should be allowed. What is still unclear is exactly what ingredients will be allowed in paper pots. I am extremely confident that paper pots will eventually be approved AND that a paper chain pot will be available to meet whatever standard is established. I continue to work very hard on this issue and am in direct communication with both the NOSB and the manufacturer in Japan to ensure that paper chain pots will be available for use on certified organic farms.

If you have questions about paper pots and organic certification, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Cheers, -John
paperchainpots@gmail.com