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Proposed Rules
Federal Register Vol. 86, No. 90
Wednesday, May 12, 2021

This section of the FEDERAL REGISTER
contains notices to the public of the proposed issuance of rules and regulations. The purpose of these notices is to give interested persons an opportunity to participate in the rule making prior to the adoption of the final rules.

DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service 7 CFR Part 205
Document Number AMSNOP110009;
NOP2104PR
RIN 0581AD89

National Organic Program; Origin of Livestock; Reopening of Comment Period Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Proposed rule; reopening of comment period.
AGENCY:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture USDA Agricultural Marketing Service AMS is reopening the comment period on our April 28, 2015, proposed rule to amend the origin of livestock requirements for dairy animals under the USDA organic regulations. We are reopening the proposed rules comment period for 60
days to give all interested parties an opportunity to comment on whether AMS should prohibit the movement of transitioned cows in organic dairy production as part of the final rule.
Comments previously submitted need not be resubmitted, as they are already incorporated into the public record and will be fully considered in any future final rule.
DATES: For the proposed rule published on April 28, 2015 80 FR 23455, send comments on or before July 12, 2021.
ADDRESSES: You may send comments on the proposed rule to the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https
www.regulations.gov/. You can access the proposed rule and instructions for submitting public comments by searching for document number, AMS
NOP110009. Comments may also be sent to Jennifer Tucker, Deputy Administrator, National Organic Program, USDAAMSNOP, 1400
Independence Ave. SW, Room 2642S, Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 20250
0268.

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Instructions: All comments received must include the docket number AMS
NOP110009; NOP2104PR, and/or Regulatory Information Number RIN
0581AD89 for this rulemaking. You should clearly indicate the topic and section number of this proposed rule to which your comment refers, state your positions, offer any recommended language changes, and include relevant information and data to support your positions e.g., scientific, environmental, manufacturing, industry, or industry impact information, etc.. All comments and relevant background documents posted to https www.regulations.gov will include any personal information provided.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jennifer Tucker, Deputy Administrator, National Organic Program, USDA
AMSNOP, 1400 Independence Ave.
SW, Room 2642S, Stop 0268, Washington, DC 202500268. 202 260
8077
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: On April 28, 2015, AMS we published in the Federal Register 80 FR 23455 a proposed rule to clarify requirements for organic dairy farms under the USDA
organic regulations. The proposed rule would add requirements about transitioning dairy animals to organic production. Please refer to the proposed rule for information about AMS
proposed changes, rationale, and analysis.
AMS received over 1,500 public comments on the proposed rule. On October 1, 2019, we reopened the comment period and received approximately 750 comments. These comments may be viewed at https
www.regulations.gov under docket number AMSNOP110009. We are again reopening the comment period to solicit views on two additional issues on the movement of the transitioned animals and on the updated economic analysis of the proposed rule.
I. Movement of Transitioned Animals and Regulatory Framework Origin of livestock in organic regulations refers to the requirements for continuous organic management of animals that produce organic meat or dairy products. In the 2015 proposed rule, AMS sought comment on a proposal to amend those requirements for dairy animals. The purpose of the
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proposed rule is to ensure that the origin of livestock provisions for organic dairy animals are consistently applied by all certifying agents. The proposed rule would require that organic milk and milk products must be from animals that have been under continuous organic management from the last third of gestation onward, with a limited exception for newly certified organic dairy producers. Those producers have the opportunity to transition nonorganic livestock that has been under continuous organic management for twelve months into organic production.
Once transitioned, the proposed rule would not distinguish between transitioned livestock and those that were under continuous organic management from the last third of gestation onward. AMS received numerous comments that advocated for different approaches that were not part of the proposed rule. AMS is issuing this notice to request public input on those different approaches and to provide an updated economic analysis.
First, in the 2015 proposed rule, we declined to limit the movement of transitioned cows because we believe that some movement or inter-farm sales of transitioned animals is reasonable and expected. 80 FR 23463. Several commenters disagreed with this approach, and recommended that we limit the movement of transitioned animals to prevent organic producers or operations from continually transitioning animals and/or continually sourcing off-farm transitioned animals.
Based on these comments, we are reopening the comment period to solicit views on whether the final rule should prohibit organic dairy operations from acquiring transitioned animals to expand or replace animals to produce organic milk.
Second, we are also seeking comment on whether the final rule should use the term operation to describe the regulated entity. While the proposed rule used producer, several commenters noted that the term producer can be interpreted in different ways, and inconsistent interpretations may lead to inconsistent application of the organic regulations.
Some certifier commenters stated that it would be simpler to verify an operations eligibility as opposed to a producers eligibility to transition animals. Additionally, the use of
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