Written by Dan Langager, Northwest Horticultural Council, April 2, 2026
The annual spring public comment period to the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) is now open. The deadline to submit comments is May 4, 2026.
The Northwest Horticultural Council (NHC) encourages organic industry members to submit comments on the materials under review to voice the challenges faced by our organic farmers and stakeholders. Comments can be as simple as a few sentences expressing why these materials are important to Pacific Northwest organic tree fruit production.
The NOSB will begin review of the materials up for sunset review from the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances. The materials important to tree fruit growing and packing that are under sunset review this year include:
- Ozone gas – irrigation system cleaning
- EPA List 3 Inerts – inert ingredients used in passive pheromone dispensers only
- Calcium chloride – plant nutrient, for use as foliar spray to treat physiological disorders associated with calcium uptake
- Magnesium oxide – crop or soil amendment, for use only to control the viscosity of a clay suspension agent for humates
- Peracetic acid (PAA) – sanitizer and disinfectant, for use in disinfecting equipment and to control fire blight bacteria
- Chlorine materials – algicides, disinfectants, and sanitizers, including irrigation systems and food contact surfaces
- Calcium hypochlorite – to disinfect water in cherry hydrocoolers and packing line wash water, and to sanitize food contact surfaces
- Chlorine dioxide – to disinfect and sanitize food contact surfaces and storage rooms, and in dump tanks and spray bars as a fruit rinse
- Hypochlorous acid – to sanitize pack line flumes and to help control fire blight
- Sodium hypochlorite – to disinfect and sanitize food contact surfaces and storage rooms, and in dump tanks
Additionally, the NOSB is scheduled to conduct its final vote on a years-long petition to allow pear ester (Ethyl-2E,4Z-Decadienoate, also known as DA), a semiochemical, to the National List as a synthetic kairomone. Pear ester is a critical ingredient in mating disruption products, such as passive dispensers, traps, and lures, as part of codling moth control programs. The listing will include an annotation clarifying that “microencapsulated formulations” of pear ester mating disruption products are prohibited because of the NOSB’s concerns over microplastics. The NOSB’s pear ester discussion document can be read here.
Click here to see the spring meeting agenda, and click here for meeting and comment submission information. Written comments are submitted via Regulations.gov (Docket # AMS-NOP-25-0914), with the deadline on May 4 at 8:59 p.m. Pacific time.
More information on the NOSB agenda and how to submit comments is on the NHC’s website. If you have any questions or would like assistance submitting comments, please contact Dan Langager at langager@nwhort.org or 509-453-3193.
Contact
Dan Langager, technical communications manager
Northwest Horticultural Council
langager@nwhort.org
509-453-3193
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