Notice2026-19623
National Organic Program: Notice of Intent To Extend and Revise a Previously Approved Information Collection (2027)
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Published
September 25, 2026
Issuing agencies
Agriculture DepartmentAgricultural Marketing Service
Abstract
In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this notice announces the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Marketing Service's intention to request an extension and revision of a previously approved information collection titled National Organic Program (OMB Control Number: 0581-0191).
Full Text
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<title>Federal Register, Volume 91 Issue 185 (Friday, September 25, 2026)</title>
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[Federal Register Volume 91, Number 185 (Friday, September 25, 2026)]
[Notices]
[Pages 60927-60929]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [<a href="http://www.gpo.gov">www.gpo.gov</a>]
[FR Doc No: 2026-19623]
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Notices
Federal Register
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Federal Register / Vol. 91, No. 185 / Friday, September 25, 2026 /
Notices
[[Page 60927]]
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Agricultural Marketing Service
[Doc. No. AMS-NOP-26-1024; NOP-26-07]
National Organic Program: Notice of Intent To Extend and Revise a
Previously Approved Information Collection (2027)
AGENCY: Agricultural Marketing Service, USDA.
ACTION: Notice and request for comments.
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SUMMARY: In accordance with the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, this
notice announces the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural
Marketing Service's intention to request an extension and revision of a
previously approved information collection titled National Organic
Program (OMB Control Number: 0581-0191).
DATES: Comments on this notice must be received by November 24, 2026 to
be assured of consideration.
ADDRESSES: Interested persons are invited to submit comments by using
the electronic process available at <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a>. All
comments should reference the docket number, date, and page number of
this issue of the Federal Register. All comments received will be
posted without change to <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a> and will be
included in the record and made available to the public. Please do not
include personally identifiable information (such as name, address, or
other contact information) or confidential business information that
you do not want publicly disclosed. Comments may be submitted
anonymously.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Erin Healy, Director, Standards
Division, National Organic Program; phone: (202) 720-3252; email:
<a href="/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection#fb9e899295d5939e9a9782bb8e889f9ad59c948d"><span class="__cf_email__" data-cfemail="ed889f8483c385888c8194ad989e898cc38a829b">[email protected]</span></a>.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Background
Title: National Organic Program.
OMB Control Number: 0581-0191.
Expiration Date of Current Approval: May 31, 2027.
Type of Request: Notice of intent to extend and revise a previously
approved information collection for three years.
Abstract: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural
Marketing Service (AMS) is requesting that the Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) extend the approval for the currently approved collection,
National Organic Program (NOP) (OMB Control Number 0581-0191), for
three years past its existing expiration date of May 31, 2027. AMS is
also requesting that OMB approve the proposed revisions to the National
Organic Program information collection described in this notice. AMS is
requesting the extension of this previously approved National Organic
Program collection so that it may continue to fully implement USDA
organic regulations and enforcement as mandated by the Organic Foods
Production Act of 1990 (OFPA), as amended (7 U.S.C. chapter 94).
Authority
The OFPA authorized the Secretary of Agriculture to establish the
NOP and accredit certifying agents to certify that farms and businesses
meet national organic standards. Under OFPA, the purpose of the NOP is
to: (1) establish national standards governing the marketing of certain
agricultural products as organically produced products; (2) assure
consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent
standard; and (3) facilitate interstate commerce in fresh and processed
food that is organically produced (7 U.S.C. 6501).
Information Collection
On December 21, 2000, the Secretary established the NOP under USDA
AMS, and the USDA organic regulations, which established the National
Organic Program information collection, were published (7 CFR part 205;
65 FR 80548). The National Organic Program collection has been used at
the Federal level to evaluate the compliance of organically produced
products, evaluate the effectiveness of the program, and to inform
program management decisions and policy changes.
Respondents
Respondents to the National Organic Program collection include
operations seeking or maintaining USDA organic certification, USDA-
accredited certifying agents and their inspectors, certifying agents
that are not USDA-accredited and their operations who are certified
organic under equivalence arrangements exporting organic products to
the United States, and State and foreign program officials. The
collected information is used by accredited certifying agents and their
inspectors, State and foreign program officials, and AMS.
Additional respondents to this collection include entities seeking
accreditation as certifying agents, members of the public petitioning a
change to the National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances
portion of the USDA organic regulations (7 CFR 205.600 through
205.607), and members of the public submitting allegations of
fraudulent organic activities (complaints). This collected information
is used by AMS.
Forms
In addition to generic descriptions of information to be collected
(described in the USDA organic regulations, 7 CFR part 205), the
National Organic Program collection includes three forms: (1) TM-10CG,
Application for Accreditation; (2) TM-11, Export Certificate; and (3)
NOP 2110-1, NOP Import Certificate.
Respondents who use form TM-10CG, Application for Accreditation
include entities seeking accreditation as certifying agents or seeking
to renew their accreditation. Respondents who use form TM-11, Export
Certificate are domestic certified organic operations seeking to export
organic goods to a country with an organic trade arrangement requiring
the form (currently Japan and Taiwan) and their certifying agents.
Respondents who use form NOP 2110-1, NOP Import Certificate are foreign
certified operations seeking to export certified organic products to
the United States and USDA-certified organic operations seeking to
import those products, and their certifying agents.
The information collected with TM-10CG, Application for
Accreditation is used by AMS. The information collected with TM-11,
Export Certificate and NOP 2110-1, NOP Import Certificate, is
[[Page 60928]]
used by accredited certifying agents and their inspectors, State and
foreign program officials, and AMS.
Revisions to Forms
TM-10CG, Application for Accreditation. AMS intends to revise the
explanatory/instructional text in form TM-10CG, Application for
Accreditation. The existing form instructs the respondent to attach
records with their submission that demonstrate their compliance with
the Evidence of expertise and ability section of the USDA organic
regulations for entities seeking accreditation (7 CFR 205.504). This
requires certifying agents to provide evidence of their staff's
expertise and operation's ability to carry out certification
activities. AMS intends to remove the requirement to include this
expertise and ability evidence with the respondent's initial submission
of the form. Instead, this information will be submitted later in the
application process. This revision will lower the occurrence of
duplicative and incomplete responses from respondents, streamlining the
process for both respondents and AMS.
NOP 2110-1, NOP Import Certificate. AMS intends to revise the
explanatory/instructional text in form NOP 2110-1, NOP Import
Certificate. The existing form identifies item 7 as ``RECIPIENT IN THE
U.S. (NAME AND ADDRESS).'' AMS plans to change item 7 to read
``CERTIFIED ORGANIC IMPORTER IN THE U.S. (NAME AND ADDRESS).'' This
revision will clarify the type of information the respondent should
record and will lower the occurrence of erroneous responses from
respondents resulting in duplicative submissions, streamlining the
process for both respondents and AMS.
Other Revisions
AMS intends to revise the National Organic Program collection to
refine the estimate of burden due to routine changes in numbers used
during calculations. For example, the number of certified organic
operations changes over time, so burden estimates will be refined to
reflect updated data.
AMS also intends to revise the National Organic Program collection
to remove burden estimates related to the Transition to Organic
Partnership Program, as the program concludes on December 31, 2026, and
will be obsolete by the time this extension request is submitted to
OMB.\1\ These respondents included operations (e.g., farmers) seeking
to transition their agricultural operation to USDA certified organic
production, operations looking to expand their existing USDA certified
organic operation and/or acreage, and existing USDA certified organic
operations looking to serve in a mentorship role to the above listed
respondents. The collected information was used by AMS and Transition
to Organic Partnership Program cooperators.
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\1\ <a href="https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/topp">https://www.ams.usda.gov/services/organic-certification/topp</a>.
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Finally, AMS intends to make minor revisions to the National
Organic Program collection to incorporate and revise estimates of
paperwork burdens currently detailed in four separate collections
associated with recent USDA organic certification-related rulemaking.
Upon OMB approval of this revised collection, AMS will submit a
Discontinuation Request to OMB to delete the four individual
collections:
1. Strengthening Organic Enforcement information collection (0581-
0321): Approved October 24, 2023, expires October 31, 2026.\2\
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\2\ Strengthening Organic Enforcement: 88 FR 3548, January 19,
2023. As the Strengthening Organic Enforcement information
collection (0581-0321) expires October 31, 2026, AMS is requesting a
1-year approval extension of that information collection in a
separate Federal Register notice (AMS-NOP-26-1321) to allow AMS time
to complete the revisions described here.
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2. Origin of Livestock-Variance Request information collection
(0581-0343): Approved January 05, 2024, expires January 31, 2027.
3. Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards information collection
(0581-0293): Approved August 27, 2024, expires August 31, 2027.
4. Market Development for Mushrooms and Pet Food information
collection (0581-0347): Approved February 09, 2026, expires February
28, 2027.
Where these four collections contain burden estimates that already
exist or overlap with the National Organic Program collection, AMS will
incorporate and revise estimates as necessary to eliminate overlapping
or duplicative estimates. For example, the Strengthening Organic
Enforcement collection includes respondents who must label bulk
nonretail containers. Labeling is a routine activity that is already
accounted for in the National Organic Program collection and would
overestimate the overall burden if AMS did not incorporate the
Strengthening Organic Enforcement collection's estimate into the
related, existing burden in the National Organic Program collection's
estimate.
These four collections contain some unique burden estimates not
currently present in the National Organic Program collection. AMS will
incorporate these burdens into the National Organic Program
collection's estimate. For example, the Strengthening Organic
Enforcement collection outlined specific training hour requirements for
certain organic personnel. This type of burden was not previously
estimated in the National Organic Program collection, so this estimate
will be added. Similarly, the Origin of Livestock-Variance Request
collection contains a burden related to livestock operations submitting
variance requests to their certifying agent. This estimate will also be
added to the National Organic Program collection.\3\
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\3\ Origin of Livestock-Variance Request: 88 FR 25289, April 26,
2023.
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AMS does not intend to carry over one-time burdens from these four
individual collections that no longer apply. The burdens from these
collections that no longer apply include respondents who needed to
comply with new provisions of those rules for the first time. For
example, one-time reporting burdens in Strengthening Organic
Enforcement, Origin of Livestock-Variance Request, Organic Livestock
and Poultry Standards, and Market Development for Mushrooms and Pet
Food collections included organic operations updating their existing
OSPs and accredited certifying agents developing new procedures as
required by the rule.<SUP>4 5</SUP>
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\4\ Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards: 88 FR 75394,
November 02, 2023.
\5\ Market Development for Mushrooms and Pet Food: 89 FR 104367,
December 23, 2024.
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Estimate of Paperwork Burden
Estimate of Burden: The total annual burden estimated for the
National Organic Program collection is described below. This estimated
burden includes time needed for training; record creation and
administration; and preparation, review, and submission of reports.
Respondents include producers and handlers of certified and exempt
organic products, applicants for organic certification, organic
inspectors, certifying agents, State governments, petitioners,
complainants, and foreign-based certifying agents and certified organic
operations importing organic products to the United States.
Estimated Number of Respondents: 56,827.
Estimated Number of Responses per Respondent: approximately 9.1.
Estimated Burden per Response: approximately 8.3 hours.
Estimated Total Annual Burden on Respondents: 4,274,732.82 hours.
[[Page 60929]]
Request for Comments
This notice invites comments on the revisions being made to the
National Organic Program collection and whether the revisions
accurately reflect the time required for respondents to respond to this
information collection. This notice relates strictly to Paperwork
Reduction Act (44 U.S.C. chapter 35) requirements (<a href="https://digital.gov/guides/pra">https://digital.gov/guides/pra</a>) and is part of the routine process through which AMS
requests continued approval from OMB to continue collecting information
necessary to implement the OFPA and the USDA organic regulations. While
this notice invites comments, commenters should know that changes to
the USDA organic regulations are outside the scope of this activity.
AMS invites comments on the following items:
1. If there are any concerns with the proposed revisions to the
explanatory/instructional text in form TM-10CG, Application for
Accreditations;
2. If there are any concerns with the proposed revisions to the
explanatory/instructional text in form NOP 2110-1, NOP Import
Certificate; and
3. If there are any refinements or corrective suggestions to AMS's
plan to incorporate the burden estimates currently in the four separate
collections Strengthening Organic Enforcement, Origin of Livestock-
Variance Request, Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards, and Market
Development for Mushrooms and Pet Food.
AMS also invites public comment on the entire National Organic
Program information collection regarding the following topics:
i. Whether the collection of information continues to be necessary
for the proper performance of the functions of the NOP, including
whether the information has practical utility;
ii. The accuracy of the burden estimates of the collection of
information;
iii. Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the
collected information; and
iv. Ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on
those who must respond, including the use of automated collection
techniques or other forms of information technology.
Comments received will inform AMS's submission to OMB. AMS
responses to received comments will be summarized in a Supporting
Statement submitted to OMB. This Supporting Statement will be
accessible to the public by searching for OMB Control Number ``0581-
0191'' on <a href="http://www.reginfo.gov/">http://www.reginfo.gov/</a>.
To submit a comment, access the background documents (such as the
``AMS-71 Grid'' used to estimate burden), or read comments received,
search for Docket ID ``AMS-NOP-26-1024'' on <a href="http://www.regulations.gov/">http://www.regulations.gov/</a>. See the ADDRESSES section above for more
information on submitting a public comment.
Authority: 7 U.S.C. chapter 94.
Erin Morris
Administrator, Agricultural Marketing Service.
[FR Doc. 2026-19623 Filed 9-24-26; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE P
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