Congress passed the OFPA of 1990 to achieve the following goals:

• To establish national standards governing the marketing of certain agricultural products as organically produced.
• To assure consumers that organically produced products meet a consistent standard.
• To facilitate interstate and international commerce in fresh and processed food that is organically produced.
• To accomplish the above goals, the OFPA mandated the formation of a National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to advise the Secretary of Agriculture in developing a National Organic Program (NOP).

• This grace period was designed to allow organic producers and handlers time to become compliant with the new regulations, including making packaging and label changes.
• It also provides time for all organic certifying agents to apply for accreditation with the USDA.

Who must be certified?
Everyone selling products labeled as "organic" must be certified. This includes producers of organic livestock, food, and fiber crops, and "handlers" of organic products.

Labeling
Labeling requirements under NOP are based on the percentage of organic ingredients in a product. There are four labeling options:

• 100% Organic - products labeled as 100% organic must contain (excluding water and salt) only organically produced ingredients.
• Organic - products labeled organic must consist of at least 95% organically produced ingredients (excluding water and salt).
• Made with Organic (list up to three ingredients) - processed products that contain at least 70% organic ingredients can use the phrase "made with organic ingredients" and list up to three of the organic ingredients or food groups on the principal display panel.
• Organic Ingredients Listed on Ingredient Panel Only - processed products that contain less than 70% organic ingredients are allowed to list the organic items on the ingredient panel only.