The October 7 edition of the Federal Register contained a notice announcing a forthcoming meeting of the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB).  The meeting will take place in Savannah, Georgia from Tuesday, November 29 through Friday, December 2, 2011.

The meeting is open for public comment, and comments will be accepted until midnight Eastern Time on Sunday, November 13, 2011.  Written comments may be submitted here.

Among many other topics to be discussed at the meeting will be recommendations on:

• Animal welfare, stocking rates, animal handling, transit, and slaughter; and species-specific scorecards.
• Animal husbandry
• Aquaculture materials review

The principal purpose of NOSB meetings is to provide an opportunity for the organic community to weigh in on proposed NOSB recommendations and discussion items.  These meetings also allow the NOSB to receive updates from the USDA and National Organic Program (NOP) on issues pertaining to organic agriculture.  For additional information on the meeting and its agenda items, see the Federal Register announcement.