Representative Keith Self (R-Texas) submitted an amendment to H.R. 4368, the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act of 2024. The amendment would prohibit funds in the underlying bill from being used to write, prepare, or publish any final or interim final rule relating to the proposed rule or otherwise enforcement of the proposed rule “National Organic Program; Organic Livestock and Poultry Standards” (OLPS).

If finalized, the OLPS proposed rule would standardize livestock health care practices, provisions for livestock handling and transport for slaughter and avian living conditions, and would expand and clarify existing requirements for livestock care and production practices. The OLPS proposed rule was published in August of 2022, and the comment period closed in October. In a press release about the OLPS proposed rule, the USDA stated that the rule “would change the USDA organic regulations to promote a fairer and more competitive market for organic livestock producers, by making sure that certified USDA livestock products are produced to the same consistent standard.”

The amendment would block any funding for the implementation or enforcement of the OLPS proposed rule, which would update and strengthen animal welfare standards under the NOP. However, according to the Organic Trade Association (OTA) CEO Tom Chapman, the amendment threatens more than just the update to animal welfare standards: “Organic producers and anyone who values organic needs to realize that this is about a whole lot more than animal welfare. […] the entire structure that governs USDA’s National Organic Program would be weakened, ultimately causing severe economic harm to tens of thousands of organic producers and businesses across the country, and irrefutably shaking the confidence of consumers in the USDA Organic label.” OTA has committed to stop the amendment.