Source: Tom Johnston, MEATINGPLACE, 1/13/17


The USDA can now publish animal welfare standards for livestock raised on organic farms, according to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA).

The comment period for the rule ended last summer, and since has been on the desk of the Office of Management and Budget. On Thursday morning the OMB released the final rule, enabling USDA to publish it in the Federal Register, ASPCA officials noted.

“We are pleased that this incredibly significant rule is on the cusp of publication,” said Deborah Press, ASPCA’s director of regulatory affairs. “ … It will correct the wide disparity between consumers’ expectations regarding the quality of animal welfare under the organic label and the reality of what USDA currently requires.”

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