Regulations on Organic Foods to Set Standard

WASHINGTON —  As part of an effort to create the nation’s first official definition of “organic,” the Clinton administration has decided to propose a ban on genetically engineered grains in any food labeled organic, according to people who have been briefed on the rules.

The guidelines would also ban pesticides on crops labeled organic, bar the use of sewage sludge as fertilizer, prohibit irradiation and tightly restrict the use of antibiotics in farm animals, according to advocates of tough standards who are familiar with the proposal.

The regulations, which are expected to be formally announced next week by the Department of Agriculture, will embrace organic standards on farm subjects ranging from how animals should be treated to what constitutes organic manure, they said.

Advocates of a strict definition of “organic” called the new rules a turnaround from the administration’s first proposals two years ago, which resulted in an outpouring of protest from organic farmers and consumers for being too lax.

“Last time, the USDA wasn’t even close,” said Michael Sligh of the Rural Advancement Foundation International, who attended the USDA briefing last week.

Michael Phillips, executive director for food and agriculture for the Biotechnology Industry Organization, criticized the decision, saying it was not based on science but rather on the fact that so many people had written to the USDA to oppose them.