National Sustainable Agriculture Standard (LEO-4000) Public Comment Period Closes

Madison, WI, May 15, 2014 /3BL Media/ - Leonardo Academy, a charitable organization that facilitates the development of national voluntary standards, announced that the public comment for National Sustainable Agriculture Standard (LEO-4000) closed  on May 6, 2014. Gathering public comment is an important part of the ANSI standard development process. Now that the public comments have been gathered, the next step is for the Standard Committee to develop responses to the comments received during the public comment period. This public comment process helps assure that the standard being developed meets the needs of the users and the marketplace.

The National Sustainable Agriculture Standard (LEO-4000) is being developed through the American National Standards Institute’s (ANSI) open, multi-stakeholder process and it provides voluntary guidance and opportunities for recognition for producers interested in pursuing sustainable crop production.

 LEO-4000 will help businesses and consumers navigate the increasingly confusing range of proprietary sustainability labels, specifications, information requests, and guides for agricultural products. It is a comprehensive sustainability standard that provides a stable and reliable platform for producers to use in documenting and communicating their sustainability achievements while demonstrating compliance with other sustainability requirements and remaining flexible to meet the diverse needs of agriculture. The standard will also help food manufacturers, retailers, and consumers purchase sustainable agricultural products and assess the authenticity of sustainable agricultural product claims.

The draft standard can be downloaded at:  http://www.leonardoacademy.org/services/standards/agstandard.html

On demand webinars on the draft standard are available at: http://leonardoacademy.org/services/standards/agstandard/ag-standard-videos.html