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E-News Service : April 2006
Welcome to the April, 2006
issue of the email update service provided by the IOAS and prepared
specifically for regulatory authorities and related bodies active in the
oversight of the organic food and farming sector. The mailing is now
going to over 450 professionals
in this sector. Its purpose is to provide regular, clear and concise
information about the IOAS, its work and the wider organic regulatory world.
Please pass it on to any colleagues you think may be interested
or request that it be sent direct to your desktop. There is no
charge, the distribution list is anonymous and unsubscribing can be done at
any time just by responding to authorities@ioas.org
New
applicant for IFOAM Accreditation -
Doalnara Certified Organic Korea LLC applied for IFOAM Accreditation in
February 2006 and is currently undergoing evaluation. Doalnara are the
second Korean organisation to apply in the last few months joining the
Global Organic Agriculture Association who applied in December 2005. The
contact at Doalnara is Robert Yang. doalnara@doalnara.or.kr
Reaccreditations - Argencert
of Argentina and Bolicert of Bolivia were recently granted renewal of
accreditation against IFOAM Norms after being fully re-evaluated in 2005.
Both were first accredited in 1998. During their reevaluation process,
Bolicert were also assessed and granted accreditation against Guide ISO65
with scope of EU Regulation 2092/91.
IOAS
training - two
further training courses for government authorities and accreditors on
assessment of organic certification bodies are planned for 2006. One is now
certain to take place in Bangkok on December 6-9 and the other is likely to
take place in Latin America but is pending dates and location. The Bangkok
course will be delivered in English. Individuals or groups interested in
attending the courses should contact IOAS at training@ioas.org
A draft course programme is attached to this message.
NIST
reassessment -
IOAS are about to undergo reassessment by the US Department of Commerce
National Institute of Standards & Technology for recognition of the
IFOAM and ISO65 programmes against Guide ISO17011. The NIST recognition and
surveillance operates on a two year cycle. IOAS was first recognised as
compliant with the then ISO61 in August 2004. Document review, office visits
and a witness audit will take place in May and June.
ANSI
exchange - As
in 2005, IOAS are once again exchanging auditors with the American National
Standards Institue (ANSI) to perform respective internal audits.
IFOAM 1st
Certification Conference -
IFOAM are organising their first
Conference on Organic Certification to take place in Rome, November 15-17th.
The conference will be followed by a half day meeting of the recently
established Certifiers Forum. The conference is expected to attract
certification organisations, standard setters, government authorities and
accreditors from around the world to discuss current challenges, greater
collaboration and common understanding on technical and administrative
issues facing the sector. For more information see http://www.ifoam.org/events/ifoam_conferences/IFOAM_Certification_Conference.html
EU
Regulation 2092/91 - since
the publication by the Commission of the proposal for a complete revision of
the EU Regulation 2092/91 on December 21, 2005 there has been a wide and
vocal reaction from the organic sector. The original intention was that the
proposal (not the new regulation) was to be approved by the end of June
2006. The many concerns of the organic community were voiced at a meeting
organised in the European Parliament building in Brussels by the
European Greens and the IFOAM EU Group on March 27. These included the
tight timeframe for approval and the lack of time for consultation and the
restructuring of the control under the framework of EC 882(2004) on
official food and feed controls which would move the control system away
from the private-public partnership (present in most member states today)
towards greater control and implementation by the authorities. The
proposal also contained changes on rules for imports from third
countries due to come into effect from January 1, 2007. Due to
the generally adverse reaction of the sector, the Austrian Presidency issued
a Presidency Note on April 7 offering 'drafting suggestions' for parts I,
II, III, VI and VII of the proposal. Parts IV and V dealing respectively with
'Labelling' and 'Controls' will become available in 'due course'.
USDA
recognise Standards Council of Canada - in
January 2006 the Standards Council of Canada was recognised by the USDA AMS
as operating a conformity assessment system 'sufficent to ensure conformity
to the the technical standards of the USDA NOP'. This recognition (under NOP
clause 205.500 c,1) permits all certification organisations accredited by
SCC to apply the NOP standards to certify operations selling products to the
US market. The 'Organic Standard' also recently informed of the
recognition of the APEDA conformity assessment system in India, although
this is not currently indicated in the NOP web site http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/NOP/Trade.html
First
foreign CB approved by MAFF - the
IFOAM Accredited certification organisation Australian Certified Organic
announced that it has become the first non Japanese based CB to be approved
by MAFF, Japan under their new rules. From April 1, 2006 only certification
organisations registered and approved by MAFF directly under rules issued in
June 2005 may supervise operators using the JAS mark.
IOAS/IFOAM
meeting in Bonn - on
March 17th the IOAS Board met for the first time with the new IFOAM World
Board elected in August 2005. A further meeting involving the IFOAM Norms
Management Committee and the Standards Committee discussed the future
direction and development of the IFOAM Guarantee System.
IOAS structures
- Roger Blobaum (USA) stepped down in March from the IOAS Executive Board
and as Treasurer after many years in this role. He remains however on the
Board and his position as Treasurer is taken by Michael Sligh (USA). The
full Board meets twice per year. Roberto Setti (Italy), Patricio Parra
(Chile) and Frank Rumpe (Switzerland) were reappointed to a further term on
the IOAS Accreditation Committee. All members have three year terms.
Call
for comments
- IOAS invite comments on the performance (relevant to accreditation norms)
of the following certification bodies currently undergoing evaluation or
reevaluation: Doalnara Certified
Organic Korea and Global Organic Agricluture Association of S.Korea,
AgriQuality, New Zealand, Ecoland,
Germany, International Certification Services, USA, Quality
Assurance International, USA (all against IFOAM Norms)
and National Association of Sustainable Agriculture Australia, Organic Food
Development & Certification Center, PR China (against IFOAM and
ISO65).
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