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E-News Service : August 2006
Welcome to the August,
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
NIST extend
recognition of IOAS -
on August 8 an evaluation panel of the National Institute of Standards &
Technology (part of the US Dept. of Commerce in the USA) unanimously
approved continued recognition of the IOAS IFOAM and ISO/IEC65 accreditation
programmes as operating in line with ISO/IEC17011. Reassessment took place
during June and July this year. IOAS was first recognised by NIST in August
2004.
Ecotourism
and organic cosmetics and detergents
- following
a request from an individual certification body the IOAS Board recently
approved to accept applications from certification organisations wanting to
include in their scope under ISO/IEC Guide 65, ecotourism and organic
cosmetics and detergents. Given the sometimes broad definition of
ecotourism, IOAS reserves the right to reject applications if there is no
organic farming or organic food element to the reference standards on
ecotourism. IOAS continues to limit its scope of interest to organic
agriculture and organic products.
IOAS
training - two
training courses for government authorities and accreditors on assessment of
organic certification bodies are planned for 2006. One is taking place in
Switzerland on November 20-23 and the other in Bangkok on December 6-9. Both courses
will be delivered in English. Individuals or groups interested in attending
the courses should view more details at http://www.ioas.org/WEBSITE/06_IOAS_training.htm or
contact IOAS at training@ioas.org
IOAS
annual report 2005
is now available on the IOAS web site at http://www.ioas.org/WEBSITE/0410_annual_reports.htm
Codex
Alimentarius Commission
- the report of the session of the Codex Committee of Food Labelling in May
2006 which discussed amendments to the Codex Guidelines oon Organically
Produced Foods is available at http://www.codexalimentarius.net/download/report/658/al29_22e.pdf
The committee discussed amendments to permitted processing aids and
additives. Natural sodium nitrate inclusion as a permitted soil amendment is
being heavily promoted by Chile but no agreement has been reached due to
considerable opposition including that of the observer from IFOAM. The issue
will be discussed further at future sessions.
Canadian
regulation -
work in Canada continues on course to introduce standards and a conformity
assessment system for organic agriculture under a legal framework before the
end of 2006. The organic standards have undergone a procedural check and are
at the final stage of ratification and will be referenced by the regulation.
A quality system manual has also been drafted which is undergoing final
checks and discussion. The system is understood to comprise both
certification bodies and several accreditation bodies working as 'agents' of
government.
Mexico - following
approval of an organic law by the Mexican parliament in 2005 the authorities
are working on establishing guidance and oversight structures and the
detailed implementation of the system.
NOP
revocation of accreditation of US certifier -
the Agricultural Marketing Service of USDA announced on July 26 the
withdrawal of accreditation from the American Food Safety Institute,
International (AFSII) in Wisconsin, USA. Under the terms of the
revocation, principal officers of AFSII and responsibly connected persons
are banned from conducting or participating in the certification of organic
producers for not less than three years. AFSII was initially
accredited under the NOP on Feb. 10, 2003. Seven 'serious violations'
of the NOP regulation were referred to but no details provided of the
reasons for the revocation. This is the first withdrawal of accreditation
from a certifier under the USDA NOP.
Erratum
- NOP draft procedures on country equivalence
- in the June issue we noted that these procedures had been posted on the
NOP web site on June 19. The procedures do not refer to the recognition of
conformity assessment systems as was cited. It refers to equivalence
determinations of foreign technical regulations and conformity assessment
systems in order to allow imports into the USA although it is envisaged
that simultaneously the USA will request a reciprocal arrangement and
therefore has relevance to exports from the USA. See http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/TodaysNews.html
EU
Regulation 2092/91 -
on June 28th the Commission published an amending regulation (956/2006) to
the regulation (94/92) which contains the listing of third countries
assessed as implementing production rules and conformity assessment measures
equivalent to those under 2092/91. India were formally added to this list.
Eleven bodies are included in the list of authorised inspection bodies in
India. In the same regulation the duration of inclusion in the list of both
Costa Rica and New Zealand was extended to 2011.
International
Task Force on Harmonisation -- October 9-13, 2006 - Stockholm. Contact: mfecht@ifoam.org
Call
for comments
- IOAS invite comments on the performance (relevant to accreditation norms)
of the following certification bodies, about
to or are, currently undergoing evaluation or reevaluation: Doalnara
Certified Organic Korea and Global Organic Agriculture Association of
S.Korea, AgriQuality, New Zealand, Ecoland,
Germany, Quality Assurance International,
USA (all against IFOAM Norms)
and Organska Kontrola, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, International Certification Services, USA, National
Association of Sustainable Agriculture Australia, Organic Food Development
& Certification Center, PR China (against IFOAM and ISO65).
IOAS
meetings
- IOAS are planning meetings for 2007 in Bangkok, Quebec and Budapest.
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