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E-News Service : February 2007
Welcome to the February,
2007 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 500
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
One
assessment - multiple approvals
- alongside the regulatory developments that have recently take
place in Canada and Europe (see below), the IOAS will apply and expect to be
formally recognised as an accreditor under the Canadian regime and expect to
continue offering accreditation and equivalence reports under the EU
Regulation, providing access to both markets. With a combination of a new
fee schedule in 2007 and new information handling systems, IOAS are now offering
existing and new clients the possibility of joint accreditation to IFOAM and
ISO/IEC 65 (with the various additional requirements of the regulations as
needed) using one assessment process and one fee. See
our new fee schedule.
Canadian
regulation -
on December 21, 2006, the Organic Products Regulations of Canada were
finally published bringing in requirements for another major market for
organic produce where before there were none (or at least not in a
harmonised sense across the territory). The main implications for
certification bodies working within Canada is that they will have to be
formally accredited by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency through one of a
number of approved accreditors. For those certifying exports to the
territory, access may either be through equivalency recognition of a country
system or by direct accreditation. The regulation is available at
http://canadagazette.gc.ca/partII/2006/20061221-x6/html/extra-e.html
and the Canadian Organic Standards are available at http://www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca/cgsb/on_the_net/organic/index-e.html
EU
Regulation 2092/91 revision -
also in late December the European Commission approved amendments to
Regulation EEC 2092/91, Article 11, which will affect the import of
organic products into Europe. The main change is the gradual phase out of
the case-by-case product approval (the so-called importer
derogation) managed by Member State authorities, to be replaced by direct
approval of third country certification bodies (without the need for a
country conformity assessment system to be approved). The direct approvals
will be under the authority of the Commission itself and (for CBs outside of
Europe) will be able to be done on a full compliance basis (accreditation
against ISO/IEC 65 with scope of EU Regulation) or on an equivalence basis
(formal accreditation not required and to equivalent criteria and
standards). Both systems will however require surveillance by an
accreditation body or authority. The Third Country list system will
continue.
New
applications for IOAS accreditation
- the first certification bodies based in Africa have applied for
accreditation with the IOAS. The Tanzania Organic Certification
Association (TanCert) and Uganda Organic Certifcation Ltd. (UgoCert)
have both applied in January 2007 for accreditation against IFOAM Norms
and ISO/IEC Guide 65. The contacts for these organisations are,
respectively, Leonard Mtama at tancert@TanCert.org and
Charles Walaga at info@ugocert.org The
IOAS will now be providing services in all five continents.
New
accreditations
- in December 2006, also a first, two certification bodies in South
Korea successfully completed and were granted accreditation by the IOAS. The
Global Organic Agriculture Association were granted
accreditation against IFOAM Norms. The international contact is Chun
Kyungwook at kkdeca@naver.com The
Doalnara Certified Organic Korea LLC were granted
accreditation against IFOAM Norms and ISO/IEC Guide 65. The international
contact is Robert Yang at doalnara@doalnara.or.kr Our
congratulations to both organisations and their staff.
Reaccreditations
- also in the last 3 months the following organic certification bodies have
been reaccredited or accredited under an additional scope: Organic
Food Development Center of China (OFDC) were reaccredited against
IFOAM Norms and newly accredited against ISO/IEC Guide 65 with scope of OFDC
standards, the China National Standards and Regulation (EEC) 2092/91; AgriQuality
of New Zealand were reaccredited against IFOAM Norms; International
Certification Services (ICS) of the USA were reaccredited against
IFOAM Norms, National Association of Sustainable Agriculture
Australia (NASAA) were reaccredited against IFOAM Norms and
ISO/IEC Guide 65 with scope of NASAA Organic standards; Quality
Assurance International (QAI) of the USA were reaccredited against
IFOAM Norms.
Aquaculture
and textile processing
scope - the following IFOAM accredited certification bodies have recently
been the first to add aquaculture to their scope following its inclusion in
the IFOAM Norms published in early 2006: Agrior of Israel, Bioland
of Germany, Debio of Norway, Instituto per la Certificazione
Etica i Ambientale (ICEA) of Italy and Organic Agriculture
Thailand (ACT). AgriQuality of New Zealand were granted the
addition of aquaculture and textile processing.
IOAS
training - a
3 1/2 day training course for government authorities and accreditors on
assessment of organic certification bodies took place in
Switzerland in November, 2006. 15 people attended from Belgium,
Bulgaria, Germany, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand and USA. The
Swiss course will now take place annually in September/October and
we hope to organise a further course in 2007 in either North or South
America. Contact IOAS at training@ioas.org
for more information or should you wish to host a course.
Accredited
certification bodies in 2006 -
the 35 IOAS accredited certification bodies had just under 150,000
registered operators in 75 countries in 2006. 65% of the organisations work
in more than 1 country. On average the organisations have 14 full time staff
members (the range being from 2 to 75) and 2 part time. 15 of the
certification bodies are based in Europe, 10 in Asia-Pacific, 6 in
North America, 5 in South America and 2 in the Middle East. An up to date
listing of IOAS accredited certifiers, their status and full scope details
is always available on our web site at www.ioas.org
Surveillance
in 2006 -
IOAS evaluators performed 89 days of on site surveillance, did 44 witness
and review operator visits and reviewed over 250 operator files in 2006.
IOAS moved to a risk-based surveillance system allowed under the
requirements of ISO/IEC17011 which allowed a reduction in the number of site
visits performed reducing costs to certification bodies, demands on the time
of certification staff and the IOAS environmental footprint at the same
time. Based on this system additional visits have been imposed based on
non-fulfiment of non-compliances. IOAS issued one notice of intent to
suspend during 2006 and three warnings.
BioFach
Trade Fair, Nuremberg, Germany - the
IOAS will, as usual, be tending a stand at the show in Hall 1, stand 341
between February 15-18th. If you wish to pre-arrange an appointment please
contact Jan Deane on deane@ioas.org Please
drop by and see us.
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 re-evaluation: Biokontroll
of Hungary, CCOF of USA, CCPB of Italy, ICEA
of Italy, IMC of Italy, OCIA of USA (all against IFOAM Norms)
and Organska Kontrola, Bosnia &
Herzegovina, TanCert of Tanzania and UgoCert of Uganda (against
IFOAM and ISO65).
IOAS
meetings
- IOAS are planning Board and Accreditation Committee meetings for 2007 in
Budapest in March, Quebec City in June and Bangkok in October. We would
be happy to meet with local organic interests. Please contact info@ioas.org
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