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E-News Service :
May 2008
Welcome
to the May, 2008 issue of the E-NEWS 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 600 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. There is no charge, the distribution list is
anonymous and unsubscribing can be done at any time just by responding to
crucefix@ioas.org
Canada accreditation
– following our audit by the Canadian Organic Office in March on April 10th,
the IOAS received a
letter from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency confirming compliance
with the Canadian Organic Regime. This means that the IOAS is now able to
accept applications from certification bodies anywhere in the world for
accreditation under the Canadian Organic Regime. Please contact
info@ioas.org for more information.
The
Canadian authorities are currently negotiating equivalence with their
major trading partners and they hope to have recognition agreements in place
before the December 14th, 2008 deadline. Although agreements with
the USA and the EU are anticipated, such agreements will not cover activity
of certification bodies outside of their home territory unless the authority
can specifically verify such activity.
Current IOAS clients are considering Canada accreditation are strongly
recommended to submit their applications before mid May so that we can
forward your name to the Canadian authorities to be placed on the
provisional approved list. The authorities will publish two lists; one for
certification bodies active within Canada and one for those active outside
of Canada. Any certification body may appear on both lists. For more
information on accreditation under the Canadian Organic Regime, see
the IOAS
web site.
The
European Commission released a further draft of the implementing rules
for imports under Articles 32 and 33 of EC 834/2007. The rules explain the
process by which third countries and certification bodies will be able to
apply to be placed on the various 'approved' lists. The main change since
the previous draft in November 2007 is that the initial time period for
certification bodies to apply for equivalence has been extended from 6 to 12
months and for compliance from 6 months to 3 years. The IOAS expect these
rules to be approved in mid 2008.
This
means that a rough deadline for certification bodies to submit their
applications to the European Commission to be entered on the first
‘equivalence’ lists is July 2009 (although this will of course depend on
when the rules are approved). The IOAS is already working with current
clients to ensure our surveillance in 2008 will provide the required
information. To ensure sufficient time to make use of this year’s
surveillance activity, the IOAS invites applications before July 2008.
Current non-clients of the IOAS who are considering accreditation or
‘equivalence assessment’ with us are strongly urged to contact us as soon as
possible to discuss your needs.
Although the new import rules offer compliance and equivalence options
for certification bodies outside of the EU, all indications from Commission
staff is that the compliance route will only be successful if all clauses of
the regulation are met to the letter. This will include all administrative
clauses. Although the IOAS will offer both options, we strongly recommend
opting for equivalence, especially where certification bodies are involved
in smallholder group certification and where national databases are not
established for verification of availability of organic seeds.
Certification bodies based in Europe but with activity outside of Member
States will be required to prove compliance or equivalence in exactly the
same way as non-EU based certification bodies. Accreditation or supervision
that does not cover foreign activity will not be sufficient. For more
information on the new EU import rules, go to our questions and answer
page.
Gergana Nentcheva of Bulgaria
commenced work with the IOAS on April 7 as our new Client Manager. Gergana
was previously General Manager of Balkan Biocert in Bulgaria and brings with
her a wealth of experience in the organic sector.
Meet Gergana.
The
National Organic Standards Board in the USA issued their latest guidance
proposals on 'commercial availability of organic seed'. The proposals
add more detail to guidance issued in 2005 and include measures for
operators and ACAs (certification bodies). The
proposal
was discussed in the May
20-22 meeting of the NOSB.
EU
enforces one accreditation
model – in new legislation each Member
State must appoint a single national accreditation body. In summary, the
Commission shall draw up a list of the national accreditation bodies, to be
made publicly available. Where accreditation is not operated directly by the
public authorities themselves, Member States shall entrust the national
accreditation body with the operation of accreditation as a public authority
and grant it formal recognition on behalf of the government. Each Member
State shall ensure that its national accreditation body has the appropriate
resources for the proper performance of its tasks including for the
fulfilment of special tasks, such as activities in European and
international accreditation cooperation and activities that are required to
support government policy and which are not self-financing.
IOAS training
in 2008
– in line with the IOAS mission of continuous improvement of organic
certification and harmonisation of procedures for assessment and
supervision, the IOAS are offering two types of training and professional
development in 2008. Both are specifically focused on the organic
agriculture sector; one course for assessors at accreditation level and two
courses for managers of certification bodies. These courses are open to all.
If interested please see the dates and details of the courses on our
web site and/or contact
training@ioas.org
Comments on the
performance and compliance with relevant norms are invited on the following
certification bodies which are undergoing, or about to undergo, assessment
or reassessment: TECPAR, Brasil (IFOAM), Ecoinspect, Rumania (ISO65), WSDA,
USA (IFOAM & ISO65), Naturland, Germany (IFOAM), OIA, Argentina (IFOAM),
JONA, Japan (IFOAM & ISO65), BIOS, Italy (IFOAM), BIO-GRO, New Zealand (IFOAM),
ACT, Thailand (IFOAM & ISO65), Bioagricert, Italy (IFOAM), Ecocert-Afrisco,
S.Africa (IFOAM and ISO65), CONU, S.Korea (IFOAM)
Complaints
are also invited on the work of both IOAS and accredited certification
bodies. Complaints should be submitted in writing, providing as much detail
as possible on the issue. The IOAS complaints policies can be found
here.Return to top of page
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