ORGANIC FARMING

Regulations

Accreditation Regulation 2001

These regulations shall apply to all certifying agencies in India which propose to engage, or are already engaged before the commencement of these regulations, in the certification of production and processing of organic crops/products under these accreditation agencies as organic.

No certificate granted by a certifying agency in respect of products as organic shall be valid unless the agency if accredited by the respective Accreditation Agencies.

The Accreditation Agencies will follow the approved accreditation criteria for inspection and certification as specified under the regulations.

Committee for Accreditation

A committee for accreditation of the respective Accreditation Agencies shall be constituted separately by the Govt. of India.  This committee shall have the authority to conduct random or surprise field inspections, including analysis of samples drawn from the certified operators’ (producer groups) farms.

Application for Accreditation

Applicants seeking accreditation as an agency or renewal thereof shall submit an application to the authorized officer in the form prescribed, available with Accreditation Agency along with fee prescribed for the purpose and specified in the regulations.  When the Certifying Agency apply for accreditation from one of the Accreditation Agencies to cover multiple projects, some of them covered under different Accreditation Agencies, then that Accreditation Agency while considering such application will also associate technical expert from other Accreditation Agency under whom the particular products are covered.

An applicant shall deposit an accreditation fee along with the application form for accreditation.  The Certificate of Accreditation will be valid for a period of three years.  For renewal of Certificate of Accreditation, there shall be a renewal fee, which shall be remitted with the application for renewal.  All accredited Inspection and Certification Agencies shall be allotted a specific accreditation number, which cannot be transferred or reassigned.  On receipt of the application duly filled in all respects, together with the prescribed fee, the Accreditation Agency shall conduct a preliminary screening of all the applications.  If the application is found in order, the Accreditation Agency shall arrange for field evaluation by a competent evaluator nominated by the Accreditation Agency.  The Committee for Accreditation shall consider the application, along with the evaluation report.  In case the applicant fulfills the prescribed criteria, the Committee shall give approval to the Certifying Agency.  The Committee may, if considers appropriate, give opportunity to the applicant to fulfill/rectify any deficiencies found during the evaluation.  In the case of non-approval, the same shall be intimated to the applicant in writing along with reasons thereof.  On approval of Accreditation, the respective Accreditation Agencies shall intimate the Certifying Agency about the approval along with a copy of the prescribed Accreditation Contract.  The Certifying Agency shall execute the contract on a non-judicial stamp paper of the value intimated to the applicant, within fifteen days, from the date of receipt of approval.  On receipt of the contract duly signed by the authorized person of the Certifying Agency, the Accreditation Agency shall issue the Certificate of Accreditation within a period of fifteen days, from the date of receipt of the contract. 

Updating and Renewal of Accreditation

Application for renewal of accreditation along with the fees prescribed shall be submitted by the Certifying Agency to reach the Authorized Officer 30 days before the expiry of accreditation period.  The Chairman of the Accreditation Agency shall, however, have the power to condone any delay in submitting the said renewal application, in the events of a reasonable cause shown for the same.  The renewal of the certificate for accreditation shall be based on the past performance of the Inspection and Certifying Agency and the Accreditation Agencies shall have the right to renew or reject such applications, at their absolute discretion.  In the event of rejection of an application for renewal, the Accreditation Agency shall furnish the reasons for such rejections, in writing.  The Chairman of the respective Accreditation Agencies shall be the Appellate Authority for deciding any appeal filed on account of any such rejection.  The Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India, shall be the competent Authority for entertaining all appeals.  Decisions on such appeal shall be final and binding on both the parties.

Power to Issue Guidelines

The Accreditation Agencies shall have the powers to issue necessary guidelines to the Certifying Agencies for inspection and certification programmes, from time to time.

Logo

The logo used under the certification programme will be called “India Organic”.  India Organic etched over the surface, is the seal that the product is organically produced and comes from India.  All Accredited Agencies shall be entitled to use this logo for certified organic products.  Use of the logo will be based on the fulfillment of the terms and conditions, contained under these regulations.  Products marketed by any person can bear the National Organic Logo, only if the necessary certification is done by an Inspection and Certification Agency accredited by the Accreditation Agency.

Termination of Accreditation

The Certificate of Accreditation granted to an agency shall be liable to be suspended for a specific period or permanently terminated in the event of violation of any of the clauses under these regulations and of such other directions issued by the Accreditation Agency or Govt. of India from time to time.  Provided that in case of suspension, the Accreditation Agency shall have the powers to nominate any other Certification Agency to continue the work of certification in order to protect the interest of the operators.  An appeal, if any, in respect of such suspension and/or termination of the Certificate of Accreditation may be filed with the Chairman of the respective Accreditation Agency within a period of 30 days from the date of issue of suspension/termination by the Accreditation Agency.  The Ministry of Commerce, Govt. of India shall be the competent Authority for revision of the decision of the Appellate Authority.  The revision shall be filed within 30 days from the date of issue of award on the appeal.  However, the said periods for filing an appeal / revision can be condoned by the respective authority, in the event of a reasonable cause being shown. 

Categories for Accreditation 

Accreditation shall be granted for each category of products as follows:  Organic agricultural production, organic processing operations, wild products, forestry, organic animal production and processing.

The Certifying Agencies applying for accreditation should be actively engaged in programmes related to organic agriculture movement/production and their programmes should have been in operation for at least one year.

Reciprocity

National:  Products certified by any accredited Certifying Agency will be accepted as organic by the other Certifying Agencies also.

International:  For imported organic products, the authority for approval will be the Accreditation Agencies.  It will decide on the approval of Inspection and Certification Agencies accepted in other countries.  It will notify a list of such Inspection and Certifying Agencies.

Any Inspection and Certification Agency which wishes to re-certify any imported product or products with imported certified ingredients may apply to the respective Accreditation Agencies for inclusion of such products and the procedure for their certification in the certification programmes.

The National Standards for Organic Products

Inspection and Certification Agencies shall follow the national standards for organic products notified under the National Accreditation Policy and Programme.  These standards will be reviewed by the Steering Committee for NPOP periodically.  Revisions and amendments will be made as and when required in the meeting of the Steering Committee based on any proposal received by the advisory sub-committees as and when required.  If any revision or amendment is approved by the Steering Committee, the accredited Inspection and Certification Agencies will be allowed a certain phase-in period before the amendments / revisions become effective.

Guidelines for Organic Production and Processing

Guidelines for specific crops in accordance with the National Standards for organic Products will be prepared by the respective Accreditation Agencies and will be submitted to the Steering Committee for approval.

Package of Practices

The respective Accreditation Agencies will prepare the package of practices for specific crop, specific to the region in accordance with the National Standards for Organic Products.

Issue of Certificates

The accredited Inspection and Certification Agency will issue Farm Certificates and Product Certificates certifying compliance to the national organic standards based on reports of inspection

Last updated: 04-1-2008