La certification from organic farming it is issued to companies only if in every stage of the production journey of a given product, a set of rules established in the country by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry. Let's find out better.
> The certification process from organic farming
> The control bodies in the country
> How to obtain organic farming certification
> What is the conversion period
The certification process from organic farming
Any company wishing that its products are recognized as of biological origin, whether it is agricultural production, food processing, livestock and livestock, import of products, or other; must undergo the control system based on the regulation in force regarding organic certification.
From the initial moment of production to the final consumption of a product, each phase of the production process must be examined by the relevant bodies, at the top of which, in the country, we have the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry policies, while the task of territorial supervision it is delegated to the regional administrations.
When a company intends to be certified, it must choose a control body which is always a third and independent body, which carries out inspections and certifications in the organic production sector in accordance with the provisions of the regulation. In some cases, the control body may make use of a corresponding body operating in a third country.
To obtain compliance, checks are carried out in every single part of the production cycle from the beginning of production and follows in the possible transformation phases, in storage, in transport and in distribution during the sale.
Control bodies in the country
The control bodies are authorized by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry policies and have the task of verifying the entire production process and therefore granting the use of the trademark that can be applied on the labels in order to be recognized as "products from organic farming".
Control bodies are classified with a code that is also included on the label of an organic product controlled by the same body.
As a practice, the control body compiles a report on its work which it submits to the Ministry and the regions. The report data comes from annual inspections directly in the company to assess compliance with the rules, with samples for analysis. This is done through a check… plus any other surprise checks.
- control bodies in the organic sector by 2014 in the country are:
- CODEX srl – cod: 002
- Suolo e Salute srl - code: 004
- BIOS srl - cod: 005
- ICEA srl - code: 006
- Bioagricert srl - cod: 007
- Ecogruppo el Paese srl - code: 008
- CCPB srl - cod: 009
- SIDEL CAB SPA – cod: 012
- ABCERT srl - code: 013
- QC srl - cod: 014
- Valorel Paese srl - code: 015
You can learn more about the importance of organic food
How to get certified
Natural or legal persons who aspire to obtain organic certification become responsible for compliance with the provisions of the regulation in the field of organic farming. The steps to get certified are:
- Choose one of the recognized certification bodies by sending them documents relating to your company and business.
- Notify the Region in which you are based on the initiation of the procedure to obtain certification.
- Starting from this date, it is essential to begin to follow all the rules provided for by the legislation and those of the control body (sometimes with internal regulations that are more restrictive than the reference legislation).
- Wait for the conversion (approximately 2-3 years).
- Any variation in the production process must be communicated within fifteen days.
- From the date of notification, the wording “in conversion to organic farming” can be added to the labeling, while once recognition has been obtained, the wording will be “from organic farming”.
What is the conversion period
conversion period means a transition time from the notification of activity. The company begins to comply with all the requirements of the organic farming control system until the recognized conversion. This transitional period of 2-3 years is necessary to ensure that the land, agriculture, livestock and all production processes are completely decontaminated from any synthetic chemical substance or GMO products.
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The certainty of organic certification
