Certification Procedure
The procedure for certification involves the following steps:
  • Application
  • Scrutiny
  • Registration
  • Inspection
  • Evaluation
  • Decision Making
  • Non-Conformities (NC’s) Report
  • Conveying Non Conformities Report to Operators for Corrective Action
  • Recommendation
  • Issue/Refusal of Certificate
  • Appeals (If Any)
Detailed steps involved in Organic Certification procedure:
Sl. No. Procedure Applicant/operator Certification body (CB)
1 Request Commonly, applicants present a first general request, asking about requirement, procedure and prices for certification

The applicant receives a first package of information from CB by e-mail or phone often combined with individual additional information. This includes:

  • Application form
  • Organic system plan
  • Organization profile
  • Certification contract
  • Brief information concerning requirements in the respective area (e.g. crop production, trading, wild collection, processing etc.)

The applicant is asked to fill in the application form, giving some details about his/her unit. This written application form is reviewed by CB and checked if viable.

2 Offer Based on the size of the unit to be certified, CB calculate the certification fee. Normally it is a flat fee, which the applicant knows definitively
3 Contract Once the applicant and CB have agreed on the fee, the applicant signs the contract. By doing so, he/she is committed to fulfil the organic standards. CB sends back a counter-signed copy of the contract.
4 Pre-payment The client pays quoted fee in advance along with application fee. CB submits the client a second package of information including relevant CB certification procedures and standards.
5 Working out the organic management plan Operator fills in the organic management plan which covers all packages of practices he/she is following in organic field. The template invites him/her to do at the same time a self-audit, identifying eventual deficiency, i.e. aspects, where the unit does not (yet) fulfil the standard, and to establish the respective corrective actions. If the operator requests, CB inspector can help the applicant to work out the management plan.
6 Corrective actions In case the operator finds considerable non-conformities, which can be solved before the inspection. Eg: Establishment of clear separation between organic conventional fields. CB checks the management plan. An inspector authorised for NPOP inspection will do.
7 Scheduling inspection Inspector and operator will schedule a date for the inspection.
8 Inspection The operator/ responsible person must submit relevant records and the inspection report will be signed by the operator / responsible person. The inspector verifies that, whether the management plan is consistent with the reality, and defines eventual corrective actions.
9 Inspection report In many cases, the operator has to submit additional documents. Immediately after the inspection, the inspector finishes his/her report. As soon as all documents have received, they will be submitted to the CB headquarters.
10 Evaluation The report is evaluated by the responsible officers at CB. Sometimes, additional questions have to be clarified with the inspector.
11 Corrective actions In some cases, as a result of the inspection, some corrective actions which can be differentiated as major and minor conformities have to be implemented to issue the certificate. The CB will write if any non- conformities were noticed and once they receive measurable action from concerned operators then it goes to certification committee for final decision.
12 Certificate Issues the certificate by e-mail followed by original through courier or post.
13 Appeals If the operator is not satisfied with the decision of the committee, they can appeal. The appeal should be filed within a period of 30 days from the date of decision by CB