Steps to Organic Certification

Short introduction:  Steps to Organic Certification

according to NPOP, Govt. of India and the US National Organic Program (NOP)

Steps marked with an asterix are relevant only in the indicated cases!

 
Procedure Applicant or client ADITI
1 Request Commonly, applicants present a first general request, asking about requirements, procedures, prices for certification The applicant receives from ADITI a first package of information, by e-mail, mail, or fax, often combined with individual additional information by phone.This package in­cludes:

  • the present document
  • a company profile
  • a brief information concerning require­ments in the respective area (e.g. crop production, beekeeping, wild collection, processing)
  • an application form.

The applicant is asked to fill in the applica­tion form, giving some details about his/her unit. This written application form is reviewed by ADITI and checked if viable.
 2   Offer Based on our daily fees and the size of the unit to be certified, we calculate the certifi­cation fees. We submit the applicant a writ­ten offer. Normally this is a flat fee, meaning that the applicant knows definitively, how much the procedure will cost, independently from how long the inspector stays on the holding. Only costs for travelling and accom­modation are usually not included in the of­fer. Together with the offer, we submit a cer­tification contract.
3   Contract Once the applicant and ADITI have agreed on the fees, the ap­plicant signs the contract. By do­ing so, he/she is committed to ful­filling the organic standards. ADITI sends back a counter-signed copy of the contract.
 4  Pre-payment The client pays 50% of the quoted fee in advance. ADITI submits the client a second pack­age of information, including, among others:

  • relevant ADITI policies
  • relevant standards
  • standard inspection program(s)
  • the organic management plan
5 Working out the organic management plan The client fills in the organic man­agement plan. The template in­vites him/her to do at the same time a self-audit, identifying eventual deficiencies, i.e. aspects, where the unit does not (yet) fulfil the standard, and to establish the respective corrective actions. If requested by the client, a ADITI inspec­tor can help the client to work out the man­agement plan, during a pre-inspection.
 6 Corrective actions In case the client finds consider­able non-conformities, it some­times makes sense to solve these problems, before the inspection takes place. Example: establish­ment of a clear separation system between organic and conventional in processing companies. ADITI checks the management plan. An inspector authorised for NOP inspection does this.
7  Scheduling  inspection Inspector and client schedule a date for the inspection
 8   Inspection The responsible person must be present, records should be pre­pared. The inspection report is signed by the client or responsible person. The inspector verifies, whether the man­agement plan is consistent with the reality, and defines eventual corrective actions.
 9 Inspection report In many cases, the unit has to submit additional documents. Immediately after the inspection, the inspec­tor finishes his/her report. As soon as all documents have arrived, they are submitted to the ADITI headquarter.
 10   Evaluation The report is evaluated by the responsible certification officer. 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 have to be implemented be­fore the certificate can be issued.
 12  Final invoice Payment of the remaining 50% plus travelling cost.  Issues the invoice
 13  Certificate  Issues the certificate, submits it by fax, then the original.