After ICEA has received the application and all the required supporting documents, a qualified inspector will be sent to conduct the first inspection. The application will then undergo evaluation by the competent Certification Committee (CoCer).

Provided the outcome of the evaluation conducted by the CoCer is positive, ICEA will then proceed with the issuance of certification documents needed by the operator.

ICEA plans its surveillance activities (inspections and eventually sampling) to the controlled operators according to the risk class allocated to the operator. The risk class is dynamic and can change during the years, for example cause of a change in land use, positive analysis, or measures undertaken.

However, all operators are guaranteed to receive at least one inspection visit every calendar year. In many cases, ICEA plans a higher number of inspections per operator than it’s required by law, that can occur also unannounced.

WHEN AND HOW ICEA ISSUE THE CERTIFICATES

Operators that are compliant with the control system can request, through a specific form, a Conformity Certificate and other documents regarding the certification directly to ICEA office.

The Conformity Certificate carries the following details: (Conformity/Equivalence Certificate only to be shown as example):

• the name of certified operator

• the registration number of the certificate

• the issuing date (starting) and ending of the validity

• revision status

• a list of the certified products

• the distribution list of the document (to whom the document has been given)

The Conformity Certificate is valid for 18 months. At the end of this period ICEA, once verified all the elements of the previous period, and following a positive outcome of the verification, proceeds, to issue a new certificate.

The possession of a Conformity Certificate gives the operator the right to:

- use the ICEA logo on packaging. Details on how the logo must be used are defined in the Procedure for the use of ICEA logo

- display the Conformity Certificate to the public

- include on the label of certified products wording as required by the community law, ACB Standard and ICEA Internal Technical Regulation for certification .

- include on all advertising and on all printed material a clear reference to the products under certification, including conformity definitions as defined by the EC regulation, and/or ACB Standard, and ICEA’s internal technical regulation for certification.

The Conformity Certificate and the eventual conform copy are issued and distributed by ICEA.

Certified good must be distributed with accompanying documents, that must be managed in a controlled way, and must mentioned at least the following elements:

- the phrase: “organic”, or “ from organic farming” or if it is the case, “product under conversion to organic farming”

- the operator’s code

- “controlled by ICEA”

The operator must send a copy of these documents (or the relevant data) to ICEA within 5 days from the time the product was sold.

Regarding the products that are packed and labeled, on the label the following has to be specified:

• correct indication of the method of production (“bio”,”eco”, “organic”, “organic farming” or “under conversion to organic farming”), in conformity with what established by the EU and national norms in force.

• CB code (AB BIO 625), where AB=ISO code of the Country where the last preparation took place, 625= ICEA recognition code in Third Countries (valid until 2012)

• Operator code (ESXXX). That code is not compulsory according to the EU regulation, but ICEA decided to make it compulsory in order to respect art 27, point 13 of the EU Reg. 834/07 regarding traceability.

In countries where there’s no defined norm, the labeling specifications (EU CB code included) can be used also on products sold on the local market.

In EU countries where ICEA is accredited and recognized, the CB code is the one assigned by the local Competent Authority.

Lot/Batch certificate

Following a specific request by the operator, ICEA can issue a Lot/Batch certificate. This certification document testifies specific conformity of a single batch or lot from a certain production run. It is issued with the understanding that additional analysis may be required, the additional costs will be covered by the operator.

Certificate of Inspection (annex V EC Reg. 1235/2008)

To ask for the Certification of Inspection in case of transactions between third countries (non EU), and EU countries, please contact Milena Belli: m.belli@icea.info

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Products can be certified only after an operator has entered the ICEA Control System, that is, once the operator has followed the application process resulting in a positive outcome and a Certificate has been issued (example of a conformity attestation).

Crops harvested within the first 12 months from the start date of the conversion period must be considered as non-organic.

Crops harvested after this period can be considered as product under conversion to organic farming.

Harvested products can only be considered as “organic” when:

• annual crops: the crop was planted after the in-conversion period has ended;

• perennial crops: the product was harvested after the in-conversion period has ended.

In livestock production, conversion times vary according to species and type of production. For example, in ruminants milk is considered organic after the animals have been in-conversion for 6 months and for meat-producing ruminants after 12 months; in poultry, eggs are considered organic after the hens have been in-conversion for 6 weeks, and meat-producing poultry are organic after 10 weeks.

In case of livestock, all products produced during the conversion period are considered as non organic.

ICEA informs the operator of the conversion period end date when the Unit Conformity attestation is issued.                                                                                                                                             

SANCTIONS

EC regulations has two types of non-conformities: irregularity and infringement, according to the capacity of the non-conformity to affect the safety of the control system. The degree of the sanction will depend on the type of non-conformity.

Irregularities

An irregularity is considered to be a lack of respect to basic aspects required by the control system. It doesn’t have heavy consequences on the operator’s status and does not affect the reliability of the operator. The sanctions applied to irregularities are divided into “important” and “light”, depending on the impact the non-conformity has on the conformity of the process and/or on the respect of the regulation.

Infringement

An infringement is a clear or prolonged non-conformity regarding the application of the regulation, either because of the lack of documents requested or because of the actions of the operator.

Sanctions are divided into “important” and “light”, the degree of severity depending on the specific infringement. This classification takes into consideration the impact the non-conformity has on the conformity of the process and/or on the respect of the regulation.

The ICEA control system undergoes surveillance by the Competent Authority.

ICEA will inform the Competent Authority of any behaviour by their operators that represents a violation of the EC and national regulation.

Independently from the sanctions that the Competent Authority may implement, ICEA will apply its own sanctions according to the Sanction Guideline and the associated table of not conformities/sanctions. Such sanctions can include:

• a written warning

• intimation

• preventive suspension of the certification

• suppression of organic indications

• suspension of certification

• exclusion of the operator from the certification system (withdrawal of the Certificate)