Brief introduction to requirements for certification of inputs for the production of organic food according to European Regulation (EEC) 2092/91, the US National Organic Program (NOP), JAS, and CERES standard interpretation


1.    Inputs for organic food production include products for different purposes such as:

• Organic and mineral fertilizers, micronutrients, growth stimulators
• Insecticides, fungicides, bactericides, nematicides (and herbicides) on basis of plant extracts, mineral substances, micro organisms and other materials
• Additives for animal feed
• Additives and processing aids for processing of organic food.

2.    What is input certification good for?

• None of the above stated regulations requires input certification. It is a voluntary act.
• Certification of your inputs through CERES may be a strong sales argument, as it helps your potential clients to identify your product as permitted in organic farming.
• You may avoid that during each inspection of an organic farm which using your inputs, you will have to explain and declare the same issues to different certification bodies.

3.    General Principles:

• Input manufacturers have to reduce negative effects on the environment and human health. This refers to active as well as inert ingredients as well as non intentional contaminations and the production process itself.
• In the case of fertilizers made of animal manure the principles of animal welfare have to be respected.
• No use of GMOs.
• The manufacturer has to make sure that no confusion about the certification status of his products may occur; this implies that on product labels and publicity materials a clear differentiation between     certified and non-certified products must be maintained.
• The labels have to include all the information which is required by the general Law of the country of sales, including information about eventual restrictions in the use of the product.

4.    Proceedings:

• CERES´ Input certification program is based on a combination of physical inspection of the production site and laboratory analysis; see “CERES` Principles for input certification”.

5.    Steps to certification:

1. The manufacturer asks CERES for information and an offer for input certification. For this purpose we recommend to use our Application form for input certificatio
2. Ceres forwards a basic information package together with a quote and a contract.
3. The manufacturer signs the contract, fills in the “Management Plan for Input certification” and sends the documents back to CERES.
4. CERES carries out a first assessment of the documents. In case that it shows right from the first evaluation that the product is not certifiable no charges to the manufacturer will be imposed for that specific product.
5. In case the first assessment reveals a positive result, the manufacturer has to pay 50 % of the certification fee.
6. CERES analyses profoundly the Management Plan and carries out the inspection and/or takes the sample (see no.4); the inspector forwards an inspection report to CERES.
7. CERES reviews the inspection report and/or the result of the laboratory analysis. A certification decision is taken and the final invoice is submitted to the manufacturer. 
8. After having received the final payment, CERES submits the final result of the assessment. There do exist 3 different possibilities:
   

• If the product and the Management Plan comply with the requirements a certificate is issued, sometimes including a list of minor corrective actions.
• In some cases the manufacturer has to implement the corrective actions before a certificate can be issued.
• In some cases, the assessment may show that the product is not certifiable. The reasons for the non-approval will be explained in the respective letter.

 
Please be aware that this is only a selection of essential requirements of the organic standards, meant as an introduction. The operator, of course, has to learn about and meet all requirements of the respective standard !