|
|
|
|
|
|
|
• The certifier's logo may not be larger in size than the USDA seal. • When using the USDA seal, details described in § 205.311 must be respected. • Use of the USDA seal is voluntary!
• After
receiving your application, we send you an offer for the cost of
certification, together with relevant information about NOP, CERES
policies and procedures. Upon acceptance of our offer, you sign a
contract and transfer 50% of the quoted amount. • CERES submits the template for your organic management plan (OMP). If necessary, our staff assists you in working out the OMP. • Upon
acceptance of the OMP, we schedule an on-site inspection. The CERES
inspector verifies, whether the OMP is consistent with on-site
observations. It is very important, that the responsible persons are
present during this inspection. In some cases, the inspector will take
samples (plant tissue, soil, fertilizers etc.) (see our policy
"Sampling Frequency"). You will be given a receipt for the samples
taken. • As
soon as the inspector finishes the inspection report, you get a copy,
by e-mail, fax or mail. You will be provided with a copy of sample test
results, as soon as they arrive from the laboratory. • In
many cases, you will have to implement certain corrective actions, or
submit additional documentation, before we can issue the
certificate. Besides, we will submit you the final invoice, asking you
to pay the remaining 50% of our quote, plus travelling costs for the
inspector. • Once
your operation complies with the standard, you get your NOP
certificate. Certificates are valid until being suspended or revoked. • Please
be informed, that you can withdraw your application at any time. You
will be liable for the costs of services provided up to the moment of
withdrawal (§ 205.402 c). • The
OMP has to be updated annually. At least one on-site inspection has to
take place per year. The procedure for these follow-up inspections is
the same as described above. Additional inspections may be
performed, including unannounced visits. 6. Eligibility, penalties (§205.662) Eligibility: Please be informed that any operator whose
certification has been suspended by CERES may submit a request to the
USDA-NOP Secretary for reinstatement of its certification. The request
must be accompanied by evidence demonstrating correction of each
non-compliance and corrective actions taken to comply with the National
Organic Program. According
to §205.662 a certified operation or a person responsibly
connected with an operation whose certification has been revoked will
be ineligible to receive certification for a period of 5 years
following the date of such revocation, except, that, the NOP-Secretary may reduce or eliminate the period of ineligibility. Penalties: In addition to suspension or revocation, any certified operation that: (1)
Knowingly sells or labels a product as organic, which is not in
accordance with the NOP requirements, shall be subject to a civil
penalty of not more than $10,000 per violation. (2)
Makes a false statement under the Act to the Secretary, a State organic
program's governing State official, or a certifying agent shall be
subject to the provisions of section 1001 of title 18, United States
Code. 7. Emergency pest or disease treatment (§205.672) When
a prohibited substance is applied to your certified operation due to a
Federal or State emergency pest or disease treatment program and
you otherwise meet the NOP requirements, the certification status
of your operation shall not be affected as a result of the application
of the prohibited substance: Provided, that: (a)
Any harvested crop or plant part to be harvested that has contact with
a prohibited substance cannot be sold, labeled, or represented as
organically produced; and (b)
Any livestock that are treated with a prohibited substance applied or
product derived from such treated livestock cannot be sold, labeled, or
represented as organically produced: Except, That: (1)
Milk or milk products may be sold, labeled, or represented as
organically produced beginning 12 months following the last date that
the dairy animal was treated with the prohibited substance; and (2) The offspring of gestating mammalian breeder stock treated with a prohibited substance may be considered organic: Provided,
that, the breeder stock was not in the last third of gestation on the
date that the breeder stock was treated with the prohibited substance. 8. Adverse Action Appeal Process (§ 205.680 + 205.681) • If
you feel adversely affected by a decision of the National Organic
Program's Program Manager you may appeal such decision to the AMS
Administrator. • If
you feel you are adversely affected by a non-compliance decision,
certification denial, certificate suspension or revocation by
CERES you may appeal such decision to the AMS Administrator. • All
written communications between parties involved in appeal proceedings
must be sent to the recipient's place of business by a delivery service
which provides dated return receipts. • All appeals shall be reviewed, heard, and decided by persons not involved with the decision being appealed. • If the AMS administrator sustains your appeal his final decision “overrules” CERES’ previous decision. • If
the AMS administrator denies your appeal a formal administrative
proceeding will be initiated to deny, suspend, or revoke the
certification • Filing period:
An appeal must be filed within the time period provided in the letter
of notification or within 30 days from receipt of the notification,
whichever occurs later. The appeal will be considered "filed" on the
date received by the Administrator. A decision to deny, suspend, or
revoke certification will become final and nonappealable unless the
decision is appealed in a timely manner. • Appeals to the Administrator must be filed in writing and addressed to
Administrator, USDA-AMS, Room 3071-S, P.O. Box 96456 All
appeals must include a copy of the adverse decision and a statement of
the appellant's reasons for believing that the decision was not proper
or made in accordance with NOP regulations, policies, or
procedures. 9. Temporary variances In
cases of natural disasters, damage caused by drought, wind, flood,
excessive moisture, hail, tornado, earthquake, or other business
interruption, or in case of practices conducted for research, the
Administrator for the Agricultural Marketing Service of the USDA may
establish exemptions from requirements concerning soil fertility
management, crop rotation, seeds, crop protection, livestock origin,
feed, health care and living conditions, organic handling requirements,
facility pest management, prevention of commingling. CERES will
inform the respective operators as soon as the Administrator
notifies us. No temporary variances are possible for prohibited
substances and methods, like e.g. synthetic pesticides and
fertilizers, sewage sludge, ionizing radiation, GMOs. (§ 205.290). 10. Confidentiality Please
be informed, that CERES will handle confidentially all information
obtained during the certification process. This is part of our
certification contract. To comply with § 205.504 (b) (5), CERES will publish the names of all NOP-certified operators on its homepage (www.ceres-cert.com).
No further details will be published there. This website is also an
important source of information for you, in case you want to make sure,
that a CERES certificate submitted by one of your organic
suppliers, is still valid. Besides, CERES has to inform the USDA annually about the certified operations.
Please
be aware that this is only a selection of essential requirements of
NOP, meant as an introduction. The operator, of course, has to learn
about and meet all requirements of the respective standard. Standard Inspection Program
for NOP All
relevant aspects have been integrated into the general Standard
Inspection Programs of CERES. Please shift to the respective area of
operation in order to study the Standard Inspection Programs there: • Mixed and Parallel Production • Export • Import
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|||||||||
•