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Issue

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1

Aim

Define clear rules and procedures for those issues in Regulation (EEC) 2092/91, which have to be handled in a different way in third countries, as compared to EU countries.

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Back­ground

Regulation (EEC) 2092/91 is made mainly for EU countries. Technical issues are based mainly on European experiences, and many procedures are meant for EU conditions. Since CERES performs inspection and certification according to the EU-Regulation mainly outside the EU, different handling needs to be defined.

Although CERES tries to make the certification decisions to the best of its knowl­edge and on basis of transparent and publicly available policies, it must be emphasized that for imports from non-EU-member states the final decision about granting the import licence is always taken by the respective state authorities of the importers. Theoretically there does exist the possibility that due to a different interpretation of the application of regulation EEC 2092/91 under equivalence aspects a state authority may deny the issue of the import licence.

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Normative framework

Regulation (EEC) 2092/91, Art. 11 (6) a): "…, the importer(s) in a Member State shall be authorized by the competent authority of the Member State to market until 31 December 2006, products imported from a third country not included in the list referred to in paragraph 1 (a) provided the importer(s) furnish(es) the competent authority of the importing Member State with sufficient evidence that the imported products were manufactured according to production rules equivalent to those laid down in Ar­ticle 6 and were subject to inspection measures of equivalent effectiveness to those referred to in Articles 8 and 9, and that such inspection measures will be permanently and effectively applied."

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Terms, cla­rifications, abbreviati­ons

•     EU-Regulation: Regulation (EEC) 2092/91, including its annexes

•     Third country: countries, which are not members of the European Union, and, in the present context, are not included in the "List of Third Countries" annexed to Regulation (EEC) 94/92.

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Policy

5.1

General de­finitions and provi­sions

•     Wherever the EU-Regulation says "inspection authority" or “inspection authority or body", we under­stand "inspection body", because the particular state bodies are not directly re­sponsi­ble for operations in third countries.

•     Wherever the EU-Regulation says "name and/or the code number of the in­spec­tion body", we understand "name of the inspection body", because the code number is not easily understood and traceable outside the EU.

•     The same applies for those parts of the EU-Regulation, which make reference to "laws of Member States".

•     Wherever the EU-Regulation says " Need recognized by the inspection body" (es­pecially in Annex II), we understand that the inspection body, after thorough con­sideration, can recognize such needs for a period of a maximum of one year. In case that the operator describes the use of such substances or meth­ods in the organic management plan, including the respective justification, he/she needs not to present a specific request of authorisation to the inspection body. By approving the management plan, CERES implicitly also recognizes the need of using the respective substance or method.

5.2

Discussion of different articles

Article or Annex

Subject

Comment, determination, under­standing

Art. 5 (3a)

Established trade marks

Not relevant in third countries.

Art. 5 (5) b

Minimum conversion pe­riod of 12 months

Must be seen in the context of Annex I 1.2 b, where the possibility of recognizing retroactively any previous pe­riod is de­fined. See also CERES Policy on Organic Con­version Period.

Art. 6a (1)

Definition of "seedlings"

We understand that "seedlings" refers to seedlings of annual crops, especially vegetables, while plantlets of perennial crops (fruit trees, grapes) are defined as "vegetative propagating material".

Art. 8 (1) a

" Any operator…shall notify this activity to the competent authority of the Member State…"

The operator shall notify the activity to CERES.

Art. 9 (2)

" Member States shall adopt the measures … that an operator who complies with… this Re­gulation … has access to the inspec­tion system."

In the countries, where CERES works, we will give equal access to certification to all operations, which comply with the Regu­lation. See also CERES Policy on Inde­pendence and Conflict of Interest.

Art. 9 (8)

"Approved inspection bod­ies shall… send to the competent authority of the Member State by 31 January each year a list of operators subject to their inspection…"

Not relevant for operations in third coun­tries. Supervi­sion of CERES certification in third countries is through import li­censes for products from the certified op­erations to the different Member States.

Art. 9 (9)

Suspension (a) and withdrawal (b) of certification

See CERES Catalogue of Sanctions and Corrective Ac­tions, and Work Instruction on Suspension and With­drawal of Certifi­cation

Annex IA 1.2 a)

"… programme … pursuant to Council Regula­tion (EEC) No 2078/92…"

Not relevant. See 1.2 b)

Annex IA 1.2 b)

Retroactive recognition of previous land management

See CERES Policy on Organic Conver­sion Period.

Annex IA 4

Collection of edible plants

See CERES Policy on Wild Collection.

Annex IB 2.1.2

Minimum conversion pe­riod for pasture land six months

There is a certain contradiction with An­nex IA 1.2 b), which gives the possibility of recognising retroactively "any period" (even less than 6 months). This part of An­nex IA is more recent than Annex IB 2.1.2, and has a more general validity. We therefore understand that, un­der the circumstances defined in our Policy on Organic Conversion Period, we can apply conversion periods less than 6 months also for pastureland.

Annex IB 5.5 b)

Veterinary treatments com­pulsory under national or Community law

We understand, that this includes legisla­tion in the re­spective third countries.

Annex IB 7.1

Maximum nitrogen appli­ca­tion not more than 170 kg per ha and year

See CERES Policy on Maximum Nitrogen Application.

Annex IB 7.6 and 7.7

Storage facilities for livestock manure to avoid water pollution

Without any doubt, this must be applied in third countries like inside the EU. Nevertheless, we feel that smallholders with only a few animals have to be given a reasonable time frame of several years for implemen­ting such costly measures. In case they present a compulsory plan for building such storage facilities, they can be certified even before finishing them. On the other hand, we will implement this policy not only for operators who request certification of their husbandry, but also for farms, who request only certification of their crop production, since manure storage can not be seen separat­ed from crop production.

Annex IC 2.1 and 8.3

Beeswax must be from or­ganic origin

Since beeswax from organic origin is ex­tremely difficult to find in many countries, and the obvious aim of this paragraph is to avoid use of wax with varroicide resi­dues, CERES authorizes also the use of wax, for which analyses by competent laboratories have shown to be free of such residues.

Annex IC 6.3 e)

Substances allowed for Varroa control

Besides the substances listed here, ex­tracts from local plants can be authorized, provided that such extracts are little per­sistent and don't involve risks for human health and for survival of the colony.

Annex IIA

Farmyard manure as fer­til­iser, defined as a mix­ture of animal manure and vege­table matter

In many countries, farmyard manure with the defined composition is not available, because livestock is kept e.g. in pens without any bedding. For this reason, CERES allows farmers to use also ma­nure without vegetable matter, although we recommend farmers to mix manure with C-rich materials for composting.

Composted animal ex­cre­ments

A really common case is the use of con­ventional poultry manure. See the respec­tive CERES policy.

Heavy metals in com­posted household waste

In many countries, the problem of heavy metal pollution is not limited to household waste. Therefore, CERES applies the maximum residue limits given here, also for other kinds of organic fertilisers, like e.g. vermicompost or waste of food in­dustry.

Trace elements accord­ing to Directive (EEC) 89/530

It is common in many countries to use amino acids as chelate-forming additives in liquid trace element fertilis­ers. Although amino acids are not listed in Directive (EEC) 89/530 for this purpose, we believe that they are "equivalent" in the sense of Art. 11 (6). Amino acids for this purpose are applied in ratios of several hundred grams per hectare; thus they cannot be considered as a source of N fertilisation for crops.

Annex IIB 1.I

Plant extracts for pest con­trol

Plant extracts listed in this part, are typi­cal for organic farming practice under Euro­pean conditions. In other parts of the world, however, other local plants are used for such purposes. CERES allows such substances on a case-to-case basis, provided that they:

•     Have low persistence

•     Do not constitute a threat to human health, neither for workers, who apply the product, nor for consum­ers

•     Are relatively specific to herbivores, and do not con­stitute a high risk for other organisms, especially beneficial insects.

Annex IIB 1.II

Micro organisms for bio­logical pest control

As defined by the German pesticide regu­lation agency BBA, only those products are considered as bio-pesti­cides, which contain living organisms or spores of such. Highly concentrated fermenter pro­ducts of such organ­isms, without the or­ganism as such, are not allowed for this purpose.

Annex IIB 1.III

Substances to be used in traps

Besides the substances mentioned here, borax is some­times used as insecticide in traps. Since this is a sub­stance of ex­tremely low toxicity for vertebrates, which does not constitute any environmental hazards when used in traps, CERES con­siders this as "equivalent".

Annex IIB 1.IV

Copper compounds al­lowed as fungicides

Besides the substances listed here, CERES recognises copper pentoxide as equivalent – considering that rela­tively low quantities of Cu are required, as com­pared to copper sulphate, for example.

Different calculation of maximum copper quanti­ties, authorized by Mem­ber States

We see no need for applying this possi­bility in third countries.

Annex IIC 1

Feed materials from plant origin

Besides those materials listed here, simi­lar local prod­ucts may exist in some re­gions, and there is no reason for exclud­ing them, if they are from organic produc­tion.

Annex III General Provisions 3

The operator has to pre­sent a full description of the unit and describe practical measures to ensure com­pliance with the Regulation

This information is contained in the or­ganic management plan.

" This declaration must be verified by the inspec­tion body … that issues a report identifying the possible … non-compli­ances with … this Regu­lation."

Under third-country conditions, CERES writes the re­quired report only after the first inspection has taken place.

Annex III Gen. Prov. 4

The operator must notify the inspection body about changes "in due time".

Normally, one month before the annual inspection is considered as "in due time". Only in case of major changes, which re­quire an immediate decision by the in­spection body, CERES has to be inform­ed immediately. This refers especially to findings, which put in doubt the organic integrity of the product.

Annex III Gen. Prov. 5

Samples can be taken

See CERES Policy on Sampling Fre­quency

Annex III Gen. Prov. 6

"Stock and financial re­cords must be kept in the unit"

For smallholders, who may be hardly liter­ate, a real bookkeeping system cannot be required. As a minimum, CERES requires them to file invoices of purchase of agri­cultural inputs (if they buy any), and notes for sale of all agricultural products. In some cases, where such smallholders are part of a group certification scheme, the organisa­tion or local wholesaler may also keep such records (see CERES Policy on Group Certification and Internal Con­trol Systems).

Annex III Gen. Prov. 8

Contamination during stor­age must be avoided

CERES will apply this not only for stor­age, but also for processing and transport.

Annex III Gen. Prov. 11

Exchange of informa­tion in case that opera­tor and subcontractor have dif­fer­ent certifiers

The same applies for cases, where an operator for some reason insists in double certification by two inspection bodies.

Annex III A 1.2

" Each year, before the date indicated by the in­spection body, the pro­ducer must notify … of its schedule of produc­tion of crop products, giving a breakdown by parcel."

Normally, CERES indicates that the crop­ping plan must be submitted before the annual inspection takes place, as a part of the updated organic management plan.

Annex III A 3

Parallel production by an operator

In case that the organic and conventional unit are sepa­rated in different operations, this must not be only on a formal level of different ownership. Organic and conven­tional operations in such cases must se­parate admini­stration and bookkeeping.

Annex III C

Control of importers

Not relevant in third countries. Exporters must be subject to control in case they buy and sell, repack or label the product. Companies, who only handle customs formali­ties, need not be subject to inspec­tion and certification.

Annex IV

Information in notification to inspection authorities

Not relevant. Information to Member State authorities is provided, when im­porters request import licenses.

Annex V

Terms for "organic farm­ing" used in different languages

While in Spain the term "agricultura ecólogica" is used, in Latin America "agri­cultura orgánica" is more common. It can be used as equivalent.

Annex VI

For the moment, Annex VI rules only for "food­stuffs composed essen­tially of one or more in­gre­dients of plant origin", while "pending the adop­tion of rules in Sections A and B of this Annex, and in order to cover specifically the prepara­tion of foodstuffs com­posed of one or more livestock products, natio­nal rules shall apply".

Actually, in most EU countries such national rules for foodstuffs composed of live­stock products do not exist. Pending the mentioned EU rules, CERES will apply Sections A and B of Annex VI also for livestock products.

Annex VII

Maximum number of ani­mals per hectare, equiva­lent to 170 kg N / ha / year

In many regions of the world, livestock is much smaller than in Europe. While in Europe, a large animal unit is defined as equivalent to 500 kg (with individual cow weights of up to 750 kg), a tropical livestock unit (TLU) is defined as 250 kg living weight. These smaller animals obviously produce less excrements. This has to be con­sidered, when defining maxi­mum stocking rates.

Nevertheless, in such regions, the prob­em, which may occur, is commonly not excessive nitrogen input, but overgrazing and erosion. The 170 kg N/ha rule is not a very useful tool for defining such risks. Botanical compo­sition of grassland, growth rate, and vegetation cover need to be observed.

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Related documents

All CERES policies