certification
preventive measures and system control for organic agricultureindication of compliance with the control regulations
preventive measures and system control for organic agriculture
Organic Agriculture is a production system that appeals to a number of preventive measures in order to avoid the occurrence of situations that may oblige to the use of fitosanitary products, medicines, etc...
Thus, it is extremely important in the beginning of the conversion to Organic Agriculture, the concerning operator establishes a contract with a Private Certification Organism (OPC), whose responsibility is to verify if the operator has taken all the measures to avoid the occurrence of critical situations.
The controls that are carried out afterwards have the intention of verifying if all precaution measures are being kept that is if the operator continues to employ the best agriculture practices, complying with the organic farming rules.
Only after the verification of the compliance with the rules, can the products obtained hold the mention and symbols that identify them as products of Organic Agriculture, allowing the consumer to recognise them.
All the precaution measures, all the control system carried out through the production chain and all the work that leads to certification of these products, has the main aim of ensuring the consumer that the products (in general foods, but also other agricultures goods, such as flowers, cork, cotton or linen) were produced complying with the rules within the referred regulation.
But one should bear in mind that organic farming is more a question of means than results. It may happen that products which hold the European Community logo contain residues of forbidden substances! They are a result, in general, of undesired contaminations, that occur regardless of the operators, that are subject to the control.
This situation comes in the direction of the definition universally accepted of what means certification or compliance certification.
In agreement with the international norms (EN 45 011), CERTIFY is the act through which a THIRD PARTY (an independent one), confirms with reasonable level of sustainability that a product (or process or service), properly identified, is in COMPLIANCE with a norm or other specified official regulation (in this case the Regulation EEC n.º 2092/91, modified).
That is to say, except when the control is carried out 100% (which is not possible in the agriculture food area), when it is confirmed that a certain product was produced according to the organic agriculture system, that means:
it is reasonable to conclude that the rules of production were accomplished;
it is reasonable to admit that all precaution measures were taken into account;
the demanded controls were performed,so that it is reasonably solid to expect that the product is presented according to the rules and without contamination of non authorized products.
But please watch out because the opposite is not true! Meaning that there are products that present themselves in the market as if they were in perfect conditions, without traces of undesirable substances… and they were produced with the resource to practicals that are legally forbidden, undergoing treatments afterwards or having resting periods with the purpose of “washing out” the residues.
This is the reason that makes people say that organic farming is above all a question of means... and not of results!
The operators must pay special attention to the dispositions contained in the Annex III of the Regulation 2092/91, modified, and that strengthens the RESPONSIBILITIES of the operators in respecting the legal dispositions that they have voluntarily undertaken.
It is the responsibility of the operator to demonstrate that he has fulfilled the organic farming rules and not of the PCO (Private Certification Organism).
More and more PCOs must be faced as independent entities that are there to prove to the consumer the fulfilling of the organic farming rules by the producers and not as a supervisor to find out the weaknesses of the producers or a mere licence, certificates or documents issuer.
More often without any loss of the minimum numbers legally foreseen, the intensity of the control has to take into account the risks presented by each operator, facing the specific situation of each exploitation or activity, to the range of products obtained or handled, from its internal organization, to the existence and presentation of the registry documents, the dangers of confusion with other products, etc.
voltarindication of compliance with the control regulations
For the products to be able to bear the references to the organic farming system and in particular the mention “ORGANIC AGRICULTURE — EC CONTROL SYSTEM” and or the logo, operators must notify their activity and submit their agriculture exploitations, transformation units, import, storage and trading (in certain cases) to a special control system, that covers all the production line.
The labelling of the products has to include the name of the PCO that carries out the control.
There is the European logo, aimed at emphasising to the consumers that the products that bear this logo were obtained within the European territory and according to the organic farming system.
This symbol can only be used in the products produced within the European Union or imported to the EU as organic farming products (which means systems of production and control equivalent to the ones of the EU) and that contain more than 95% ingredients from organic agriculture.
Considered as referring to organic farming, and therefore subject to all the existing regulations, the use of expressions such as BIO, ECO, or words such as biologic, organic, ecologic, etc. or even the simple suggestion, regardless of the European language they are presented in.
The companies with registered brands with this kind of mentions (whether they are agriculture products or products aimed at human or animal feeding) can only carry on using them until the first of July 2006 and must use them with a clear indication (in the labels, advertising and commercial documents), highlighted and easy to read that the products were not produced according to the organic agriculture system.
In IDRHA Ministério da Agricultura
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