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International Task Force on Harmonisation and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture (2008) International Requirement for Organic Certifications Bodies
Other,
International Task Force on Harmonisation and Equivalence in Organic Agriculture
Document:
ITF_IROCB.pdf
Abstract
The overall objective of the ITF was to facilitate trade in organic products as a response to difficulties faced by organic producers and exporters due to the hundreds of different organic regulations, standards and labels worldwide.Not only do organic production standards vary, but requirements for organic certification bodies to conduct third party conformity assessment also vary. This causes difficulties for governments and certification bodies to recognize and accept organic products certified in other systems or programs, and therefore also for organic producers to get certified organic products accepted in different markets. The “International Requirements for Organic Certification Bodies” (IROCB), redacted by ITF, is a tool that enables governments and organic certification and accreditation bodies to recognize certification bodies outside of their own system, and thus facilitate the acceptance of organic products certified by these bodies.IROCB is based upon the requirements in ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 (E) “General requirements for bodies operating certification systems” and also take in account IFOAM Accreditation Criteria for Bodies Certifying Organic Production and Processing.
Keywords: Accreditation, criteria, certification body, organic
Relevance to our study:
IROCB is a relevant outcome of ITF’s efforts in the latest years in order to provide harmonisation in the international organic market and improve market access for organic products.It is the result of a deep analysis of ISO 65 and IFOAM criteria, taking the basic requirement for organic certification and excluding non relevant ones The IROCB has been developed with a long participative process, including ITF members and private and public stakeholders
Relevancy on a scale from 1 to 5 = 4
Review status: Finished
Review started on
Reviewed by Lorenzo Paluan - ICEA?
Comments:
I think this is the same document as 028. If so, we can merge them. Susanne
