Certification
CERTIFICATON PROCEDURE
Individual
Initial Application
The first step for getting GOPCA certification is that the operator (the person responsible for the unit/farm to be certified) contacts the GOPCA office. GOPCA then sends a detailed application package including the application form, procedure for certification and copy of Indian Organic Standards. To apply for certification the operator needs to complete the application form and return it to the GOPCA office.
Pre-inspection procedure
After receiving the filled in application form, GOPCA sends a quotation for inspection and certification along with the scale of fees. On accepting the offer, the operator needs to send 100 % of the offer fees as advance in the form of DD / Cheque/ online mode in favor of M/s. GOPCA payable at Ahmedabad.
Inspection
Upon receipt of the advance payment GOPCA, in consultation with the operator, fixes the date and time for inspection. Prior to the inspection the operator must sign the inspection and certification contract.
During the inspection the operator has to co-operate with the inspector as declared in the inspection and certification contract. The inspector completes the inspection report during the inspection visit. The operator acknowledges the same with his/her signature and receives a copy of the same. Also, Scale of sanctions and copies of relevant standards are handed over to the operator during inspection. The original inspection report will be forwarded to GOPCA office for further certification process.
Balance Payment
After inspection, the total inspection and certification costs are finalized if any changes found at the time of inspection and an invoice is sent to the operator. The operator must send the remaining amount of the final invoice to GOPCA.
Certification
Upon receipt of the full payment the inspection report and the file will be submitted to the certification committee. If additional documents are required, a communication will be sent to the operator.
Certification decision
The certification committee will take the certification decision based on the available documentation. Certification decisions will be intimated within one month after the inspection report, payment and relevant documents (if any) has been received at GOPCA.
Recognition of prior organic management -: As per organic standards, the farm has to complete a conversion period of three years for perennial crops and two years for annual crops for getting certified as organic. However, operators who have been practicing organic farming for a long time may apply for recognition of prior organic management. For this, they must submit a proof for the same. As per the National Standards for Organic Production, one year conversion period is a must.
Group Certification
PROCEDURE FOR GROWER GROUP CERTIFICATION
About Grower Group inspection & Certification
GOPCA offers inspection and certification services to small holder groups with Internal Control System
(ICS) as per NSOP standards. Group certification can be applied for groups of small farmers, which are covered by an Internal Control System (ICS), usually cultivating the same crops, using the same inputs and production practices and marketing their products under the same label or marketing system.
To avail this service, under the NPOP the producer group must have satisfied the criteria as mentioned in 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of Section 5 of NPOP.
The production system should be based on the internal quality system and should apply to producer groups, farmer’s cooperatives, contract production and small scale processing units. The producers in the group must apply similar production systems and the farms should be in geographical proximity. Farms with land holding of 4 ha and above can also belong to a group but will have to be inspected annually by GOPCA. The total area of such farms shall be less than 50% of the total area of the group.
Processors and exporters can be a part of the group but will be inspected annually GOPCA. The group should have a legal status or constitution of the organization and should be presented by a organizational chart.
Group certification is based on the concept of an Internal Quality System comprising of the following: -
• Implementation of the internal control system
• Internal standards
• Risk assessment.
GOPCA will evaluate by checking the IQS documentation, staff qualifications and re-inspecting some farms.
The farm of each group member must have been already inspected and approved by the ICS. If needed, a pre-assessment visit will be conducted by GOPCA before actual inspection. During external inspection, GOPCA evaluates the functioning of the ICS including documentation, personnel and the policies and conducts random inspections(sampling as per section 5 -5.12 NPOP) of individual farms to check whether they are in accordance with relevant standards or not. The subcontracted units, if any, (e.g., for processing, storage, transport etc.) will also be inspected by GOPCA.
The certificate will be issued in the name of the group only and not in the individual farmer’s name.
Initial Application
The first step for getting GOPCA certification is that the operator (the person responsible for the grower group to be certified) contacts the GOPCA office or staff. Upon request GOPCA sends a detailed application package including the application form, GOPCA procedure for grower group certification and copy of Indian Organic Standards on payment of Rs.175/- by money order/DD/cash. To apply for certification the operator needs to complete the application form, Grower group operating manual (ICS manual), Documentary proof to show legal status (eg. Registration documents) and return it to the GOPCA office.
Pre-inspection procedure
After receiving the filled in application form along with ICS Grower group operating manual (ICS manual as per Section 5 NSOP), Documentary proof to show legal status (eg. Registration documents), GOPCA sends quotation for inspection and certification along with the scale of fees. On accepting the offer, the operator needs to send 75 % of the offer fees as advance in the form of DD in favour of GOPCA payable at Ahemdabad. After receiving initial advance GOPCA will perform the application review and informs ICS if any changes, additional requirements needed. Once all the additional requirements or changes (if any) are fulfilled GOPCA
PROCEDURE FOR GROWER GROUP CERTIFICATION
About GOPCA
GOPCA is a Gujarat state run organic certification body accredited as per National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), Govt. of India and as per EN 45011/ISO 65, to carry out inspections and issue certificates for organic production systems. GOPCA offers certification for the domestic market. The inspection and certification is based on the National Standards for Organic Production.
About Grower Group inspection & Certification
GOPCA offers inspection and certification services to small holder groups with Internal Control System
(ICS) as per NSOP standards. Group certification can be applied for groups of small farmers, which are covered by an Internal Control System (ICS), usually cultivating the same crops, using the same inputs and production practices and marketing their products under the same label or marketing system.
To avail this service, under the NPOP the producer group must have satisfied the criteria as mentioned in 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 of Section 5 of NPOP.
The production system should be based on the internal quality system and should apply to producer groups, farmer’s cooperatives, contract production and small scale processing units. The producers in the group must apply similar production systems and the farms should be in geographical proximity. Farms with land holding of 4 ha and above can also belong to a group but will have to be inspected annually by GOPCA. The total area of such farms shall be less than 50% of the total area of the group.
Processors and exporters can be a part of the group but will be inspected annually GOPCA. The group should have a legal status or constitution of the organization and should be presented by a organizational chart.
Group certification is based on the concept of an Internal Quality System comprising of the following: -
• Implementation of the internal control system
• Internal standards
• Risk assessment.
GOPCA will evaluate by checking the IQS documentation, staff qualifications and re-inspecting some farms.
The farm of each group member must have been already inspected and approved by the ICS. If needed, a pre-assessment visit will be conducted by GOPCA before actual inspection. During external inspection, GOPCA evaluates the functioning of the ICS including documentation, personnel and the policies and conducts random inspections(sampling as per section 5 -5.12 NPOP) of individual farms to check whether they are in accordance with relevant standards or not. The subcontracted units, if any, (e.g., for processing, storage, transport etc.) will also be inspected by GOPCA.
The certificate will be issued in the name of the group only and not in the individual farmer’s name.
Initial Application
The first step for getting GOPCA certification is that the operator (the person responsible for the grower group to be certified) contacts the GOPCA office or staff. Upon request GOPCA sends a detailed application package including the application form, GOPCA procedure for grower group certification and copy of Indian Organic Standards on payment of Rs.175/- by money order/DD/cash. To apply for certification the operator needs to complete the application form, Grower group operating manual (ICS manual), Documentary proof to show legal status (eg. Registration documents) and return it to the GOPCA office.
Pre-inspection procedure
After receiving the filled in application form along with ICS Grower group operating manual (ICS manual as per Section 5 NSOP), Documentary proof to show legal status (eg. Registration documents), GOPCA sends quotation for inspection and certification along with the scale of fees. On accepting the offer, the operator needs to send 75 % of the offer fees as advance in the form of DD in favour of GOPCA payable at Ahemdabad. After receiving initial advance GOPCA will perform the application review and informs ICS if any changes, additional requirements needed. Once all the additional requirements or changes (if any) are fulfilled GOPCA
registers the grower group. The ICS should conduct two internal inspections as per NSOP Clause 5.11 and
enter those details in its record system. Only after conducting the internal inspection the external inspection by GOPCA will be conducted. (Before inspection it is mandatory that the ICS should ensure that the ICS quality system is implemented and 100 % internal inspection are completed)
.
Inspection
Once the Pre inspection procedures as mentioned above are completed GOPCA in consultation with the operator, fixes the date and time for inspection. Prior to the inspection the person responsible for the
ICS must sign the inspection and certification contract. During the inspection, the GOPCA staff will abide to the principles laid out for the inspector. The operator has to co-operate with the inspector as declared in the inspection and certification contract.
Inspection procedure:
The inspections will be carried out in two stages
Office assessment:
Office assessment –to asses the effectiveness of the internal control system as per NSOP
Field inspection:
Inspecting some farms in the grower group to asses the compliance of the internal control system as per
NPOP. For field assessment samples will be drawn as per section 5 -5.12 NPOP.
Report writing:
Based on the objective evidence obtained from office assessment and individual farm inspection the inspector completes the inspection report. (if the detailed inspection report writing is not possible at the time of inspection visit the inspector will provide a short description of NC observed, later on a detailed inspection report will be sent to the operator).The operator acknowledges the inspection report with his/her signature and receives a copy of the same. The original inspection report will be forwarded to GOPCA office for further certification process
Balance Payment:
After inspection, the total inspection and certification costs are finalized and an invoice is sent to the operator. The operator must send the remaining amount of the final invoice to GOPCA.
Closure of Non conformities:
After inspections the ICS should submit corrective action taken report with supporting documents for the entire NC mentioned in the inspection report within the stipulated time period
Certification:
Upon receipt of the full payment and NC closure letter with supporting documents, the certification committee will review inspection report & effectiveness of action taken against NCs raised in the inspection report the file will be submitted to the certification committee. If any further clarifications, additional documents are required, a communication will be sent to the operator.
Note: If the ICS fail to send the Corrective action taken report, any clarifications, additional documents as required by GOPCA and final invoice amount within six months from the date of inspection, the ICS is informed that a fresh inspection is required for certification.
Certification decision:
The certification committee takes the certification decision based on the available documentation. Certification decisions will be intimated within two months after the inspection report, payment and relevant documents (if any) has been received at GOPCA.
Certificates & Renewal:
Once the certification decision is taken, the certificate will be sent to the operator. Validity of this certificate is for one year from the date of certification. But according to NSOP, inspections of farm must be carried out annually for renewing certification status. Therefore, GOPCA will send renewal application form in the beginning of the calendar year or six month before the expiry date of certificate to all operators and upon receipt of the completed application form with information on changes from last year and the advance payment, GOPCA will conduct the annual inspection and send the invoice. After receiving the full payment, the certification committee will take the decision and the same will be informed to the operator. The fees for annual
inspections will approximately be same as that of the initial year, unless there is a change in the operator’s unit
(e.g.: increase in area, number of plots, addition or deletion of products, change in number of farmers in the ICS etc.).
Note: Those who fail to renew their certification status annually in the stipulated time period leads to the closure of operator file and the operator has to cease using GOPA logo.
Certificates & GOPCA logo
Once the certification decision is taken, the certificate/confirmation letter or the decision letter will be sent to the operator. Validity of this certificate will be for one year from the date of certification. But according to NSOP inspections of farm must be carried out annually for renewing certification status. Therefore, GOPCA will send renewal application form in the beginning of the calendar year to all operators and upon receipt of the completed application form with information on changes from last year and the advance payment, GOPCA will conduct the annual inspection and send the invoice. After receiving the full payment, the certification committee will take the decision and the same will be informed to the operator. The fees for annual inspections will be more or less same as that of the initial year, unless there is a change in the operator’s unit (e.g.: increase in area, number of plots, addition or deletion of products, change in number of farmers in the ICS etc.) and GOPCA Scale of Fees.
Those who fail to renew their certification status annually will be out of the certification programme. If the operator wants to use GOPCA logo, he/she may send a request for the same to GOPCA after receiving the certificate. GOPCA logo will then be sent to operator as soft copy.
Label approval
The operator can make the label incorporating the logo and other relevant details and should send to GOPCA for approval. After approval GOPCA sends the approval decision to the operator. Operator may use the label for marketing only after the label approval.
Appeals
If the operator does not accept the certification decision, he/she can request for reconsideration of the decision in writing. The file is submitted to the certification committee for re-consideration. If the operator still does not agree with the revised decision, he/she can appeal to the appeals committee in writing within 30 days of the notification of certification decision. The file will then be submitted to the appeals committee, which takes final decision on the case.
Handling complaints
Operators are free to approach GOPCA for any type of complaints against the GOPCA staff, the GOPCA certification system or other operators certified by GOPCA. Any complaints may be verbally directed to GOPCA staff and/or through e-mail or post to the GOPCA office. Complaints will be handled confidentially.
Export
GOPCA currently does not certify any produce for exports. This service will be available soon.
Standards
The up to date version of the standards under the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) is available from APEDA or from GOPCA. An electronic version of NPOP standards can be downloaded from www.apeda.gov.in
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