Chandigarh - Get Organic Agriculture Product Certificate

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Procedure

Apply In-Person:

1. A person (a farmer/ group of farmer’s /processor/ trader) who is looking for an organic farming certificate for their agricultural produce must ensure that his/her farm conforms to the standards laid out by the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) for organic crop production.
2. They must submit an application in the requisite format along with the fee and complete field verification as specified by the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP).
3. The ECOCERT India Pvt. Ltd. has provided the general standards for organic crop production which are available in Link website .
4. The certification procedure is available at Link
5. The operator can make a request of certification by clicking on the "Quotation Request in 5 min" button.
6. Application should be as per the prescribed format.
7. The operator can contact ECOCERT India on phone, email, fax or any other communication method.
8. An operator can fill up the application in prescribed format and send it to Operational office address of ECOCERT India along with Registration format and Organic System Management plan. The application packet containing templates of Application, Registration form, Organic System management plan, copy of standards is sent to the operator.
9. Upon the receipt of the completed and updated information about the operator's activities, the inspection program, scope, schedule, location and other technical details are subsequently agreed upon. The cost estimate is sent to the operator for approval.
10. An invoice for payment is submitted after the approval of the cost estimate and agreement of procedures. Inspection is undertaken only after the payment of fees as mentioned in the invoice. Additional costs such as travel and analysis costs are raised after the inspection and have to be paid before the issuance of the certificate.
11. A service contract is signed by the first time applicants stating a commitment to organic production. ECOCERT develops a quote specific to the operator for the inspection visit(s), certification(s) and possible analysis expected for the forthcoming year
12. Any prohibited operation (chemical or any other products), any serious modification with regard to the organic rules and concerning the production and/or the processing of the products must be informed
13. One of our experienced inspectors will be assigned the inspection visit. They will be selected according to the inspection program, the type of operation, language skills and knowledge of standards.
14. Logistic details such as an inspection schedule and notification of relevant partners on site will be arranged by the inspector himself/herself, in accordance with the detailed assignment the inspector receives from ECOCERT.
15. Inspection includes introduction of the inspector and the inspection program, visits of fields and producers, taking samples for analysis if needed, inspection of premises, stocks and processing units, updating of documents, checking of bookkeeping records and final discussion.
16. The Certification Department then makes the decision and reports back to the operator. It retrieves the findings of the inspection report, compares the findings with the respective standards and makes the decision according to the procedures approved by ECOCERT. The conclusions regarding deviations, conformity and improvement measures are clearly stated in the certification protocol which is then sent to the client along with the inspection report.
17. The client signs the certification decision on acceptance and sends it back to the ECOCERT Office.
18. The operator, after receiving the certification decision has to comply with all the improvement actions as mentioned and agree upon the certification decision within the deadlines stipulated in the certification decision. The compliance to the improvement actions should be reported to the certification department by the operator.
19. The certification department will verify the compliance to the improvement actions and if all the improvement actions are complied with then the "Certificate of Conformity" is issued to the operator.
20. ECOCERT is responsible for maintaining confidentiality of all the information provided for the purpose of inspection and certification.

Apply Online:

1. Visit the following portal: portal.
2. Now in the home page choose “Organic certification.”
3. Select “Initial Enquiry form” for inspection & certification.
4. A form will open which the applicant has to fill.
5. Fill in all the requested details in the form and click on the “submit” button.
6. An inspection will be held by the authorities.
7. Upon satisfaction, the applicant will get the desired- certificate in a stipulated period of time.
8. Check notification address for regular updates

Apply through Centres:

1. To apply through centres, the applicant has to visit the respective “CSC” centre. Please tap on the following link to locate the centre according to the respective district: link.
2. Make sure to have the documents that are listed under the “Required Documents” section of this page.
3. It is advised to take the documents in original to the kiosk for scanning purposes.
4. The operator will process the application online.
5. On successful submission, the applicant will receive an application number as acknowledgement.
6. The status, viz. Approval or Rejection if any, will be conveyed to the applicant through an SMS.
7. If verified, the certificate will be hand delivered or sent through post to the address mentioned while applying in a stipulated period of time.

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Required Documents

The below are the necessary documents:-

• PAN Card of Farmer/Farm
• Aadhaar Card of Farmer
• Land Records (7/12 Extract) of farm
• Farm Diary/Farm Map (Plot wise)
• Sample of High Risk Crop (If any)
• Label & Packaging Material (If Applicable)
• Application Packet & Contract*
• External Inspection Records*

Office Locations & Contacts

Chief Executive Officer
Address: Unit number 801, 8th Floor, The Palm Square, Sector 66,
Golf Course Extension Road,
Gurgaon 122102
Haryana India
Telephone: +91 7065505625/ 9319691632
Fax: +91 124 4313171
Email: [email protected]
Website : Link

Eligibility

The product to get the certification needs to be associated with the authenticity since two to three years. For first time certification, the soil must meet the basic requirements of being free from the use of prohibited substances (synthetic chemicals, etc) for a number of years. A conventional farm must adhere to organic standards for this period.

Fees

The detailed fee structure is available at Link

Validity

The organic certificate remains valid for one year from the date mentioned on the certificate. Once you have entered in to the certification system, you must apply for annual renewal to maintain your certification status.

Documents to Use

• General standards for organic crop production - Link
• Fee structure - Link

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

That depends on the history of your operations and your compliances with certification standards and regulations. It takes two years for annual crops and three years for perennial crops to be certified as organic.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type='website'>video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the '&' inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url 'http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M' Video ID is 'Y0US7oR_t3M'.

Instructions

• Application shall be scrutinized.
• Any information required shall be communicated to the operator and operator shall submit the requested information immediately.
• Application without prescribed fee shall not be reviewed.
• After review of application decision shall be made by ECOCERT India Pvt Ltd. on acceptance/ rejection of the application.
• The rejected application shall be returned to the applicant citing reasons for rejection along with the fees enclosed.
• Fee paid for the applications accepted by ECOCERT India Pvt Ltd. shall not be refunded at any circumstances.
• An initial onsite inspection shall be fixed and communicated to the operator after registration or shall be noted in the registered copy of application itself.
• The operator shall market his products only after the label approval. Labels that are to be used by the operator shall be sent to ECOCERT India Pvt.Ltd. for approval. ECOCERT India shall approve the label as per standards and send the decision to the operator. GENERAL INFORMATION: CONVERSION PERIOD: Any conventional farm that has been using chemical fertilizers and pesticides shall have a conversion period of three years before issuing an organic certificate. Any farm where organic management is being practiced since more than three years, organic certificate shall be issued at the end of first year of registration. However, a third party declaration needs to be submitted along with the application. The third party shall not have any personal relation with the operator.
• An applicant can withdraw the application at any time but the fees paid shall not be refunded

Required Information

The below are the necessary details for Organic Agriculture product registration:

• Address
• Fax no
• Certification needed for which standards
• Area of the farm in hectares under organic cultivation :
• Total area of cultivation (Organic & Inorganic) :
• Provide the survey numbers of the plots which are under organic cultivation:
• Provide the latitude and longitude of each of the organic farms:
• Are you aware of methods of Organic production & are you practicing it :
• Are you interested in Group certification:
• What is the source of seeds?
• Are there reports of soil and water analysis
• What is the source of irrigation?
• Crop intended Crop pattern production.
• Source of Inputs  :
• Average Yield during the Last 3 Years
• CropYearAmount of Yield
• Tool kits used in crop production
• Name of the operator
• Farm address

Need for the Document

Organic certification addresses a growing worldwide demand for organic food. It is intended to assure quality and prevent fraud. For organic producers, certification identifies suppliers of products approved for use in certified operations. For consumers, "certified organic" serves as a product assurance, similar to "low fat",
"100% whole wheat", or "no artificial preservatives". Certification is essentially aimed at regulating and facilitating the sale of organic products to consumers. Individual certification bodies have their own service marks, which can act as branding to consumers—a certifier may promote the high consumer recognition value of its logo as a marketing advantage to producers. Most certification bodies operate organic standards that meet the National government's minimum requirements.

Information which might help

• If the Organic System of operation does not comply with the Standards, the operator shall be intimated about denial of certification stating the reasons for such action with non-conformities noticed and time limit for submission of correction.
• The operator may write to certification agency office if there are any complaints against either the staff or the organization or certification decision or any other related matter
• In cases where the operator is not satisfied with the manner in which the complaint was dealt with, particularly related to any certification decision, the operator may appeal in writing to the certification agency appellate authority along with a prescribed fees within 21 days of certification decision.
• The appellate authority shall review the case and submit a decision to the operator. All complaints and appeals will be dealt with confidentially in a fair and appropriate manner and a decision will be taken and informed to the concerned operator.
• A notice of denial of certification shall inform the operator about the reasons and applicants right to reapply for certification or file an Appeal to the Appeal Committee.
• A contract is signed by the Operator with ECOCERT India confirming that
• Adherence to Applicable Organic production standards
• Cooperate in on-site inspection visits, announced or unannounced, of organic production sites (farm, storage, office, manufacturing unit etc.) and if applicable conventional production sites.
• Sampling for residue analysis.
• To provide access to all production sites relevant to inspection, book-keeping, other supporting documents and related records.
• To be responsible for any possible additional inspection requested by the Certification Committee following serious non-compliance with organic standards.
• This contract provides ECOCERT India Pvt.Ltd. and the operator an opportunity to clearly define, document and understand the requirements for certification, and to resolve any differences in understanding between ECOCERT India Pvt.Ltd.  and the operator prior to the assignment of the initial inspection.

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

India Organic Certification is a label given to organic products after validation, which ensures that the product or raw materials used in the product were grown through organic farming - without any chemical fertilizers,  pesticides, or induced hormones. A trademark - "India Organic" will be granted on the basis of compliance with the National Standards for Organic Production (NSOP). Communicating the genuineness as well as the origin of the product, this trademark will be owned by the Government of India

External Links

Place some external links which might help.

Others

Ecocert inspection and certification program is designed to meet the requirements of the various public organic standards viz. NPOP (Indian), EC 834/2007 and 889/2008 (European), USDA (NOP) (US) and JAS (Japanese) and other private standards. Ecocert has also launched it's own fair trade standards – EFT ( Ecocert Fair Trade) to address the socio-environmental concerns in the supply chains..