From 16 to 18 December 2010, cnca held the 4th Organic Product Certification Technical Forum in Hangzhou. The meeting mainly focused on two topics:文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
1. Interpretation of the newly revised national standard for "Organic Products"; introduction to the revision of the "Administrative Measures for Organic Product Certification" and the "Implementation Rules for Organic Product Certification", as well as the evaluation mechanism for input substances in organic product production.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
The revisions to the "Standards", "Administrative Measures", and "Implementation Rules" show that the state's certification management of organic product production, processing, operation, and sales has become stricter and more standardised, achieving the basic requirement of aligning with international practices.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
This revision highlights the principle of strictness, standardising certification activity procedures such as inspection, product testing, transition periods, and input materials. For example:文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
- To address the practice of some organisations arbitrarily shortening the transition period, the new Standard requires that certification bodies may only issue certificate 12 months after the first inspection, and stipulates that for enterprises refused certification, other certification bodies shall not accept their certification applications within 12 months.
- To enhance the traceability of organic products, all certification bodies are required to introduce the use of transaction certificates.
- To prevent consumer confusion caused by cluttered symbols, only national symbols are permitted on product packaging, and the use of certification body symbols is no longer required.
- In principle, input substances not listed in the standard are no longer permitted for use. If their use is essential, the certification body must notify cnca and they may only be used after evaluation.
- Reinforce the supervision of imported organic products. All organic products entering China must be certified by certification bodies recognised by accreditation in China.
- In order to standardise the scope of certified products, a catalogue of organic product certification has been established, and products not listed in the catalogue shall not be certified.
- At the same time, it has raised the entry threshold for certification bodies, introduced new requirements regarding their personnel, number, and professional qualifications, and refined the approval process for their certification scopes.
2. The seminar also pointed out that the development of organic product certification in our country is still in a major period of opportunity.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
cnca Since its establishment in 2001, it has unified China's certification accreditation organisations and work formulation, established a unified national accreditation system, and unified the accreditation work system. It has brought China's accreditation work onto a developmental path characterised by legalisation and standardisation. cnca has always attached great importance to food and agricultural product certification work, and has currently established a video agricultural product certification accreditation system covering the entire process from “farm to fork”, which has been listed as one of the three core tasks of cnca.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
The Central Committee of the Party and the State Council attach great importance to the development of organic agriculture. The report of the Third Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee explicitly pointed out the support for developing organic agriculture, and the No. 1 document of the State Council has also repeatedly mentioned vigorously developing organic agriculture. The Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CPC Central Committee once again emphasised that during the “12th Five-Year Plan” period, we must “persist in taking the building of a resource-saving and environmentally friendly society as an important focus in accelerating the transformation of the economic development mode.” These policies provide a favourable guarantee for the development of organic agriculture.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/
At the same time, the number of organic certifications in China is still relatively small, which is completely disproportionate to China's status as a major agricultural and agricultural trading power. China's annual exports of organic products amount to only a few hundred million US dollars, whereas the organic products consumed in the European Union reach as high as 34 billion euros annually. Thus, developing organic agriculture in China can be said to have a very promising future and is currently on the rise. To promote the development of organic agriculture, cnca will launch the establishment of organic certification demonstration zones nationwide for the first time in 2011, which will fully mobilise the enthusiasm of local governments to drive the development of organic certification and food and agricultural product certification, set an example for the standardised and healthy development of organic agriculture, vindicate the high-quality reputation of organic products, enable people across the country to enjoy high-quality and reassuring organic products, promote the substantial development of the organic industry, and contribute to the revitalization of the rural economy.文章源自FOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/en/11278/