On December 16-18, 2010, the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China (CNCA) held the Fourth Organic Product Certification Technical Forum in Hangzhou. The meeting mainly had two topics:Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
First, interpret the newly revised national standard for Organic Products; introduce the revision status of the Measures for the Administration of Organic Product Certification and the Implementation Rules for Organic Product Certification, as well as the evaluation mechanism for input substances in organic product production, etc.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
From the revisions of the Standard, the Administrative Measures, and the Implementation Rules, it can be seen that the state's certification management of organic product production, processing, operation, and sales has become stricter and more standardized, and has reached the basic requirements for international alignment.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
This revision highlights the principle of “strictness.” Certification activity procedures such as on-site inspection, product testing, conversion period, and input substances have been uniformly standardized. For example:Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
- In response to the practice by certain institutions of arbitrarily shortening the conversion period, the new Standard requires that certification bodies may issue certification certificates only 12 months after the first on-site inspection, and stipulates that for enterprises whose certification has been rejected, other certification bodies may not accept their certification applications within 12 months.
- In order to enhance the traceability of organic products, all certification bodies are required to introduce the use of sales certificates.
- In order to avoid confusion caused by chaotic labeling and consumer misunderstanding, only the national mark is allowed on product packaging, and the use of certification body marks is no longer required.
- In principle, input substances not listed in the Standard are no longer allowed to be used. If they must be used, the certification body must report to the CNCA, and they may be used only after evaluation.
- Strengthen supervision over imported organic products. All organic products entering China must be certified by certification bodies recognized by China.
- In order to standardize the scope of certified products, a catalog of organic product certification has been formulated. Products not included in the catalog may not be certified.
- At the same time, the entry threshold for certification bodies has been raised, new provisions have been put forward regarding the personnel, number, and professional requirements of certification bodies, and the approval of certification bodies' certification scope has been refined.
Second, the seminar also pointed out that the development of China's organic product certification is still in a period of major opportunity.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
Since its establishment in 2001, the CNCA has unified China's certification and accreditation organizational structure and working formulation, established a unified national accreditation system, and unified the accreditation work system. This has set China's accreditation work on a track of legalization and standardization. The CNCA has always attached great importance to food and agricultural product certification work. At present, it has established a video agricultural product certification and accreditation system covering the entire process “from farm to table,” which has been listed as one of the three core tasks of the CNCA.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
The Party Central Committee and the State Council attach great importance to the development of organic agriculture. The report of the Third Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee specifically pointed out support for the development of organic agriculture, and the No. 1 document of the State Council every year has also mentioned many times the vigorous development of organic agriculture. The Fifth Plenary Session of the Seventeenth Central Committee once again emphasized that during the “Twelfth Five-Year Plan” period, “adhere to building a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society as an important focus for accelerating the transformation of the economic development mode.” These policies are a favorable guarantee for the development of organic agriculture.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/
At the same time, the number of organic certifications in China is still relatively small, which is extremely disproportionate to China's status as a major agricultural country and a major agricultural trading country. Each year, China exports only a few hundred million US dollars of organic products, while the European Union consumes as much as 34 billion euros of organic products annually. It can be said that China's development of organic agriculture has great prospects and is in the ascendant. In order to promote the development of organic agriculture, in 2011 the CNCA will carry out for the first time the creation of organic certification demonstration zones nationwide, which will fully mobilize the enthusiasm of local governments, thereby promoting the development of organic certification and food and agricultural product certification, setting an example for the standardized and healthy development of organic agriculture, clearing the name of the high-quality reputation of organic products, enabling people across the country to enjoy high-quality and reassuring organic products, promoting the substantial development of the organic industry, and making contributions to revitalizing the rural economy.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11278/