AQSIQ, SAIC, and CNCA Jointly Issue a Notice Requiring Further Strengthening of Organic Product Supervision

Recently, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China jointly issued a notice requiring quality inspection and industry and commerce departments at all levels to further strengthen the supervision of organic products and regulate the organic product consumer market. The notice requires:
1. Quality inspection departments at all levels shall, in accordance with the law, strengthen supervision over enterprises certified for organic products. For certified enterprises found during supervision to have production or processing processes, or the use of certification marks or certification certificates, that do not meet the requirements for organic product certification, the certification body shall be promptly notified to suspend or revoke the certification certificate. If a certification body refuses to suspend or revoke a certification certificate without justified reason, it shall be investigated and dealt with strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Regulations on Certification and Accreditation.
2. Quality inspection departments at all levels shall further strengthen supervision over the use of organic product certification certificates and certification marks in the circulation sector. Sellers that do not comply with the relevant provisions shall be ordered to rectify; for acts by production enterprises such as using certification marks or certification certificates beyond the validity period or scope, or forging or fraudulently using certification marks or certification certificates, they shall be investigated and dealt with strictly in accordance with the Product Quality Law, the Regulations on Certification and Accreditation, and other laws and regulations.
3. Quality inspection departments at all levels shall, in accordance with the law, severely crack down on illegal and non-compliant certification and certification consulting activities, and further purify the certification market. At the same time, they shall strengthen publicity and implementation of the National Standards for Organic Products among sellers, urge sellers to strictly follow the requirements of the National Standards for Organic Products in purchasing, storing, transporting, and selling organic products, and strictly prohibit acts such as secondary repackaging, splitting, or independently applying organic product certification marks to organic products outside the production and processing premises indicated on the certification certificate.
4. Industry and commerce departments at all levels shall, in accordance with the law, investigate and deal with illegal acts such as selling products with forged or fraudulently used organic product certification marks and conducting false publicity, strictly in accordance with the Product Quality Law, the Advertising Law, the Anti-Unfair Competition Law, and other laws and regulations.
5. If consumers discover illegal or non-compliant acts, they may report them to the quality inspection and industry and commerce departments respectively through the 12365 reporting hotline and the 12315 consumer complaint and reporting network. Quality inspection and industry and commerce departments at all levels shall strengthen coordination and cooperation, enhance information exchange and cooperation, promptly accept and handle consumer reports in accordance with the law, and effectively safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
Organic product certification is a third-party certification activity implemented for food and other products in accordance with internationally accepted organic product standards. After its establishment, the Certification and Accreditation Administration of the People's Republic of China established a unified national organic product certification system in accordance with China's Regulations on Certification and Accreditation and internationally accepted practices. Driven by national policies, China's organic product certification has developed rapidly. As of the first quarter of this year, China had cumulatively issued 11,090 valid certificates, with 7,728 certified enterprises and an organic planting area of 2 million hectares. Organic product certification has played an important role in ensuring food safety, protecting the environment, promoting foreign trade, and advancing sustainable agricultural development.Artikel berasal dariFOFCC-http://fofcc.org.cn/ms/11378/