China’s CNCA Solicits Opinions on Organic Product Certification Rules

Sept.19th, 2019, China's Certification and Accreditation Administration (hereinafter CNCA) published the 2nd revised version of Enforcement Rules for Organic Product Certification (consultation draft)^[1], to solicit opinions from the public. The deadline for collecting comments is October 11th, 2019, and relevant comments should be sent to [email protected].

Background

The rules were previously revised and issued for public comments on Dec. 2018. Based on the opinions and feedbacks collected in recent years, this revision also references changes in the organic product certification laws and regulations of international organizations and developed countries.

Most of the regulations amended, added or supplemented focus on these parts: purpose and scope (Section 1), certification authority requirements (Section 2), certification procedures (Section 5), post-certification management (Section 6), re-certification (Section 7), certification marks management (Section 8), and information reporting (Section 9).

Important Changes to Provisions for Imported Organic Food

• Purpose and scope

In clause 1.3 for imported products from countries (or regions) that have not signed relevant memorandums or agreements with CNCA, relevant regulations on the implementation of organic certification have been supplemented. Also, Specific Provisions on the Certification of Imported Organic Products have been added in the annex, which provides specific provisions on the application requirements, on-site inspection and other aspects of certification activities.

• Application requirements

Producers, distributors, importers or agents of imported products and other enterprises as legal persons, foreign enterprises, and domestic enterprises can apply for certification as the principal of imported organic products.

When an organization that is not directly engaged in the production or processing of organic products applies for certification, the certification principle shall simultaneously submit a copy of the written contract signed with the person who is directly engaged in the production or processing. When submitting the application form, basic information of organic production/ processing/ operation, process flow chart, and inputs used in production/processing and other certification application materials and documents, the certification principal shall submit the Chinese version.

• On-site inspection

If organic products' enterprises are based overseas and thus inspected by China's domestic institutions will put a negative impact on product's shelf life or bring other inconveniences, a third-party inspection and testing institution outside China can be entrusted to carry out the relevant test. Meanwhile, the entrusted inspection and testing organization shall meet the requirements of ISO /IEC 17025, that is, General Requirements for Testing and Calibration Laboratory Capabilities.

For re-certification products, the products within the validity period of the replacement certificate can be sampled by the certification agency after entering the country, and the inspection and testing agency within the territory of China is entrusted to carry out the test. If the test results do not meet the certification requirements, the certification shall be suspended or revoked immediately.

For farms that have obtained the overseas organic product certification for 4 consecutive years or more, and the certification agency on-site inspection confirms that it meets the requirements of GB/T 19630, the conversion period can be exempted based on risk assessment.

To know more about China's regulations of organic products, please click here.