‘Revamp accreditation process for organic certification companies’

‘Revamp accreditation process for organic certification companies’

Subject : 

Context: The Indian government should revamp the process of providing accreditation to new organic certification companies and carry out a thorough probe of these firms, a Chennai-based public interest and service trust has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Organic Farming: Products and Certification

• India’s Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) handles the regulation of organic food.
• In November 2017, the FSSAI announced organic food laws that govern the production, marketing, distribution, and import of organic foods into India.
• Any food that wants to be labeled as “organic” in India must be certified under one of the two systems-
  • National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP)
  • Participatory Guarantee System for India (PGS-India)

PGS- India

• PGS India is a self-certification system meant for the domestic market only which comes under the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.
• This organic regulation was created to address the issue of fraud and mislabeling in foods marketed as “organic”.
• It permits the import of organic food into India without re-certification in India if the organic standards of the exporting nation have been recognized as being similar to NPOP.

NPOP

• National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP) is a third-party certification program run under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry since 2001. This program laid down the norms and guidelines governing the production of organic food.
• Farmers and enterprises involved in producing organic fruits, vegetables, grains, and processed foods must follow these standards.
• The certification under the NPOP program is mainly done by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA) and National Accountability Bureau (NAB).

Organic Farming Certification Mechanism:

• In India the certifying agencies and acts have been set up and are being governed by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.
• The National Program for Organic Production (NPOP) notified under the Foreign Trade and Development Act (FTDR) aims to encourage farmers for the production of organic substances, issues certificates in accordance to the standards outlined by the agency, evaluates the certification programs for organic farming as per the rules of the agency and to accredit the programs undertaken by the agencies.
• The Ministry of commerce and industry is at the apex level and a steering committee is formed from among the members of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Commerce and Industry and Agriculture and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority.
• This steering committee formulates the national policy of accreditation and standards for organic products. The committee also designs the rules and regulations for the use of the organic certification mark.
• The procedure for obtaining organic farming certification in India has several guidelines.
  • Initially the person with a farmland has to submit an application in a prescribed format to the agency. A certain amount of fee is paid to carry out the procedures and field verification.
  • Prior to this the person applying for the organic certification has to make sure that his farm meets the required standards outlined by the NPOP.
  • These sets of principles are: To convert the farm to organic farming, provide natural inputs to the farm, complete boycott of irradiation technology, maintaining integrity of farming techniques, external contamination of the farm should not be present and the procedures used for farming should be of sustainable standards.
  • There are some additional requirements which the applicant must adhere to before getting an organic certification:
    • Updating his annual production plan
    • Allow the certification inspectors to carry out on-site inspections with access to production material, land and operations.
    • Records of the farm and its operations for a period of 5 years are maintained such that the representatives of the agency can review the records before certification of the land.
    • The fee has to be paid to the accreditation agency during the specified time limit.
    • The authorities have to be informed if there are any changes made during the production such as use of prohibited substances, etc. that are against the standards set up by the NPOP.

Standards Specified For Organic Farming Certification

• The first principle is conversion of the farm. Conversion period is defined as the time gap between the start of organic procedure and certification of crops. Within three years the entire farm including livestock has to be converted as per the defined standards.
• The maintenance of organic structure has to be done such that the converted farm and livestock do not switch back to conventional methods.
• The seeds used for farming have to be organic and are specified by the certification authority. Upon non availability of organic seeds, untreated material can be used, but the use of genetically modified seeds is prohibited.
• The conversion period is minimum three years, but can be extended by the certification program based on the environment and other past factors.
• It is recommended that diversity is maintained to improve the soil quality, organic matter, microbial activity etc.
• Synthesized fertilizers shall not be permitted to be used in the farms. Only biodegradable animal and plant origin can be used.
• Pesticides and disease control products manufactured from local plants and micro organism are allowed. Thermal and physical weed control methods are allowed. The use of chemicals is prohibited.
• Items used for covering the farm can be products made from polyethylene and polypropylene. The polychloride products are restricted.
• Soil erosion has to be prevented, water depletion controlled, cleaning the land by burning organic matter should be minimized and primary forest area should not be cleared.
• Harvests from wild farms will be certified only if found stable and sustainable. The collection of produce has to be done away from polluted area and contamination.