Certification from organic farming is issued to companies only if in each phase of the production process of a given product, a series of rules established in Italy by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies are respected. Let's find out better.
The certification process from organic farming
Every company that wants its products to be recognized as being of biological origin, whether it is agricultural production, food processing, breeding and zootechnics, product imports, or other; must undergo the control system based on the regulation in force regarding organic certification.
From the initial moment of production to the final consumption of a product, each stage of the production process must be examined by the relevant bodies, at the top of which, in Italy, we have the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, while the task of territorial supervision is delegate to regional administrations.
When a company intends to be certified, it must choose a control body that is always a third, independent body that carries out inspections and certifications in the organic production sector in accordance with the provisions of the regulation. In some cases the control body may use a corresponding body operating in a third country.
To achieve compliance, the checks are carried out in every single part of the production cycle from the beginning of production and followed in the possible stages of transformation, storage, transport and distribution during the sale.
Control bodies in Italy
The control bodies are authorized by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies and have the task of verifying the entire production process and therefore granting the use of the trademark to be applied to the labels in order to be recognized as "products from organic farming".
The control bodies are classified with a code that is also included on the label of an organic product controlled by the same body.
As a rule, the control body draws up a report on its work which it submits to the Ministry and the regions. The data of the report derive from annual inspections directly in the company to assess compliance with the rules, with sampling for analysis. This is done via a check ... plus any other surprise checks.
The control bodies in the organic sector to 2014 in Italy are:
- CODEX srl - cod: 002
- Suolo e Salute srl - cod: 004
- BIOS srl - cod: 005
- ICEA srl - cod: 006
- Bioagricert srl - cod: 007
- Ecogruppo Italia srl - cod: 008
- CCPB srl - cod: 009
- SIDEL CAB SPA - cod: 012
- ABCERT srl - cod: 013
- QC srl - cod: 014
- Valoritalia srl - cod: 015
You can learn more about the importance of organic food
How to get the certification
The natural or legal persons who aspire to obtain the organic certification become responsible for compliance with the provisions of the regulation in the field of organic. The steps to get the certification are:
- Choose one of the recognized certification bodies by sending the documents relating to your company and your business.
- Notify the Region where the office is located that the procedure for obtaining the certification is starting.
- Starting from this date it is essential to begin to follow all the rules provided for by the law and those of the control body (sometimes with more restrictive internal regulations than the reference legislation).
- Wait for the conversion (approximately around 2-3 years).
- Any change in the production process must be communicated within fifteen days.
- From the date of notification, the wording "in conversion to organic farming" can be added to the labeling, while once the recognition is obtained, the diction will be "coming from organic farming".
What is the conversion period
By conversion period we mean a transition time starting from the notification of activity. The company begins to comply with all the requirements of the organic farming control system up to the recognized conversion. This transitional period of 2-3 years is necessary to ensure that the land, agriculture, livestock and all production processes are completely decontaminated from any synthetic chemical or GMO products.
