Administrative Measures on Certification of Organic Products (Revised in 2015)
Administrative Measures on Certification of Organic Products (Revised in 2015)
Administrative Measures on Certification of Organic Products (Revised in 2015)
Order of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine No. 155
August 25, 2015
(Issued according to the Order of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine No. 155 on November 15, 2013; revised according to the Decision of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine on Revising Certain Rules and Regulations on August 25, 2015) Administrative Measures on Certification of Organic Products
Chapter I General provisions
Article 1 The Measures is formulated in accordance with the provisions of the Product Quality Law of the Peoples' Republic of China ("PRC"), the Law on the Inspection on Imported and Exported Commodity of the PRC, the Certification and Accreditation Regulations of the PRC and other laws and administrative regulations for the purpose of safeguarding the lawful rights and interests of consumers, producers and sellers, further enhancing the quality of organic products, intensifying the administration of the certification of organic products and promoting ecologic environment protection and sustainable development.
Article 2 The Measures shall apply to organic product certification and the production, processing, importing and selling of organic products awarded the certificate in the PRC.
Article 3 The organic products referred to in the Measures mean products produced, processed and/or sold for human beings' consumption and/or to be used as animal food in compliance with China's state criteria on organic products.
The organic product certification referred to in the Measures mean a Certification Institute's, in accordance with the provisions of the Measures and in line with the organic product certification rules, assessing the production, processing and/or selling of relevant products as meeting China's state criteria on organic products.
Article 4 The Certification and Accreditation Administration of the PRC (the "CAA") shall be responsible for the unified administration, supervision and comprehensive coordination in respect of the organic product certification in the state.
The local quality and technical supervision authorities of various levels and the exit and entry inspection and quarantine institutes of various places (collectively "Local Certification Regulatory Authority") shall, according to the division of their duties and in accordance with the law, be responsible for the supervision and inspection and the administrative law-enforcement in respect of the organic product certification in their respective jurisdiction.
Article 5 The state will apply a unified organic product certification system, unified certification contents, unified criteria and certification implementation rules, and a unified certification symbol.
The CAA shall be responsible for the formulation and adjustment of organic product certification contents and certification implementation rules and making the same public.
Article 6 The CAA shall organize international cooperation on organic product certification based on the principle of equality and mutual benefit.
The international mutual accreditation on organic product certification shall be conducted in accordance with the international cooperation agreements signed between the state and foreign or international entities.
Chapter II Certification implementation
Article 7 An organic product certification institute ("Certification Institute") shall engage in organic product certification within the approved scope only after it obtains the legal person status in accordance with the law and is approved by the CAA.
A Certification Institute's capability to conduct certification shall comply with the requirements of the state's criteria on a Certification Institute.
An inspector engaging in the inspection of organic product certification shall engage in the same only after he has been registered by the state's institute on the registration of certification personnel.
Article 8 A organic product producer or processor (collectively "Certification Entruster") may, out of his own will, entrust a Certification Institute to conduct organic product certification and submit the application materials as required in the Organic Product Certification Implementation Rules.
A Certification Institute shall not accept the certification entrustment from a Certification Entruster whose products are produced from a place whose environment is not in compliance with the state's requirements on the environment of an organic product's place of origin, or whose products are not included in the organic product certification contents.
Article 9 A Certification Institute shall, within 10 days after the receipt of the application materials submitted by a Certification Entruster, complete the examination of the materials and make the decision on whether to accept the application. Where an application is not accepted, the Certification Institute shall notify the Certification Entruster in writing, stating the reason.
A Certification Institute shall, within 5 days before conducting on-site inspection on a Certification Entruster, report the name of the Certification Entruster, certification inspection scheme and other basic information to the information system determined by the CAA.
Article 10 After accepting a certification entrustment, a Certification Institute shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Organic Product Certification Implementation Rules, dispatch (a) certification inspector(s) to conduct on-site inspection on the venues for producing and/or processing organic products, and entrust a legally qualified inspection and testing institute to conduct inspection and testing on the applied-for-certification products.
In accordance with the provisions of the Organic Product Certification Implementation Rules, where monitoring (or inspection) is required to be conducted on the environment of the place of origin (or base), a monitoring (or inspection) report from a legally qualified monitoring (or inspection) institute shall be required, or other lawful and valid environment monitoring (or inspection) conclusion provided by the Certification Entruster is accredited.
Article 11 Where a product is in compliance with the requirements of organic product certification, a Certification Institute shall issue in time the organic product certification certificate to the Certification Entruster, who shall be allowed to use the China Organic Product certification symbol; where a product is not in compliance, the Certification Institute shall notify the Certification Entruster in writing, stating the reason.
The Certification Institutes and certification personnel shall be responsible for their certification conclusions.
Article 12 A Certification Institute shall ensure that the certification process is complete, objective and true, make complete record on its certification process and archive it to ensure the traceability of the certification process and result.
The product inspection and testing and environment monitoring (or inspection) institutes shall ensure the truthfulness and accuracy of their inspection and testing or monitoring reports, and make complete record on their inspection and testing or monitoring process and archive it.
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