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Canada Organic Office - Operating Manual

Table of Contents

Preface

This Canada Organic Office (COO) Operating Manual contains policies and procedures for activities applicable to the Canada Organic Regime (COR). The manual provides overview of the procedure to be followed when CFIA and CVB enter into an Agreement, the accreditation and the certification procedures. The goal in producing this manual is to provide a structure so that services are delivered in a consistent and efficient manner.

The Organic Products Regulations (Regulations) were made pursuant to section 32 of the Canada Agricultural Products Act. The purpose of the Regulations is to establish a system by which the CFIA, as the competent authority in Canada for organic products marketed in interprovincial, export and import trade, shall regulate the use of the "Canada Organic" agricultural product legend (Legend) and organic claims. The Regulations would facilitate international market access, provide more specific protection to consumers against deceptive and misleading labelling practices, through a uniform approach to organic product certification and labelling, and support further development of the domestic market. The need for a federal regulatory regime has been identified and supported by the Canadian organic industry.

Should there be any discrepancy between the COO Operating Manual and the Regulations, the Regulations shall take precedence.

Overview of the Canada Organic Regime (COR)

The COR is a non-traditional regime for the CFIA. The Regulations provide a federal program for the regulation of Canadian organic products. The COR is designed to build on the existing system of domestic accreditation and certification. The CFIA is the competent authority that oversees the COR governing the use of the Legend. The CFIA enters into agreements with Conformity Verification Bodies (CVBs) provided these bodies meet the criteria established by the Regulations and CFIA.

For the purpose of the Regulations the CVBs are designated by the CFIA to assess, recommend for accreditation and subsequently monitor certification bodies (CBs) meeting the applicable accreditation criteria as set out in the Regulations.

The accredited CBs are responsible for the organic certification of agricultural products and organic product packaging and labelling certification. CBs employ inspectors to assess the practices of organic operators to verify that they comply with the regulations. These inspectors are referred herein as Verification Officers (VO). The VO provides the results of their assessment to their CB for evaluation. The CB, in turn, certifies as organic only those products that comply with requirements of the regulations.

In order to facilitate the import/export activities and to verify that importing country requirements are equivalent or in compliance with the COR, an Equivalency Determination between Canada and another country will be performed. Such determination may result in reducing the importing country's rate of verification and avoid additional certification in the country of origin.

The CFIA is responsible for compliance verification and enforcement of the regulations which activities include label inspections in the marketplace, and audits of CVBs.

Building on the existing organic certification system, the Regulations set out the functions of the COR's two oversight bodies: CVBs and CBs.

References

The documents listed below are those referenced by this document. At the time of publication, the editions indicated below were valid. As all documents are subject to revision, parties using this document are encouraged to apply the most recent editions of these documents published.

Additional accreditation criteria for bodies that evaluate quality management systems in companies whose operations are on multiple sites in order to certify their products - CAEQ, 2007

CAN/CGSB-32.310-2006, Organic Production Systems General Principles and Management Standards (to the extent these standards are incorporated by reference into the regulations, - developed by the organic industry and the Canadian General Standards Board)

CAN/CGSB-32.311-2006, Organic Production Systems, Permitted Substances List (as incorporated by reference into the regulations and developed by the organic industry and the Canadian General Standards Board)

Certifying operations with Multiple Production Units, Sites and Facilities under the National Organic Program, Formal recommendation by the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) to the National Organic Program, 2008

EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Directorate H. Sustainability and quality of agriculture and rural development, H.3 Organic Farming, Guidelines on imports of organic products into the European Union, Rev 1 dated 15.12.2008

IFOAM Requirements for Grower groups

ISO/IEC 17011:2004, Conformity assessment - General requirements for accreditation bodies accrediting conformity assessment bodies

ISO/IEC Guide 65:1996 General Requirements for bodies operating product certification systems

SOR/2009-176, Organic Products Regulations (regulations made under the authority of the Canadian Agricultural Products Act)

Definitions

Accreditation cycle
The period including the initial assessment or reassessment and the subsequent surveillance years.
Act
The Canada Agricultural Products Act as may be amended from time to time.
Agency
The CFIA established by section 3 of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act.
Audit
A systemic and independent examination to determine whether activities and related results comply with planned arrangements and whether these arrangements are implemented effectively and are suitable to achieve objectives.
Canada Organic Office (COO)
A section within Agrifood division of the CFIA responsible for the administration the Regulations.
Canada Organic Regime (COR)
The Government of Canada regulated system for organic agricultural products.
Certification
The procedure whereby a CFIA accredited certification body provides written assurance that agricultural products are organic as defined in and for the purposes of the Regulations. Certification of products may be based on a range of inspection activities including verification of management practices, auditing of quality assurance systems, and in/out production balances
Certification Body (CB)
A body that is accredited as a CB in accordance with section 6 of the Regulations and CFIA shall accredit the applicant as a CB on the recommendation of the CVB.
Compliance
The state of conformity with the law. The CFIA secures compliance with its acts and regulations through inspections and the use of statutory powers and authorities bestowed on agency officials. Inspection authorities may also use education, publication, of information and consultation with affected parties, when responding to non compliance, inspection, monitoring and auditing to verify compliance, responding to complaints of non compliance.
Conformity Verification Body (CVB)
An entity that shall meet the requirements set out in ISO/IEC 17011 to be able to enter into an agreement with the CFIA under subsection 14(1) of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency Act to assess, recommend the accreditation of and monitor the CB.
Group Certification
Certification of an organized group of producers with a central office, similar farming and production system, working according to a common internal quality management system, which is established and subject to continued surveillance by the central office. Group certification applies to the group as a whole. Certificate is issued to the central office of the group and shall not be used by a single group member.
Internal Control System (ICS)
A documented internal quality system within a grower group that allows an external CB to delegate the annual inspection of any group members to an identified body or unit within the grower group.
Investigation
Involves the gathering of evidence and information, from a variety of sources, relevant to a suspected violation or offence and is intended to refute the defence of due diligence and/or establish intent.
Multi-ingredient product
A type of agricultural product composed of two or more agricultural products.
Organic Product
An agricultural product that has been certified as organic in accordance with the Organic Product Regulations or that has been recognized as such under section 29 of the Regulations.
Organic Product Regulations (OPR)
These are the regulations referred to throughout the COO Operating Manual. Refer to section 2 References for a full citation
Verification audit
Review by the CVB of a previous verification carried out by a certification body at a specific site, in order to verify whether the certification process and the inspection plan were implemented in compliance with requirements.
Verification Officer (VO)
Person assigned by the Certification Body to conduct inspections and having the requisite qualifications and experience to conduct inspections for the purposes of the regulations.
Witness audit (by COO)
The COO witnesses the activities of theCVB auditor during the initial assessment and the monitoring of a CB.
Witness audit (by CVB)
The CVB witnesses the activities of a CB during an inspection of an operator.

Revision History

Revision History of This Manual
Version Date Reason for the revision Scope of the revision
  February 2007 Draft of the COO QMS manual sent for peer review The entire document
  June 20, 2007 Feedback from the peer review incorporated in the COO QMS Manual The entire document
  September 11, 2007 Feedback from the consultation with the industry The entire document
  October 2008 CFIA comments Part A
  January 30, 2009
(not released)		 Amendments to the Organic Products Regulations (2006) The entire document
V 11 November 2009
(not released)		 Consultation with the CVBs Modifications to Part B: Accreditation under the COR
Modifications to Part C: Certification under the COR
V 12 December 2009
(not released)		 Additional comments from the CVBs Modifications to Part B: Accreditation under the COR
Modifications to Part C: Certification under the COR
V 13 June 11, 2010 Edited for style and numbering of document. Include comments from CVBs and CFIA. New Part on grower group requirements. New Part on the Standards Interpretation Committee. The entire document
New Part F
New Part G

Next Page: Part A - Assessment and Designation of Conformity Verification Bodies (CVB)


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