EA 6/04 stresses that groups under an umbrella organization, where only this umbrella organization is certified, may NOT sell their products individually as certified.
How is this issue dealt with in face of the fact, that at least GLOBALG.A.P. as a major scheme owner does allow group members to sell their products individually, due to market pressure in the US?
What is the opinion of the EA CC in general in relation to group certificates, especially within product/process/service certification and their use by individual members?
The reply will be the more important since a solid stance on this will be part of the revised EA 6/04.
March 2017
In a group, certification is granted based on the sampling performed and based on the assessment that the group has done on all the operators that comprise it. An operator belonging to a certified group cannot receive an individual certificate (sub certificate) as far as it has not been evaluated.