We are seeking clarification on the accreditation of certification bodies for organic agriculture processes in third countries, that are not EU members but are signatories to the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MLA) in the European Accreditation (EA) system.
As an EA MLA signatory for accreditation scheme for organic production process according to ISO/IEC 17605, we are fully obliged to follow all mandatory documents from EA, but we have some issues for implementing the particular EA mandatory document EA-3/12. The reason is we are not in the position to follow Regulations (because we are not EU Member State) but we are obliged to fulfill requirements from all mandatory documents from EA and IAF as well.
The CBs are accredited by our NAB according to our national legislation. They are not recognized, they are authorized according to national law on organic products, and with our accreditation operated only in our country.
It has come to our attention that there are restrictions on assessing compliance with the new regulations (EA-3/12 M). Could you please provide more information how accreditation processes should be conducted in these specific cases?
September 2024
In the purpose of EA-3/12 (first page), it is indicated “according to regulation (EU) 2018/848”.
This means that the scope of the document is limited to this specific regulation.
An EA MLA signatory accreditation body only has to implement the EA requirements if the defined scope of the EA document is relevant. If this is not the case, then the document is not applicable, and the accreditation process can be decided by your NAB and does not have to be in compliance with EA-3/12.