European Union (EU) legislation provides for a set of harmonised rules to ensure that food and feed are safe and wholesome, and that activities which might have an impact on the safety of the agri-food chain or on the protection of consumers’ interests in relation to food and food information are performed in accordance with specific requirements.
EU legislation on organic production and labelling of organic products provides a basis for the sustainable development of organic production.
EU legislation on agricultural quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs identifies products and foodstuffs farmed and produced to exact specifications whilst encouraging diverse agricultural production, protecting product names and informing consumers about the specific character of agricultural products and foodstuffs.
EU agri-food chain legislation is based on the principle that operators at all the stages of production, processing and distribution which are under their control are responsible for ensuring compliance with the requirements relevant to their activities established by Union agri-food chain legislation.
Verification of compliance of EU agri-food chain legislation lies with Member States, whose competent authorities monitor and verify, through the organisation of official controls, that relevant Union requirements are effectively complied with and enforced. Competent authorities may delegate certain official control tasks to one or more delegated bodies, such delegation shall comply with specific conditions.
For all of the above, the inclusion of mentions related with EU legislation in an accredited certificate issued by a private certification body certifying a private scheme, not related with EU legislation, can mislead, and convey false impression. Furthermore, the private scheme could be a process certification, and not a product certification, the certification body has checked only the private scheme requirements, the operator could have only a part of the production marked under EU legislation, while the private scheme covers the whole production. On the other hand, the operator could have its certificate issued under EU legislation by the delegated body suspended or withdrawn.
The clarification/resolution should not be limited to food and feed sectors and in particular areas of European regulations.
In any field, in fact, cross-references outside the scope of a scheme are misleading, and the truthfulness of the information may not be verified because it is not part of the certification program. By accepting this condition, an increase in these situations may occur with many references to other schemes not relevant to that specific certification program.
Is it allowed to include a claim in a certificate that relates to conformity assessment requirements which are not included and may not be verified because it is not part of the certification program concerned by the certificate?
September 2024
Including a claim in a certificate that relates to conformity assessment requirements which are not included in the certification programme concerned by the certificate is not allowed as this is a misleading on the accredited certificate (Refer to EN-ISO/IEC 17065, 3.10 & 7.7.1).
Answer to the question is NO.
The description of the scope of certification (ISO/IEC 17065, §3.10) in the certification documentation pursuant ISO/IEC 17065, §7.7.1d), shall be relevant and consistent with the certification scheme’s requirements against which evaluation activities have been applied and certification has been granted. The inclusion of references / claims to the scope of certification which are not subject of the applicable certification scheme and therefore not covered by the CB’s evaluation activities cannot be allowed.