Enhancing Organic Integrity Check Organic The Global Organic Integrity Platform www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by
The Global Organic Integrity Platform A real-time worldwide source of certification data. An information hub for increasing transparency and organic integrity along the supply chain. Check Organic complements organic certification schemes, as well as companies sourcing and quality assurance systems. www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 2
ENHANCING GLOBAL INTEGRITY Check Organic is an internet-based data platform for publishing global certification information and related services. is a tool to verify certificates and certification data in real-time and along the supply chain. captures and provides accurate and reliable certification data from participating certification bodies. offers an extensive toolbox to verify and connect data according to the user s needs, such as certification status, certificates, products, volumes, operations, responsible certifier, etc. supports organic integrity checks by providing and linking real-time certification data. www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 3
History I: pre-regulation (before 1991) Organic farmers associations defined standards and introduced verification systems implemented by: Farmer by farmer (social control by neighbours and village) Consultants Consumers buying off farm (social control) First external inspections targeting about 10% of operators complementing the above www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 4
History II: regulatory definition (1991 to date) Regulations define standards and inspection/certification system (process certification) First phase: every operator involved in the product chain has to be inspected/certified; import conformity Second phase: definition of risk assessment, residue analyses, and other more detailed rules; import conformity and equivalence www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 5
Future: regulatory definition Process inspection/certification will be complemented by product inspection/certification Increased mandatory risk assessment Increased mandatory residue analyses Import compliance and equivalence EU (under discussion): definition by food and inspection regulations with exemptions where necessary for organic Production and manufacturing standards with less/no exemptions and transitional rules www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 6
No fraud as result of this tightening up? The organic surveillance and certification system is comprehensively regulated but is weak when it comes to preventing and detecting fraud. Lack of integrity tools is a permanent source for fraud Today s trading relies on paper or PDF certificates which are sent prior to a physical movement of a product or signing of a trading contract. There is no possibility for the buyer to verify whether or not the certificate is valid at this very moment. Has it been withdrawn recently? Is the product covered by the scope of the certificate? Has the quantity already been sold to another buyer? www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 7
Benefits for traders/processors Accurate, up-to-date information is available in real time All information is verifiable Information is accessible 24 hours, 7 days, independent of office working hours and time zone User friendly search portal ensures basic certification information can be found quickly Current supplier certificate file systems can be replaced by using the electronic data platform Businesses can get more detailed information about certified operations A comprehensive toolbox can be integrated in the users processes Certification data can be verified in real-time with a mouse click, saves time and hence reduces costs Additional features, such as ability to connect to the companies Enterprise Resource Planning system (ERP) Always prepared for external audits www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 8
Benefits for Certification Bodies No more faxing or copying paper certificates; all certification data needed can be viewed and printed from online source Online certificates of any third party can be verified at any time globally, simply by logging in, e.g. for inspectors during the audit Certificates cannot be altered by sellers or buyers as they are available in real- time from the database Strengthening of CBs reputation and relevance if their respective operator certificates can be found and validated online Data transfer is simple and supported by Check Organic tools, e.g. Web-services, web-form, import files, and according to your infrastructure Data is protected by the system and remain in the CBs ownership. Confidential and sensible business information is only accessible by the respective user and according to user authorization www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 9
Send, receive and view data www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 10
Data exchange on international HS codes www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 11
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Services for different levels and users www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 13
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Pleas contact us: Katharina Niemeyer check-organic@organic-services.com Gerald A. Herrmann g.herrmann@organic-services.com Frank Gerriets See details at www.check-organic.com f.gerriets@organic-services.com www.organic-services.com www.check-organic.com a service offered by 19