1.Member States shall appoint a competent certification authority and ensure that the necessary controls and manuals of procedures are in place, with a view to guaranteeing a minimal quality of the hops and hop products as well as traceability.
2.The competent certification authority, or its representatives, shall carry out certification. It shall have adequate resources to carry out its duties.
3.The competent certification authority is responsible for ensuring the respect of the provisions of this Regulation. The permanence or frequency of compliance control shall be determined on the basis of a risk analysis by the Member State with a minimum frequency of once per month. The effectiveness of risk analysis parameters used in previous years shall be assessed on an annual basis.
1.The competent certification authority shall approve certification centres, having a legal personality or sufficient legal capacity to be subject, under national legislation, to rights and obligations, and ensure that they have adequate facilities to carry out the necessary sampling, analytical, statistical and recording tasks.
On the basis of a risk analysis, but at least twice per calendar year, the competent certification authority shall carry out random on-the-spot checks of certification centres in order to verify compliance with the previous subparagraph. The effectiveness of risk analysis parameters used in previous years shall be assessed on an annual basis.
2.If it is found that in the preparation of hop products non-permitted components have been used, or that the components used do not conform to the entries in the certificate as provided for in Article 16, and if this is imputable to deliberate action or serious fault on the part of the certification centre concerned, the competent certification authority shall withdraw the approval of that certification centre.
Approval may not be restored for a period of at least 12 months following the date of withdrawal. On request of the certification centre from which approval was withdrawn, approval shall be restored after two years or, in serious cases, after three years from the date of withdrawal.