TITLE IIRULES ON PRODUCTION, PROCESSING, PACKAGING, TRANSPORT AND STORAGE OF ORGANIC PRODUCTS

CHAPTER 3Processed products

Article 26Rules for the production of processed feed and food

1

Additives, processing aids and other substances and ingredients used for processing food or feed and any processing practice applied, such as smoking, shall respect the principles of good manufacturing practice.

2

Operators producing processed feed or food shall establish and update appropriate procedures based on a systematic identification of critical processing steps.

3

The application of the procedures referred to in paragraph 2 shall guarantee at all times that the produced processed products comply with the organic production rules.

4

Operators shall comply with and implement the procedures referred to in paragraph 2. In particular, operators shall:

a

take precautionary measures to avoid the risk of contamination by unauthorised substances or products;

b

implement suitable cleaning measures, monitor their effectiveness and record these operations;

c

guarantee that non-organic products are not placed on the market with an indication referring to the organic production method.

5

Further to the provisions laid down in paragraphs 2 and 4, when non-organic products are also prepared or stored in the preparation unit concerned, the operator shall:

a

carry out the operations continuously until the complete run has been dealt with, separated by place or time from similar operations performed on non-organic products;

b

store organic products, before and after the operations, separate by place or time from non-organic products;

c

inform the control authority or control body thereof and keep available an updated register of all operations and quantities processed;

d

take the necessary measures to ensure identification of lots and to avoid mixtures or exchanges with non-organic products;

e

carry out operations on organic products only after suitable cleaning of the production equipment.