The SA must be an entity having legal capacity and has to be registered in the Register of companies of the responsible Member State.
The SA’s constituting articles must stipulate that one of its declared aims is control and supervision of agricultural products at international level.
The SA must have international coverage in order to be able to carry out certification on a worldwide basis, either by implantation through subsidiaries in a number of third countries and/or by way of directly attending the discharge operations with their own salaried inspectors from the nearest regional office or from the national office in the Community or with local agents that are subjected to proper supervision by the SA.
The subsidiaries referred to in the first subparagraph must be owned by more than half of the capital by the SA. However, if national legislation in the third country concerned limits foreign ownership of the capital to 50 % or less, effective control of the subsidiary shall be sufficient for the purpose of the first subparagraph. This control shall be proved by appropriate means, such as, in particular, the existence of a management agreement, composition of its board of directors and senior management or similar arrangements.
The SA must have proved experience in control and supervision in agricultural and food products. This experience shall be established by submitting evidence relating to the inspections carried out over the previous three years, or currently in progress. These references must include information on the type of checks carried out (nature, quantity of products, place of inspection, etc.) and names and addresses of bodies or entities which can provide information about the applicant.
The SA must fulfil the requirements laid down in the standard norm EN 45011, points 4.1.1, 4.1.2, 4.1.4, 4.2(a) to (p), 4.4, 4.5, 4.7, 4.8.1(b) to (f), 4.8.2, 4.9.1, 4.10, 5, 7, 9.4.
The SA’s financial situation (capital, turnover, etc.) must be sound. Proofs of the financial soundness, as well as its annual accounts for the past three years, containing the balance sheet, the profit and loss account, and, if required by law the auditors’ report and the directors’ report, shall be presented.
The administrative organisation of the SA must have an ‘internal audit unit’, which will be responsible for assisting the national authorities in the activities of control and inspection that they will undertake on the approved SAs.