CHAPTER VIITRADE WITH THIRD COUNTRIES
Article 46Recognition of control authorities and control bodies
1
The Commission may adopt implementing acts to recognise control authorities and control bodies that are competent to carry out controls and to issue organic certificates in third countries, to withdraw the recognition of such control authorities and control bodies, and to establish a list of recognised control authorities and control bodies.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55(2).
2
Control authorities or control bodies shall be recognised in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article for the control of import of the categories of products listed in Article 35(7) if they fulfil the following criteria:
a
they are legally established in one Member State or third country;
b
they have the capacity to carry out controls to ensure that the conditions set out in points (a), (b)(i) and (c) of Article 45(1) and in this Article are met in relation to organic products and in-conversion products intended for import into the Union;
c
they offer adequate guarantees of objectivity and impartiality and are free from any conflict of interest as regards the exercise of their control tasks;
d
in the case of control bodies, they are accredited under the relevant harmonised standard for ‘Conformity assessment – Requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services’, the reference of which has been published in the Official Journal of the European Union;
e
they have the expertise, equipment and infrastructure required to carry out control tasks, and have a sufficient number of suitable qualified and experienced staff; and
f
they meet any additional criteria that may be laid down in a delegated act adopted pursuant to paragraph 7.
3
The accreditation referred to in point (d) of paragraph 2 may only be granted by:
a
a national accreditation body in the Union in accordance with Regulation (EC) No 765/2008; or
b
an accreditation body outside the Union that is a signatory of a multilateral recognition arrangement under the auspices of the International Accreditation Forum.
4
Control authorities and control bodies shall submit a request for recognition to the Commission. Such request shall consist of a technical dossier containing all information that is necessary to ensure that the criteria set out in paragraph 2 are met.
The control authorities shall provide the latest assessment report issued by the competent authority, and the control bodies shall provide the accreditation certificate issued by the accreditation body. Where appropriate, control authorities or control bodies shall also provide latest reports on the regular on-the-spot evaluation, surveillance and multiannual re-assessment of their activities.
5
Based on the information referred to under paragraph 4 and on any other relevant information relating to the control authority or control body, the Commission shall ensure appropriate supervision of the recognised control authorities and control bodies by regularly reviewing their performance and recognition. For the purposes of that supervision, the Commission may request additional information from the accreditation bodies or the competent authorities, as appropriate.
6
The nature of the supervision referred to in paragraph 5 shall be determined on the basis of an assessment of the likelihood of non-compliance, taking into account, in particular, the activity of the control authority or control body, the type of products and operators under its control and the changes in the production rules and control measures.
The recognition of control authorities or of control bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall in particular be withdrawn without delay, in accordance with the procedure referred to in that paragraph, where serious or repetitive infringements as regards the certification or the controls and actions laid down in accordance with paragraph 8 have been detected and where the control authority or control body concerned has failed to take appropriate and timely remedial action in reaction to a request by the Commission within a period determined by the Commission. Such period shall be determined in accordance with the severity of the problem and in general shall not be less than 30 days.
7
The Commission is empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 54:
a
amending paragraph 2 of this Article by adding further criteria to those laid down therein for the recognition of the control authorities and control bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article and for the withdrawal of such recognition, or by amending those added criteria;
b
supplementing this Regulation as regards:
- (i)
the exercise of the supervision of the control authorities and control bodies recognised by the Commission in accordance with paragraph 1, including on-the-spot examinations; and
- (ii)
the controls and other actions to be performed by those control authorities and control bodies.
8
The Commission may adopt implementing acts to ensure the application of the measures to be taken in relation to cases of suspected or established non-compliance, in particular those affecting the integrity of organic or in-conversion products imported under the recognition provided for in this Article. Such measures may consist in particular in the verification of the integrity of organic or in-conversion products before placing the products on the market within the Union and, where appropriate, in the suspension of the authorisation for the placing on the market of such products within the Union as organic products or in-conversion products.
Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 55(2).
9
On duly justified imperative grounds of urgency relating to unfair practices or practices which are incompatible with the principles and rules on organic production, the protection of consumers’ confidence or the protection of fair competition between operators, the Commission shall adopt immediately applicable implementing acts in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 55(3) to take the measures referred to in paragraph 8 of this Article or to decide on the withdrawal of the recognition of the control authorities and control bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article.