The Committee of Ecological Agriculture of the Valencian Community (CAECV) has obtained the approval of the National Accreditation Entity (ENAC) to be able to certify based on the New Regulation of Ecological Production, which entered into force on January 1, 2022.
Since that date, the certification bodies must carry out their audits in accordance with the new Regulation, but accredited certificates can only be issued with respect to the new regulation if they have been satisfactorily evaluated by ENAC and its technical accreditation annex reflects this.
In this sense, and in view of the documentation and procedures presented by the CAECV adapted to the new regulations, ENAC has agreed to expand the scope of accreditation (97 / C-PR135) for the certification of organic production in accordance with the Regulation (EU) 2018/848 in the terms set out in the technical annex.
Great effort to continue being a benchmark in public certification
“During the last months, the CAECV has worked intensely to be able to adapt to the new Organic Production Regulations and that its more than 4,000 certified operators can have the peace of mind of having a control authority prepared for the processing of certificates and documents that they require, based on the new requirements that must be met from the beginning of 2022 ”, explained the president of CAECV, Vicente Faro.
The CAECV has worked and will continue to work so that the change in the rule entails the least possible inconvenience, putting in value the public certification and guaranteeing professionalism, trust and the guarantee in the control and the official certification issued.
Faro has wanted to record that “in order to fine-tune the control and certification structure, the participation of CAECV in other organizations such as INTERECO at the national level, an entity that groups together all public certification entities, or the European Council of Ecological Certifiers (EOCC) at the European level, from where observations have been shared, reports and consultations have been made and actively participated ”.
CAECV has also had the close collaboration of the General Directorate of Rural Development and its Ecological Production Service, of the Department of Agriculture, Rural Development, Climate Emergency and Ecological Transition, who as competent authority has participated in the process in collaboration in a harmonized way with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food.
New legislation on organic farming
The new legislation on organic farming, which entered into force on January 1, 2022, aims to reflect the evolution of the sector to its rapid growth, guaranteeing fair competition for operators and, at the same time, avoid fraud and maintain the consumer confidence.
Among its main novelties, the new Regulation 2018/848 aims to simplify production standards thanks to the progressive elimination of a series of exceptions and exclusions and to reinforce the control system through stricter preventive measures and rigorous controls throughout the entire chain.
From now on, new products will be certified, among which salt, cork, beeswax, mate, vine leaves and palm hearts stand out, and new production standards for deer and rabbits will be incorporated.
The new Regulation also calls for certification to be easier for small farmers thanks to a new group certification system.