Organic Certification in India

We find lots of Organic products and its labelled differently with every brand. So, Its important to know about Organic certification and labelling.

Certification is a process which every farmer, seed supplier or any business directly associated with food production is supposed to get.

The general principles and special requirements vary from country to country.  Every country has a set of standards for growing, processing, storage, packaging and shipping. Only when these standards are met, the products are labelled "ORGANIC"

Some production standards of Organic which are to be met if grown or imported from other countries are:

• Prohibited from constant use of artificial fertilizers and any human sludge fertilizer on cultivation of plant/ animal . 
• Usage of only farmlands which is nutritious rich soil that is free from harmful fertilizer.
• No growth hormones or antibiotics should be given to the animals.
• Synthetic pesticides and radiation must strictly be not practised. 

Thus, According to Organic Certification " Organic Food is produced without using harmful pesticides, fertilizer made with artificial synthetics or human sludge, no usage of growth hormones" 

How is the farmlands certified?

A government approved body/ person inspects the farm where the food is grown to ensure that the farmer adheres to the organic standards for cultivating and processing foods. After which, the farm produce are certified ORGANIC. The companies that process the organic food produce also should follow the guidelines of ORGANIC CERTIFICATION before labelling and supplying to the supermarkets or wholesalers. 

Who certifies Organic foods in INDIA?

There are two accreditation systems for authorizing Certification and Inspection agencies for organic certification. APEDA ( Agriculture and processed food products export development authority) regulates the certification for organic agriculture as per National standards for Organic production. It is one of the APEDA function. The Government implemented program under this is NPOP which stands National Programme for Organic Production. And, National Accreditation Body (NAB) is the apex decision making body. 

NPOP was launched during 2001 under the Foreign Trade and Development Act (FTDR Act).
Scope of NPOP:

• Policies for development and certification of organic products
• national standards for organic products and processes 
• Accreditation of programmes to be operated by Inspection and Certification Agencies
• Certification of organic products

NPOP standards must be followed to be certified as Organic Food in India.The NPOP standards are recognized by European commission, Switzerland and USDA as equivalent to their country standards. So, with these regulations the certified Indian organic products are able to be imported to other countries. 

LIST OF ACCREDITED CERTIFICATION BODIES UNDER NPOP

1.      Bureau Veritas Certification India Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai

2.      ECOCERT India Pvt. Ltd., Aurangabad

3.      IMO Control Pvt. Ltd.

4.      Indian Organic Certification Agency

5.      Lacon Quality Certification Pvt. Ltd., Thiruvalla (Kerala)

6.      OneCert Asia Agri Certification (P) Ltd

7.      SGS India Pvt. Ltd.

8.      Control Union Certifications,Mumbai

9.      Uttarakhand State Organic Certification Agency(USOCA)

10.  APOF Organic Certification Agency

11.  Rajasthan Organic Certification Agency (ROCA)

12.  Vedic Organic Certification Agency

13.  ISCOP (Indian Society for Certification of Organic Products)

14.  Food Cert India Pvt. Ltd

15.  Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt. Ltd

16.  Chhattisgarh Certification Society, India (CGCERT), Raipur

17.  Tamil Nadu Organic Certification Department (TNOCD), Coimbatore