INPUTS
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Fertilizers, biostimulants, corroborants, phytosanitary products and all the remaining inputs used in organic farming must meet the requirements and criteria of use provided for by the legislation in force in the countries of use as well as the destination of the final product.
The European legislation, while defining the lists of active ingredients and substances allowed and the specific conditions of use (EU Reg. 1165/2021), excludes the manufacturers of fertilizers and plant protection products from the control and certification obligations.
The control bodies can, however, activate voluntary certification systems in order to support organic operators in the choice of compliant inputs.
The NOP regulation with its National List, in force in the United States, provides specific requirements and conditions that impose to control bodies authorized by the USDA to investigate and assess compliance throughout the entire production process of the inputs used by the farmer. For the purposes of the investigation, operators and control bodies are often forced to request information and insights from the companies that produce or market the inputs in question.
This leads to difficulties for input producers in proposing their products to a broad spectrum of organic farmers and for organic farmers to recognize whether a product can be used in organic farming according to a particular organic standard.
For these reasons Bioagricert, through a dedicated control and certification program, has been verifying and certifying the suitability of inputs such as “suitable for use in organic farming” for several years. The judgment is expressed in relation to compliance with the main standards (BIO EU, NOP and JAS).
The outcome of the input evaluation and the certifications issued are published on Bioagricert website.
All operators can, therefore, consult BAC INPUTS REGISTER as a useful guide for choosing the products to be used.
Once the producer/ seller has obtained the certification, he can put “Bioagricert Input” logo on the labels, technical data sheets, brochures and other communication material.
“Bioagricert – Input” standard guarantees the production of inputs suitable for organic farming in compliance with the main international standards and takes into consideration the following critical elements: soil and water contamination, the risk of any imbalances in nutritional values for the crops where their use is foreseen, the risk to human and animal health, the depletion of natural resources for their production.
The standard and the control procedures are based on the “principle of prevention and caution”: when an activity of production of the same input involves risks for human and animal health, or for the environment, adequate preventive measures must be taken in relation to specific risks.
Companies wishing to apply for this type of certification are required to submit to Bioagricert the technical documents necessary to understand the type, composition of the products and the correct regulatory framework.
A prerequisite for issuing the certification is obviously compliance with the requirements of the sector regulations and any registrations required by law in relation to the type of products.
The certification system provides, after an initial documentary assessment, also audits at the production plants considered critical for the purposes of compliance with the standard.
The issue of the certificate is followed by annual surveillance through periodic inspections aimed at confirming the maintenance of compliance conditions.
Only for the assessment of conformity to the NOP/ USDA regulation it is possible to request the documentary assessment. In this case, however, it is not possible to use Bioagricert Input logo and/ or make any reference to the certification on the label, technical data sheets and other communication material.