UgoCert Applies for European Commission Approval to Use East African Organic Standard

UgoCert in Uganda is among the first 30 certification bodies approved to work in equivalence with the EU Organic Regulation (see related article in this issue).  UgoCert’s application to the Commission was made two years ago with the scope of a standard that is more-or-less a proxy for the organic production standards in the EU Regulation.  Now UgoCert has taken a major step to assist the recognition by the Commission of the East African Organic Production Standard (EAOPS), a harmonized and regionally appropriate standard developed by five East African Countries and adopted by the intergovernmental organization, the East African Community in 2007.  On 31 October, UgoCert submitted another application to the European Commission to add to its approval scope the EAOPS.  This was done after GOMA representatives determined in communication with the European Commission that it is possible for the same certification body to be approved for certification according to several equivalent standards. It is thus possible for those approved in the first round to submit a renewed application with the EAOPS as the scope. Evidence of equivalence of the EAOPS, which was prepared by the International Organic Accreditation Service included a traditional side-by-side equivalence analysis and also an assessment of EAOPS to GOMA’s equivalence tool, Common Objectives and Requirements for Organic Standards (COROS).  Submitting the COROS assessment will enable GOMA and the Commission to have more communication on the potential of this Tool to assist the Commission to streamline and internationally standards its equivalence assessment process in the future.  Although the CB applications for equivalence have moved quite slowly through the process, it is hoped that a supplemental application such as UgoCert’s could enjoy a shorter review and be decided in 2012.  GOMA is exploring with other CBs working in East Africa, the possibility to apply for this expanded scope.