JONA Certification Program 2024
Version 10.3. 2024

This program is open to the public in principle and kept by JONA members, inspectors,
Certification officers and Standard Committee members.
Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association

Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association (JONA)
Takegashi Bldg. 3rd Fl., 3-5-3 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan
Tel: (+81)-3-3538-1851, Fax: (+81)-3-3538-1852
E-mail: jonacontact@jona-japan.org
JONA has copyright of JONA Certification Program 2022

Preface
Policy of certification activities and purpose of this program
JONA, active basically in Japan, but wherever it is needed in the world, is a nonprofit
organization which is aimed at preventing and sustaining the ecosystem as a whole
including natural environment and the living condition of people.
One of the main activities of JONA is to establish the management system forcertification based on the international standard (ISO17065) as a third party to inspect andcertify an entire production chain (producing, processing, distribution, sales) of products
such as organic foods and GLOBALG.A.P.
JONA is convinced that these certification activities will lead to popularization of food andgoods safer for natural and social environment and further to conservation and preservationof the whole ecosystem, which is the mission of JONA.
JONA believes the certification must be achieved only by clarifying the three principles
stated as follows.
1. to establish the certification system as a third-party certification body capable of making
adequate inspections
2. to clarify procedures of certification process
3. to clarify the standards which applicants for certification shall have to follow
The following documents are documented to achieve the three principles respectively.
1. Statute of JONA
2. JONA Certification Program
3. JONA Organic Standards and other standards.
In essence, it is necessary for an applicant to demonstrate that their production and handlingare compliant with standards by application documents, actual production sites,
explanation at an on-site inspection, records and slips, and so forth. JONA evaluatescompliance of their application with the standards. JONA conducts the certification
operation in the fair, just and prompt manner. In order for JONA to conduct proper
evaluation, this Certification Program addresses structural requirements of JONA and“rules” with applicants on inspection and certification. It is necessary for an applicant tofully understand this Certification Program.
Procedures for revision of this program
Moreover, for revision (amendment, addition, and subtraction of clauses) of JONA
2

Certification Program, the Administration Office proposes in its communication letter adraft based on the proposals made by JONA members and past decisions by the
Certification Committee after approval by the Board. A thirty (30)-day period is given forthe members for question and answer by document. After a thirty (30)-day evaluation
period, the board decides the revised program. It is to be reported at the General Assembly.

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JONA Certification Program 2024
I. Definition

I. Definition of terms
Certification: To prove, through inspections, that an applicant maintains the
management system of its production to be in line with applicable management
standards of production.
JONA International Certification: Certification JONA conducts based on regulationsof international bodies and foreign governments such as IFOAM Accredited certification,
COR certification, EU certification, and GB Certification
JONA Original Certification: For JONA to prove, through inspections, that an
applicant has the management system of the production to be in line with JONA
Organic Standards. The details are prescribed in JONA Certification Program.
JAS Certification: To prove that an applicant is line with “Technical Criteria for
Production Process Management Director” and so forth. The scope of JAS certificationis organic agricultural products, organic processed foods, organic livestock, andorganic feed. The details are prescribed in JONA Certification Program.
JAS Law: A common name of “The Law Concerning Japan Agricultural Standards, etc.
(Law No.175 in 1950)”
COR Certification: Certification based on Canadian Organic Regime of Canada
EU Regulations: Regulations (EU) 2018/848 and other related acts listed on thefollowing website of the European Commission
https://agriculture.ec.europa.eu/farming/organic-farming/legislation_en
Before the recognition as a control body under the same Regulations, it refers to EC
834/2007 and other related acts that JONA will apply for under the transitional period.
EU Certification: Certification to EU Regulations
Swiss Certification: Certification based on Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance.
GB Certification: Certification based on The Organic Products Regulations 2009
Production Process Management Director (P.P.M.D.): A controlling body of
production of organic agricultural product, organic agricultural feed, organic processed
food, organic livestock and/or organic aquatic products (including organic algae).
Processor: A controlling body of manufacturing products outside the scope of organic
JAS.
Re-Packer: A body to sub-divides and/or repacks organic agricultural products, organic
agricultural feed, organic livestock, organic aquatic products (including organic algae)
and/or organic processed food.
Importer: A body to attach organic JAS marks on the products (organic agricultural
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JONA Certification Program 2024
I. Definition

product and organic agricultural processed food) certified in the country or regions that
the Japanese government evaluates as having as equivalent labeling regulations asJapan, based on a certificate of the body that the Minister of Agriculture, Fishery, andForestry designates.
Cosmetics Marketing Authorization Holder: A controlling body of manufacturing
and/or distributing organic cosmetic products
Food Handler and Warehouse/Transporter: Categories certified for JONA IFOAM
Certification, JONA Original Certification and EU Certification according to JONA
Certification Program. These can be certified according to COR Certification.
Inspector: A qualified person who makes an on-site inspection (by visiting sites and/or
remotely) for organic certification and/or certification of JAS with Production Information.
Qualification, works, and so forth of an inspector are prescribed separately in JONA
Organic Inspection & Certification Manual.
Certification officer: A qualified person to make a certification decision to report it to
the Chairperson.
Qualified person: A person who is qualified to evaluate operators by JONA Organic
Inspection & Certification Manual.
Split Production: A production where organic and non-organic productions are done
by a certain operator (e.g. organic tomato and conventional cabbage)
Parallel Production: A type of split production where the same products produced inorganic and non-organic productions (e.g. organic non-glutinous rice and conventional
non-glutinous rice)
IFOAM (International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movement): A worldwide,
private organization, established in 1972, that promotes organic movements.
IOAS (International Organic Accreditation Service): The international organization
that, under contract with IFOAM or evaluation by foreign government agency, audits
whether a certification body is capable of doing appropriate certification business. IOAS
mainly audits certification bodies.
IACB (International Accredited Certification Body): A certification body accredited
by IOAS.
FAMIC (Food and Agricultural Materials Inspection Center): independent administrative
institution that conducts inspection, analysis and monitor labeling related to safety offood chain. In the area of organic certification, it conducts audits of certification bodies
and certified operators as requested from MAFF under JAS Law.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
II. Organization

II. Organization
1, Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association (JONA)
1.1

JONA

The organization is named as Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association,abbreviated as “JONA”. It was established in 1993 to implement organic certification.
It is located at, 3-5-3 Kyobashi, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Japan. It is registered as a non-profit
organization since 1999 at the Metropolitan Government of Tokyo. It has been
operating as an organic registered certification body since organic JAS regulation
became implemented in 2000. It obtained IFOAM-accreditation in 2002 and was
registered as a certification body for COR in 2009 and EU certifications in d 2011.
1.2

Purposes

The purpose of JONA is to prevent environmental contamination caused by agricultural,
forestry, and fishery production, distribution, food manufacturing and to maintain andimprove the living condition of people and ecosystem by providing the certification
services and promoting proper labeling of the products.
1.3

Field of the non-profit activities.

JONA conducts the under-mentioned activities to achieve its purposes stated abovea)Conservation of environmentb)International cooperationc)Assisting the organizations involved in such activities as a) & b)

1.4

Category of the activities

JONA operates the following non-profit activities to achieve its purpose of 1.2.
a)inspecting and certifying the process of and /or handling of organic

agricultural, livestock and aquatic products and those processed foodb)inspecting and certifying the process of and /or handling of agricultural andaquatic products other than organic products, and its proper labelingc)providing information, educating, outreaching by having seminars, andother services about environmental issues, organic agriculture, organic aquaculture,organic processed products and other products.
d)1.5

conducting other activities to accomplish its purpose
Office hours

The office hours of JONA is 9:00 – 17:30 (including an one-hour break) except Saturday,
Sunday and public holidays. The details of rules for working for the hours other than
the above are prescribed in the rules of employment.

JONA office is closed on

Saturday, Sunday, public holidays and the Year-end and New Year holidays (from 29
December to 3 January in general).
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JONA Certification Program 2024
II. Organization

2 Organizational structure of JONA
2.1

Full member

A full member is an individual or an organization that joins JONA and supports its
purpose.
2.2

Associate member

An associate member is an individual or an organization, contracted with a full member,that joins JONA and supporting its purposes.
2.3

Supporting member

A supporting member is an individual or an organization that joins JONA to help its
activities.
2.4

Board

JONA full members elect board members, and board members execute managementof JONA. Their duty and terms and other details are prescribed in JONA Statuteseparately.
2.5 Chairperson
Chairperson, selected by board members, manages operations of JONA. In order tomanage operations appropriately, Chairperson is responsible for securing of resources,development of management policy, supervision of promotion and certification
activities, granting, maintenance, expansion, reduction, suspension and revocation ofcertification, contractual agreement, delegation of authority to committees or personnel,, and personnel competence requirements. Chairperson
2.6

Auditor

Auditors are elected by JONA full-members. Auditor supervises the Board and financial
situation of JONA. The auditor’s duty, terms and other details are stated in JONA
Statute.
2.7 Document reviewer
A document reviewer is a qualified person who chairperson executes document review
about Organic certification. He or she is appointed by the Chairperson. Theirqualification, duties, and other details are stated in JONA Organic Inspection andCertification Manual.
2.8

Inspector

An inspector is a qualified person who is appointed by the chairperson and executes
on-site inspections about Organic certification. Their qualification, duties, and otherdetails are stated in JONA Organic Inspection and Certification Manual.
2.9

Certification officer
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JONA Certification Program 2024
II. Organization

The Certification officer reviews the result of on-site inspection and makes a decisionof organic certification and sampling analysis. Their qualification and duties are statedin JONA Organic Inspection and Certification Manual. Some certification decision may
be made by the Certification Committee composed of certification officers.
2.10 Reinvestigation Committee
Reinvestigation Committee is called for reinvestigation when an appeal against JONA’scertification is made by an applicant or a certified operator according to JONA
Certification Program, VI-4. The detailed procedures are prescribed in Reinvestigation
Policy.
2.11 Dispute Settlement Committee
Dispute Settlement Committee is called for settling a dispute. When a JONA member
or a certified operator is called to appear at the settlement meeting in order to defend
his/her violation according to JONA Certification Program VI-6, the committee makes
its decision after hearing from the suspected person. The detailed procedures areprescribed in Dispute settlement manual.
2.12 Standard CommitteeStandard Committee drafts JONA Organic Standards. In addition, it makes decisions
on confirming of input materials, and residue testing as long as the issues are related
to interpretations of JONA Organic Standards. This Committee is formed by three (3)experts in organics, who are recommended by the Chairperson and appointed by the
Board. Th e detailed procedures are prescribe in Standard Committee operation
manual.
2.13

Impartiality Committee

Impartiality Committee evaluates the impartiality and transparency of the certification
processes at JONA. This committee consists of members who are academic experts,
representatives from the groups of consumers, environment, agriculture or foodindustry, certified operators, and so on. The Chairperson calls the committee ofpresence of at least three (3) members at least once a year. The detailed proceduresare prescribed by Impartiality Committee operation manual.
2.14 Administration Office
Administration Office manages JONA’s operations, which includes promotion andadministrative certification services. Employment and release of office personnel andstaff and the procedures to manage the Administration Office are prescribed in JONA
Statute and Working rules (separated)..
2.15

Office personnel

Office personnel is engaged in the work pertained to promotion and certification
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JONA Certification Program 2024
II. Organization

operation such as acceptance of application documents and issuance of certificates.
2.16

Secretary General

Secretary General controls financial, labor, and other general overall activities. He or
she is responsible for implementation of certification plans based on annual plan andmakes a statement in the Board In addition, he or she manages Impartiality Committee
and corresponds to the MAFF and external audit agencies.
2.17

General Manager

General Manager controls promotion and certification operation. He or she is
responsible and authorized to manage the overall progress of the project and theresources required for the work, and to advise the Board of Directors. In addition, heor she responds to management reviews.
2.18

Certification Manager

In order to maintain the standard of inspection and judgment work on a daily basis,
Certification Manager will maintain a collection of precedents, train and evaluate
inspectors and certification officers based on such precedents and interact withexternal organizations. In addition, he or she collects information and shared whenabnormal situations of certified operators are discovered. In addition, the committee
shall operate the Reassessment Committee, the Dispute Resolution Committee, andthe Standards Committee, and respond to external and internal audits.
2.19

Quality Manager

A person to maintain and control documents for the quality system. In addition, he or
she revises and makes corrective actions based on external and internal audits. .
2.20

International Certification Manager

A person in the Administration Office to control certification of the operators outside
Japan. His or her duties include exchanging information with overseas certification
bodies and evaluate their certification personnel. In case that irregularities of certified
operators occur, he or she will collect and share information.
2.21

Sub-manager

A person to assist managers of JONA.

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JONA Certification Program 2024
II. Organization

Organization Chart

General Assembly
the highest decision-making body
Full member - groups
Full member - individuals

AuditorImpartialitycommittee
Board of Directors
Certification
officers (seeseparate list)

Standard
committee

Re-evaluationcommittee(nonpermanent)

Inspectors(see separate
list)

OfficeDisputeSettlement
committee(nonpermanent)

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JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

III. Process of Certification Procedures
How to read Section III
Section III describes procedures of organic certification by JONA. The name of programin the right-hand side column indicates that a procedure applies only to the specificcertification program. If it is blank, it means that a procedure applies to all certification
programs. The certification programs in the right-hand side column are abbreviated as
below.
JAS＝Organic JAS Certification
ResJAS=JAS certification for restaurants that serve organic food
IFOAM＝JONA-IFOAM Certification
Org＝JONA Original Certification
COR＝COR Certification
EU＝EU Certification
Swiss = Swiss Certification
GB= GB Certification

1

Scope and objects for Organic JAS Certification
1.1

Scope of Certification

1.1.1 Type of products (including services)・ JONA’s JAS certification covers operations for “JAS organic plants”, “JASJAS

organic processed foods” (including organic alcohol beverages from Oct 1,2022), “JAS organic livestock products”, “JAS organic feed”, “JAS organic
algae”, which are regulated under JAS Regulations (hereafter “JAS Organic
Products”).
・ JONA non-organic JAS certification covers a service to “Management

ResJAS

methods of restaurants that serve organic food”.
・ JONA IFOAM Certification covers “organic plants”, “organic agricultural
products processed foods”, “organic alcoholic beverages (limited to the
products that are made from organic raw materials certified by an ACB
under IFOAM-Accredited Program)”.

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IFOAM

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

・ JONA Original Certification covers “organic livestock” (in line with JAS),

Org“organic feeds” (in line with JAS), “organic seed and seedling”, “organic
processed foods (excluding JAS organic agricultural products processed
foods)” (in line with JAS), “organic alcoholic beverages (limited to the
products whose raw materials are certified as organic JAS only)”, “organic
aquatic products”, “organic apiculture products”, “organic micro-algae
products”, “organic hydroponics cultural products”,“Organic Cosmetics” and“Organic Restaurants”.
・ JONA’s COR Certification, EU Certification, Swiss Certification and GB

COR

Certification covers “Organic Agricultural Products”, “Organic Feed and“Organic Processed Food” (including organic alcohol beverages).
・ EU Certification and Swiss Certification covers “Organic Agricultural

EU

Products”, “Organic Aquatic Products”, “Organic Feed (except Organic

Swiss

Processed Feed* under EU Certification)” and “Organic Processed Food”

GB(including organic alcohol beverages other than wine). After the recognition
as a control body under Reg 848/2016, Annex I of the same regulations will
be included in the scope. JONA excludes products containing less than 95%
of organic ingredients from the scope of EU Certification. *Organic
Processed Feed is defined as feed such as silage and compound fertilizer
solely processed for sales purpose.
1.1.2 Category・ Organic operators to be certified by JONA under organic JAS Regulations

JAS

are “Production Process Management Director (of agricultural products,
organic processed foods, and organic livestock)”, “Re-packer”, “Importer”
and “Overseas Labelling Operator”. Refer to JONA Certification Program
III- 3.1.1 for the details.
・ Operators to be certified by JONA under JAS regulations are “handler” of

ResJAS

management methods of restaurants that serve organic food”
・ Organic operators to be certified are “Production Process Management

IFOAM

Director”, “Processor”, “Re-packer”, “Cosmetics Marketing Authorization

Org

Holder”

EU

(only

for

cosmetics),“Food

handler”

and“Warehousing/Transporter”. Refer to JONA Certification Program III-3.1.1

Swiss

for the details.

GB・ Operators to be certified to COR certification are “Producer” and “Handler(processing)”, “Hanlder (repacking)”, and Handler (trading)”. Refer to JONA
Certification Program III-3.1.1 for the details.
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COR

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

1.2

Geographical areas for certification

・ Organic JAS certification, JAS certification, JONA-IFOAM certification, andJAS

JONA-Original certification cover all over Japan and foreign countries

IFOAM

where organic operators apply for certification.

Org

・ COR certification covers Japan, China, and Taiwan.

COR
EU,

・ EU certification,Swiss certification, and GB Certificationcover Japan, China,

Swiss

and Taiwan. EU certification for organic aquatic products is limited to Japan.

GB・ JONA can refuse the evaluation in case the area the production unit islocated has a danger that may be harm to the body and mentality of person
involved in evaluation.
1.3

Language accepted in certification process

The official language of JONA is Japanese. Applications written in English or
in Chinese are acceptable. Other languages should be translated. Refer to
JONA Certification Program III-5 for the costs of evaluation in non-Japanese
language.
1.4

Personnel engaged in evaluation for certification

1.4.1 A document reviewer shall satisfy the qualifications specified in JONA
Office Operation Manual.

Personnel involved in inspection andcertification decision shall satisfy the qualifications specified in JONA
Organic Inspection and Certification Manual.
1.4.2 Person who has conflict of interest with an applicant must not engage inthe evaluation process of the applicant.
1.4.3 The staff and board member of JONA, inspectors, certification officer andother committees must not give advice nor consultation to a potential
applicant for solving non-compliance for certification. This shall not apply
to explanation about certification in general.
2

Prior to submitting the application
2.1

Applicant13

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

2.1.1 Eligible applicant
・ An operator prescribed in JONA Certification Program III-1.1.2
・ A member of JONA, a sub-contracted operator who can manage on its own
production process, and an operator who is engaged in organic business
and wishes to get JAS organic certification. An applicant can be a nonmember of JONA.
・ An applicant who understands JAS regulation and/or the certification
scheme for certification, JAS Organic standards, Technical Criteria, JONA
Organic Standards, and JONA Certification Program.
・ An operator who does not fall under JONA Certification Program III-3.2.5
2.1.2 Qualification for an applicant

JAS
JAS

An applicant for organic JAS certification shall have a system to carry out
proper management of production, quality control and grading. At the sametime, qualification and the number of those who are engaged in production,
quality control and grading management shall meet the technical criteria.
All persons in charge of each assignment of work shall have completed a
JAS course that JONA designates before a certification decision is made,or preferably before submission of the application,
Persons in charge who must finish the JAS training course are:
1. for PPMD (both for production and processing operation): production
process manager, grading manager, and grading staff(s).
2. for Re-packer: Re-packing manager and labeling staff(s) for grading
3. for Importer: Acceptance/storage manager and labeling staff(s) for
grading
4. for Overseas Labeling Operator: Acceptance/storage manager andlabeling staff(s) for grading
2.1.3 Certification fee
・ Fees for organic certification of JONA is provided in III-5 of thisprogram.
・ In case of the consignment of operation, JONA charges a consignor
for the certification cost of the consignee.
・ The applicant who is a member of JONA, a part of certification fee iscovered by a membership fee.
・ The cost pertained to access to facilities, use of facilities and activities
such as transfer of goods to ensure execution of inspection shall beshouldered by an applicant.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

2.2

Provision of information

2.2.1 Provision of information to an applicant
JONA provides the summary of JONA Statute and this program, theinformation on the procedures and fees of application for certification andother information necessary for certification.
2.2.2 General explanation on organic regulations and certification system
JONA administration office will be open to explain certification proceduresin general and so forth prior to acceptance of the application. This is for
explaining the details of standards and certification processes but does notinclude advising and/or consultation for identifying and resolving noncompliance for certification. It also does not include consulting or advising
about certification decision.
2.3

Basic Agreement prior to Application

2.3.1 Basic agreement
All operators who apply to JONA for organic certification must agree on
Agreement on Certification of Organic Operation with JONA prior toapplication.
The agreement must be made between an operator who applies for an
organic certification to produce for a full member (i.e. associate member) andJONA.
In case an applicant applies for EU certification, COR certification, SwissEU

certification, GB cetification and/or JONA-IFOAM certification, a legal

Swisscorporation or individual must agree on Agreement on Certification ofGB

Organic Operation with JONA.

COR
IFOAM

2.3.2 Contents of basic agreements and how to make the agreement
Agreement on Certification of Organic Operation prescribes the rights andduties of certified operators, applicant and subcontractor, JONA’s obligation
for confidentiality, and other basic agreements. Both parties must sign andkeep this agreement.
An operator who applies for organic certification to produce for a full member(i.e.

associate member) and the full member must sign Declaration ofParties to Subcontracting Requirements to attach to their agreements with
JONA.
3

Certification Process
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JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Categories of applicants

3.1

3.1.1 Categories of operation
Applicants and certified operations are categorized into the following three
categories. An applicant should follow JONA’s instruction if necessary.
Production Process Management Director (P.P.M.D)⚫

JAS

An individual or an organization that operates the management system fororganic foods production. Three (3) technical criteria for certification are set
by type of operations.
P.P.M.D. of Organic Agricultural Products and Organic Feedsa)(Limited to those prepared or selected only): An individual, a farmer group, a
corporation, and an agricultural group that produce organic agricultural
products can be a PPMD of agricultural products and/or feed. A foreign
operator is called as a foreign P.P.M.D.
P.P.M.D of Organic Processed Foods and Organic Feedsb)(Excluding those prepared or selected only): A manufacturer who processes
theorganic

agricultural

products/feed

and/ororganic

processed

products/feed can be a P.P.M.D. for organic processed food and/or organic
feed. A foreign operator is called as a foreign PPMD. Refer to JONA
Certification Program I for terming this category as “processor” in JONA
Certification Program I.
P.P.M.D. of Organic Livestock: An operator who produces organicc)livestock products can be a P.P.M.D. of livestock. A foreign operator Foreignis called as a foreign P.P.M.D. A foreign operator is called as a foreign
P.P.M.D.
d)

P.P.M.D. of Organic Algae: An individual, a producer group, acooperation, or a group that produce organic agricultural products.
⚫ Repacker（Repacker of organic agricultural products, organic processed
food, organic processed food, organic feed, organic livestock products andorganic algae）：An operator who sub-divides, and/or re-packs organic raw
products, organic processed products, and organic processed food, andso forth. A foreign operator is called as a foreign repacker.
⚫ Importer（Importer of organic agricultural products and organic agriculturalprocessed food）：A certified importer can label JAS marks on organic
products (limited to the specified agricultural and forestry products. i.e.
organic agricultural products and organic agricultural processed food) by
verifying the certificate issued by a foreign government or semi16

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

governmental organization authorized by the government of the country(limited to those countries that the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and
Fisheries of Japan has the equivalency agreement with). A certified
importer may label JAS marks only on organic agricultural products ororganic agricultural products processed foods.
⚫

Handler: Restaurants that serve organic food

ResJAS⚫

Overseas Labeling Operator: An operator who labels organic marks ofJAS

the regulations that are recognized as equivalent to Organic JAS
regulations.
⚫ Production Process Management Director of Organic Agricultural

IFOAM

Products: A management body of an organization producing organic
agricultural products in line with JONA Organic Standards. A management
body includes a leader or a representative of a group, a farmer group, anda farmer corp.
⚫ Processor of Organic Agricultural Products Processed Foods ： A
manufacturer of organic foods (including organic processed alcohol)
processed from primary products and semi primary products in line with
JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Re-packer of Organic Foods: An operator to subdivide or repack productswith JONA IFOAM marks.
⚫ Food Handler of Organic Foods (excluding EU, Swiss, or GB): An operator
to retail, distribute, or import organic foods. Processing or repacking is notincluded in handling operations. Direct sales stores neighboring fields orplant facilities are not required to have food handler certification.
⚫ Warehousing/Transporter

of

Organic

Foods:

A

warehousingortransporting operator of organic foods. The operator must have re-packer
certification if s/he opens containers or packages of organic foods.
⚫ Production Process Management Director of Organic Livestock Products:
A management body of an operator producing organic livestock products
in line with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Production Process Management Director of Organic Aquatic Products: A
management body of an operator producing organic aquatic products inline with JONA Organic Standards,⚫ Production Process Management Director of Organic Crop Feeds: A
17

Org

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

management body of an operator producing organic crop feeds in line with
JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Processor of Organic Processed Foods (excluding organic agricultural
products processed foods and including organic alcohol beverages): A
manufacturer producing organic processed foods (excluding organic
agricultural products processed foods) in line with JONA OrganicStandards.
⚫ Processor of Organic processed feed：A manufacturer producing organic
processed feed in line with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Production Process Management Director of Organic Seed and Seedling:
A management body of an operator producing organic seed or seedling inline with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Repacker of Organic agricultural products, Organic Processed Foods(excluding organic agricultural products processed foods and includingorganic alcohol beverages), Organic Livestock Products, Organic Aquatic
Products, organic seed and seedling, and organic feed: An operator to
repack organic products with JONA Original Marks⚫

Food handler of Organic Foods: An operator to retail and distributeorganic agricultural products, organic aquatic products, organic
processed foods (excluding organic agricultural products processed
foods and including organic alcohol beverages), organic livestock
products, organic seed and seeand organic feeds with organic JAS
marks or JONA Original Marks. Processing or repacking is notincluded in handling operations.

⚫

Warehousing/transporter of Organic Foods: A warehousing ortransporting operator of organic agricultural products, organic
aquatic products, organic processed foods (excluding organic
agricultural products processed foods and including organic alcohol
beverages), organic livestock products, and organic feeds withorganic JAS marks or JONA original marks. The operator must haverepacker certification if s/he opens containers or packages of organic
foods.

⚫ Marketing Authorization Holder of Organic Cosmetics: A marketing
authorization holder of organic cosmetics with JONA Original Marks,
mainly distributor of organic cosmetics.
⚫ Processor of Organic Cosmetics: An operator that processes or repack
18

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Proceduresorganic cosmetics in line with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Operator of Organic restaurant certification: An operator that runs a
restaurant in line with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ Producer：An individual farmer, an agricultural company, a farmer group

COR

that produce organic agricultural products⚫ Handler (Processing)：An operator that process organic food from organic
agricultural products, organic livestock products, organic feed, and/ororganic processed food.
⚫ Handler (Repacker- Packing & Labeling ) ： An operator that repacks
organic agricultural products, organic livestock products, organic feed,
and/or organic processed food.
⚫ Handler（Trader – Packaging & Labeling）： An operator that does notopen organic food container but owns organic food (e.g. distributor).
⚫ Producer: A management body of an organization producing organicEUagricultural products in line with EU Certification Regulations. A Swiss
management body includes a leader or a representative of a group, afarmer group, and a farmer corp. This will include organic plant products
listed in Annex I of Regulations (EU) 2018/848.
⚫ Producer of Organic Aquatic Products: A management body of anorganization producing organic aquatic products in line with Regulations(EU) 2018/848 and other related acts.
⚫ Processor of Organic Processed Foods：A manufacturer of organic foods
processed from primary products and semi primary products in line with
Regulations (EU) 2018/848 and other related acts. This will include milling
processes of organic plants. This will include organic processed or foodlike products listed in Annex I of Regulations (EU) 2018/848.
⚫ Producer of organic bee wax: A management body of an organization
producing organic bee wax in line with Regulations (EU) 2018/848 andother related acts
⚫ Producer of Organic feeds: A management body of an organization
producing organic feeds in line with Regulations (EU) 2018/848 and otherrelated acts.
⚫ Re-packer of Organic Foods: An operator to subdivide or repack productsthat comply with Regulations (EU) 2018/848 and other related acts.
⚫ Food Handler of Organic Foods: An operator to retail, distribute, or importorganic foods. Processing or repacking is not included in handling
19

GB

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

operations. Direct sales stores neighboring fields or plant facilities are notrequired to have food handler certification.
⚫ Warehousing/Transporter

of

Organic

Foods:

A

warehousingortransporting operator of organic foods. The operator must have re-packer
certification if s/he opens containers or packages of organic foods.
⚫ JONA does not accept application for EU certification from a group of
operators defined in Article 36 of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.

3.1.2 Points for farmer group certification
It is a JONA's policy that JONA will certify an operator as a P.P.M.D. as long as it
keeps adequate internal control system and satisfies the requirements listed
below. In this case, P.P.M.D. should be registered as a legal person and can bea group of farmers or distributing enterprises.
・ The members of a group practice basically same production system.
・ The members jointly sell the products.
・ The size of the operation including the production method, ts facilities, andits use of inputs is manageable for the P.P.M.D.
・ The P.P.M.D. can continuously ensure the entire group members comply
with the Standards and follow their internal regulations by such ways as
visiting fields (in case of organic aquaculture, culturing site and collectionsite) (internal inspection) and checking records as often as necessary, atleast once year. This is verified by witness audit(s) by JONA at on-site
inspection.
・ The P.P.M.D. and its members (farmers) make agreements that ensurecompliance with organic standards and certification programs, productionthat meets their internal regulations, and cooperation with JONA’s
inspection and audit.
・ The P.P.M.D. of grower group, regardless of certification program, shallassign the managers to control production, described in 2.1.2, and theyshall complete adequate training by JONA.
・ It is desirable if the managers mentioned above do not have conflict ofJASinterest. Even if they do, they shall check compliance of farmers objectively.

COR

JONA shall check this objective check in their internal audit at on-siteEU

inspection.

Swiss
GB
20

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.1.3 Points for subcontracted farmer and processor
A certified P.P.M.D can sub-contract a part of its operation with an operator,
which is not certified on its own right. Where a certified P.P.M.D. includes a
sub-contractor in its certification, a certified P.P.M.D. and a certified processor
have to manage its sub-contracted operation as follows
・ The main P.P.M.D./processor has to check and assure the production
method and facilities of sub-contractor.
・ The main P.P.M.D./processor can instruct the sub-contractors about organic
operation (newly added sub-contracted producers and processors cannot
be included in certification of the P.P.M.D. until they are inspected andcertified by JONA)
・ The main P.P.M.D./processor periodically verifies that the subcontractors
operation is in line with JONA Standards and JONA Certification Program
・ The main P.P.M.D./processor has the sub-contractors keep records of its
operation
・ The main P.P.M.D./processor carries out auditing verification of organic
operation of the sub-contractor by inspecting manuals and records.
・ The main P.P.M.D/processor binds the sub-contracted parties not to market
the products.
・ The main P.P.M.D. shall take full responsibility for the sub-contracted
operation and be subject to sanctions in the event of non-compliance of thesubcontracted parties.
・ The main P.P.M.D. shall have a contract with subcontracted parties for thematters below:⚫

Sub-contracted parties shall comply with applicable standards⚫

Sub-contracted parties shall provide JONA and other bodies such as
IFOAM, IOAS, ISO audit agency with necessary information andaccept control visits to their facilities.

⚫

Sub-contracted parties shall own and understand the current version
of JONA Organic Standards, JONA Certification Program andapplicable standards.

3.2

Submitting application documents

21

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.2.1 Application documents⚫

Application for certification, Required Attachment and Statement ofApplicant’s Operation shall be submitted as instructed by JONA. Those
documents are termed as “Application Documents” hereafter. Applicants are
responsible for those documents by collecting all of the necessary
information.

⚫

When we receive an application from an operator that is certified or wascertified, we take their application as an initial certification and evaluate it
according to JONA Certification Program III 3.3 to 3.5. However, this does
not apply to “succession” of JAS Law.

3.2.2 Categories of certification
Applicants shall fill out application documents that responds to each certification
categories that they seek and send them to JONA office. Please refer to Chart 1
to 3, starting in the next page, for the details of certification categories andapplication documents.
3.2.3 Attachment of the agreement on sub-contract
In case that a sub-contracted operator is applied for certification, a document thatclarifies a subcontracting relationship must be submitted with its application
documents.
3.2.4 Submission of application documents
The applicant should submit the application to JONA Administrative Office. If any
required documents are missing or the contents of application is not filled in wellenough, the application cannot be processed for document review.
COR

22JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Chart 1：Organic certification category
JONA considers the same column in the chart below is the same certification category.
Overseas

Food

Food

)

Seal

Handler

Handler

RepackerLabeler(Trading(Warehouse)/(Overseas)(Overseas

ProducerorImporterProcesso

Transport-ration)
Organic

JAS

JAS

Plant

IFOAM

JAS

JAS

IFOAM

IFOAM

IFOAM

Original

Original

COR

Original

COR

COR

EU

Note 1

EU

EU

Swiss

COR

Swiss

Swiss

GB

EU

GB

GB

Organic

JAS

Swiss

Processe

IFOAM

GB

d

Original

Food

COR
EU
Swiss
GB

Organic

JAS

JAS

Organic

JAS

JAS

Not

Not

feed

EU Note 2

EU Note 2

applicabl

applicableeLivestock

Organic

JAS

JAS

Not

Not

Aquatic

Original

Original

applicabl

applicabl

Product

EU

EU

e

e

Swiss

Swiss

GB

GB

Note 1: Repacker of JONA Original Certification is applicable for organic processed food only.
Note 2: For EU Certification, Organic Processed Feed is excluded from the scope.

23

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Chart 2: Organic restaurant certification, Organic food identification for restaurants
TypeOperations

Category of JONA

Application

Certification

document

Organic

restaurants

An operator who runs organic restaurant,

Org: Organic restaurantorganic friendly restautantscertification

ApplicationforHandlerJAS:

Organic

identification

An operator who supplies organic dishes

restaurants

24

food restaurant
for

Form
organic

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.2.5 Reception by JONA Administration Office
JONA shall not refuse application except for the cases below.
JONA notify the reason of refusal to the applicant by letter.
a) the applicant who had violated JAS law, and it was executed inJASpunishment of the fine or imprisonment within the past one (1)year, orb) the applicant whose previous organic certification wascancelled within the past one (1) year, orc) the applicant that is organized by the person who was
responsible for cancellation of organic certification within thepast one (1) year, ord) the applicant who refuses to conclude “Agreement on
Certification of Organic Operation”e) the applicant who refuses to pay the fees related to certification
services, or has unpaid invoice for the fees of a previous year.
f)the applicant that has turned out to be anti-social party or an
operator that is related to it

・ When JONA receives an application, it shall check if the application(operator, address, contact, and products) is in the scope of JONA’scertification activities. When there is a shortage and/or unclarity inthe contents of application form, JONA contacts the applicant andconfirm that.
・ JONA issues an invoice for application fee immediately after JONA
office receives application documents.
・ A foreign applicant shall, in principle, apply for and be certified
according to its domestic organic regulations prior to its application
to JONA if the country where the applicant locates has an organic
legislation.
・ The manuals and procedures of JONA is written in Japanese.
JONA can deal with application from foreign applicants in English
and Chinese.
・ The detailed procedures for receiving application are prescribed in
JONA Office Operation Manual.
・ If an applicant has received a certification from other certification

EUbodies within one year, JONA shall obtain information on evaluation Swisscontents of the past. This shall include the most recent inspection
25

GBJONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

report in case of EU-equivalent certification and Letter of Good
Standing in case of COR.
3.3

Acceptance and document review

3.3.1 Acceptance・ An office staff after receiving the application documents makes sureif there is not insufficient material, data, report or an omission. He or
she may request additional information or documents, if needed.
When this confirmation by the office is over, application forcertification can be considered “accepted”.
・ An applicant may withdraw its application at any stage of evaluation.
However, JONA shall not return an application fee once JONA verify
all documents necessary are submitted.
・ If acceptance is not expected to be completed in six months,
Certification Manager decide cancellation of the evaluation and thechairperson informs the applicant of it by document.
・ The detailed procedures for acceptance are prescribed in JONA
Office Operation Manual.
3.3.2 Document Review
・ The Administration Office requests a qualified person as describedin III-1.4 (inspector, Certification officer or document reviewer) tocarry out document review of an application that has been accepted.
・ In a document review, a qualified person will review the application
documents without a delay whether it meets the requirements ofapplicable standards. Procedures of this review are prescribed in
Organic JAS operation manual for JONA office.
・ It will be decided whether an on-site inspection (physical inspection
and/or remote inspection) can be done and what more informationand evidence is necessary to identify during an inspection.
・ The office informs the applicant of a result of document review.
・ When the contents of application do not conform to the standards,
further procedure of inspection and certification is denied, and theoffice informs the applicant of the reasons.
・ If JONA finds that an applicant has intentionally written false
information on application, JONA has the right to stop the evaluation
or issue a certificate.
3.3.3 Reexamination of the document review
26

COR

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・ The applicant can object to a result of the first document review. An
objection can be raised in line with the procedures of appeals,prescribed in JONA Certification Program VI-4..
・ The inspector or certification officer who engaged in the first
document review cannot be assigned to make a certification
decision
3.3.4 evaluation of input

JAS・ JONA accepts the allowed substance list published at MAFF’s
website for an evaluation on conformity of some inputs that are
applied by a new applicant or certified operators.
3.3.5 Approval of derogations

EU・ (a) If an operator wishes that a derogation addressed in JONA

Swiss

Organic Standards be permitted, it shall apply to JONA in advance.

GB

A qualified person in the office shall evaluate its rationales indocument review (if necessary, on-site inspection). Its evaluation
result is reported to a C.C. member. If a derogation can be accepted,
JONA shall inform the period of approval and when the derogation
will be evaluated again. If not, reasons for the denial shall bepresented to the applicant.
・ (b) Retroactive recognition of the conversion period1.

If an operator wishes a previous period recognized as part ofthe conversion period of its land parcels, it shall apply to JONA
and submit the following documents:⚫

maps identifying clearly each land parcel covered by therequest for retroactive recognition and information on the
total surface of those land parcels and, if relevant, on thenature and the volume of the ongoing production and theirgeolocation coordinates;⚫

any other relevant documents deemed necessary by
JONA to assess the request for retroactive recognition..

2.

JONA shall carry out a detailed risk analysis based on
documentary evidence provided by the operator to assess
whether any land parcel concerned has been treated with nonauthorised products or substances to use in organic production
for a period of at least 3 years, taking into account in particular
the size of the total surface to which the request relates and27

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

the agronomic practices carried out during that period on eachland parcel. JONA shall keep documents on the risk analysis;
3.

JONA shall take samples on soil and/or plant from each landparcel in line with the results of the risk analysis, including
those land parcels identified as presenting the risk of being
contaminated;

4.

JONA shall carry out a physical inspection of the operator anddraw up an inspection report in English, including photographsof the parcels, for the purpose of verifying the consistency of
the information collected, but before any cultivation measures
have been taken by the operator.

5.

Based on the information provided by the operator and after
having completed the above step, JONA shall draw up a final
written report including a justification for the retroactive
recognition of conversion period, indication of the starting
period considered as organic for each land parcel and the total
surface of the land parcels benefiting from this retroactive
recognition of a period.

6.

JONA shall notify the accreditation body of the retroactive
recognition granted and submit the final report.

7.

The operator to whom JONA grants the retroactive recognition
shall keep documentary evidence relating to that recognition,
as well as documentary evidence on the use of the land parcels
covered by that recognition, for 3 years.

・ (c) Authorizations for the use of non-organic plant reproductive
material
1.

Before granting authorizations, JONA assesses the following
information and draw up a justification for each derogation
granted:⚫

scientific and common name (common and Latin name);⚫

variety;⚫

total weight of seeds or number of plants concerned;⚫

the availability of organic or in-conversion plant reproductive
material;⚫

documentation or a statement from the operator proving thatorganic or in-conversion plant reproductive material is not
28

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

available in sufficient quality or quantity to fulfil its needs,
2.

JONA shall include the relevant information of eachauthorization for the use of non-organic plant reproductive
material in an annual report to the EU Commission.

・ (d) Derogations as regards the use of non-organic aquaculture
juveniles
1.

Before granting authorizations, JONA assesses the following
information and draw up a justification for each derogation
granted:⚫

species and genus (common and Latin name);⚫

breeds and strains when applicable;⚫

life stage (such as eggs, fry, juveniles) as available for sale asorganic;⚫

quantity available as estimated by the operator;⚫

total number of juveniles;⚫

availability of the relevant organic aquaculture species;⚫

documentation or a statement from the operator proving thatorganic aquaculture juveniles are not available,

2.

JONA shall include the relevant information of each derogation
for the use of non-organic aquaculture juveniles in an annual
report to the EU Commission.

3.

Derogations as regards the use of non-organic aquaculture
juveniles may be granted for a maximum period of two years
and shall not be renewable.

(e) Reporting on provisional authorization for the use of non-organic
agricultural ingredients for processed organic food
1.

JONA shall immediately notify the Commission, the Member
States, accreditation bodies and other control authorities andcontrol bodies of any provisional authorization granted for theuse of non-organic agricultural ingredients for processedorganic food include the justification, presented in the
dedicated form made available by the Commission,・ (f) In catastrophic circumstances
1. For the purposes of the exceptional production rules, JONA
recognize a situation deriving from an ‘adverse climatic event’,‘animal diseases’, an ‘environmental incident’, a ‘natural
29

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

disaster’ or a ‘catastrophic event’, as well as any comparable
situation, as catastrophic circumstances based on a statement
issued by the relevant authorities of the area in which thesituation occurs, or data provided by official organizations.
2. JONA may, upon request from the affected operators, grant therelevant derogations with the following conditions:-for a limited period necessary, and in no case longer than 12
months, to continue or recommence organic production as
carried out before the date of application of thosederogations; and-in relation to specifically affected types of production or,
where relevant, land parcels

3. JONA shall immediately notify its accreditation body of the
derogations via the OFIS indicating the name of the operator(s)concerned, the time period for the derogation, the type of
production or, where relevant, land parcels, the justification forthe derogation and include the information on which therecognition is based.
3.4

On-site inspection (physical or remote)

3.4.1 Planning an inspection
・ JONA decides assignment of an inspector, inspection schedule, andfrequency of inspections.
・ Refer to JONA Inspection Manual and Agreement between
Inspector and JONA about qualifications of an inspector, inspection
procedures, inspection report, confidentiality, manual for settlementof dispute, and so forth during on-site inspection.
・ On-site inspection shall be done at least once a year for all
operators. (However, the frequency of inspections may exceed one
year according to JONA Certification Program III-3.7.3.)
・ On-site inspection, including that of subcontracted operation, shallbe conducted at least once a year
3.4.2 Schedule of an inspection
・The inspection is carried out in general in the period described below.
•

P.P.M.D. for organic agricultural products, organic feed andorganic aquatic products: the30

seasonfor sowing or

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedurestransplanting, season when damage by disease and/or insects
happens frequently, harvesting season, and the season of
shipment.
•

Processor: when the raw materials are received, at the busy
time of processing, or shipment or storing.

•Re-packer: when the raw materials are received, when it
operates the subdividing, when it ships the products, or when
it stores the products.

•

Importer: when the raw materials are received, at the port orstored at the warehouse near to the custom house or port, atthe time of shipment from the port or at the importer’s
warehouse.

・An inspection of processor of organic processed food shall be

COR

conducted during processing of organic food in case that non-organic
food is handled in the same facility. However, in case that it is not
feasible, an inspection could be conducted while organic processing is
not in place up to two consecutive years but not to three consecutive
years.
・For bivalve mollusk production of organic aquaculture, an inspection EU
shall be carried out during maximum biomass production.

Swiss
GB

3.4.3 Assigning the inspector
・JONA selects an inspector from the list of the qualified inspectors,
following the JONA Organic Inspection & Certification Manual.
・The JONA office shall consider possibility of assigning multiple
inspectors if an inspection would take one inspector more than threedays to inspect. If multiple inspectors are assigned for one inspection,
JONA office shall designate the chief inspector. In that case, allowancefor chief inspector in JONA Certification Program III-5 shall will apply.
・The administration office sends inspection instructions about theoutline of the application to an assigned inspector.
・If an assigned inspector finds any conflict of interest with the applicant
on inspection instructions, the inspector shall excuse him/herself fromthe assignment.
・The contract for an inspection comes into effect when the inspector
receives the instructions.
31

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

・Guidelines for selecting an inspector is as follow•

The inspector shall satisfy the qualifications provided in JONA
Organic Inspection & Certification Manual.

•

Any inspector should not inspect the same operator for morethan three last successive years. Another inspector should be
assigned for the fourth year.

•

The inspector shall have professional knowledge andexperience about the types of products the operator produces
and/or handles

・An applicant in principle cannot reject an inspector assigned by JONA.
In case reasons for a clear and understandable objection are
submitted in a proper way, JONA assigns another inspector by thefollowing rule:
Procedure as an exemption to the afore-mentioned basic rulea) The applicant submits to JONA a written paper to clarify
the reasons for the objection.
b) JONA decides whether the objection is acceptable bychecking the past records or hearing from the inspector
about the applicant’s claim.
c) The following claims will be taken into consideration for
assigning another inspector.
Ex.
1. The inspector did not know nor study basic knowledgeof the relevant production or processing at the time of
the last inspection. JONA shall review if his/hercompetence and knowledge has been improved.
2. The inspector was not punctual. The inspector spent
unreasonably too much time for inspection. JONA shallmake sure of his/her punctuality and efficiency of work.
3. The inspector had inspected another company in thethe same industry with applicant before. If the applicant
feels strongly uneasy for confidentiality, it should betaken into consideration. JONA checks whether theapplicant’s know-how is true and worthwhile.
・If an applicant has consulted the inspector for getting certification by adifferent certification body, the following procedures must be taken to32

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

avoid conflict of interest. The inspector who has engaged or engages
in consultancy business may not declare conflict of interest to JONA
due to the contract of confidentiality with that other organization andapplicant. Therefore, this fact which JONA has not been notified ofwould be revealed as information from the applicant after notificationof the inspector by JONA. If the information is submitted to JONA,
JONA, after confirming this fact, will notify the assigned inspector ofcancellation of inspection on the relevant applicant.
・In case that an inspector withheld information on interests including
consultancy and relationship by blood and marriage and this fact was
revealed so after certification, JONA shall promptly inspect and makea certification decision again.
3.4.4 Preparation for an inspection・After the inspector received inspection instructions, JONA shallprovide all information needed for the inspection.
・The detailed schedule such as inspection date should be decided
between the inspector and the operator.
・At least seven (7) days prior to the inspection date, the inspector shallinform the applicant and JONA by sending Inspection Plan (prescribedin Organic Inspection Manual) about the date and time of inspection,
persons who should be interviewed and preparation of applicant’s
documents, records, and points for inspection.
・An inspector reviews the application documents. If it is an annual
inspection, the inspector should be prepared for checking thecomments from the previous inspection, which are important.

33

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.4.5 On-site inspection (physical and/or remote)・An inspector carries out on-site inspection according to the proceduresprescribed in JONA Office Operation Manual and Organic Inspection
and Certification Manual.
・A remote inspection can be conducted if JONA evaluates theinspection is as effective as a physical inspection from findings from aprevious inspection or the conditions for remote connections are goodenough. The detailed procedures are prescribed in Remote Inspection
procedures. It will be taken into account whether an applicant can
accept it. The initial inspection shall be conducted physically. However,remote inspection shall be conducted in unavoidable cases forinspections in two consecutive years at the maximum. Remote
inspections in three consecutive inspections shall not be allowed inprinciple.
However, the COR inspection of the 1st year shall be conducted onsite.
・An inspector shall have an opening meeting and notify them of an
objective,

scope,

applicablestandards,

inspection

schedule,

confidentiality policy and other issues necessary. In case of COR
certification, a presentative shall have to be present at the opening
meeting.
・At the on-site (at a farm, at a factory, and at other facilities) inspection,
the inspector checks whether the information from submitted
documents, contents by observation and interviews meet JAS
regulation, JAS Organic standards, JONA Organic Standards, and thetechnical criteria and identify compliances and non-compliances.
・If a group of P.P.M.D. of organic plant or organic feed is controlled or
grasped by Production Process Manager appropriately, JONA may beable to inspect some of the parcels and facilities related to them (morethan the higher number of 10 or square root of the total number ofparcels) identified from the risks (neighboring conditions, product,
inputs, production methods, non-compliances raised in the past, yearsof certification of a member, and so on.)Controlling and grasping appropriately will meet the following
conditions.
1.

Production Manager or personnel who completed a course
34

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

designated by JONA on controlling and grasping production
process of organic plant or feed visits all parcels and facilities
periodically (at lease once a year) and confirms control ofproduction process (parcels and facilities for confirmation are
directly controlled by a member) and Production Manager grasps
its result.
2.

If a non-compliance is raised in 1, appropriate measure are taken.

3.

The groups keeps records on 1&2.

4.

Procedures on 1 to 3 are documented.

・An inspector interviews about their problems and policies for thesolutions.
・When a split production takes place, the operator should well keep
records on separate handling of organic products and non-organic
products through crop production, processing, storage, and shipment
due to higher risk of contamination. The inspector shall verify whetherorganic products and non-organic products are well separately
handled and its risk is well understood throughout all levels of theorganization.
・When a parallel production takes place, the following points will beespecially inspected due to much higher risk of contamination and comingling.
1. Organic products and non-organic products are visually
distinguished.
2. An accurate estimated amount of production is recorded
and shall be checked against the shipment records.
3. Non-organic farms, post-harvest processing facility, andstorage
・At the closing meeting, the inspector must present his/her
observations on compliance with JAS Law, Organic JAS Standards,
JONA Standards, and Technical Criteria and other applicablestandards, and classify non-compliances into major (in case of EU
certification under Reg. 2018/848, critical non-compliance shall beidentified among them) , minor and observations and let the operator
have a chance to question about the notified non-compliances, andthen the inspector must receive operator’s signature on the inspector’s
exit report which includes the inspector’s observation and the35

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

operator’s comments.
・The applicant responds in their comments to the observations raisedat the closing meeting by presenting a plan of corrective actions andthe date of its completion.
・The standard deadline for the response to the observations are within
7 days to complete and report in case of major non-conformity after
the inspection and in case of minor non-conformity to report within 12days after the inspection and completion of them can be decided by
the nature of non-compliance (in case of COR, within 90 days). The
applicant responds to recommendation within the period they can.
・An inspector confirms contents of the inspection check sheet verballywith the applicant. Both parties must sign and stamp on inspector’scomments of the inspection check sheet. The operator should keep a
photocopy of the signed comments and, at the same time, theinspector shall send a copy of the comments to JONA. If a major noncompliance is found, office staff shall immediately informs thechairperson.
・An inspector must not give guidance for certification to an operator.
JONA regards such guidance as conflicts of interest. In case conflictof interest is found out, the re-inspection is made by another inspector.
・In case that the contents of the application are included in the scopeof other operation already certified by JONA or the contracted CBs, theon-site inspection can be partially or fully omitted based on the
document review by using the inspection report and the information on
certification of the other operation.

In case that the inspection isomitted, the reason shall be specified in the result of the document
review.

JONA explains the reason upon request of the operator.

The inspection report and the information on certification can be usedwithin a year since it was made.
・In case of wild harvest, an inspector shall check documents, interview

IFOAM

with the collectors or a representative sample, visit to an appropriate
proportion of the certified area, visit to and interview with anappropriate proportion of middlemen, and gather relevant information
about the area of collection from interviews of landowners and otherparties (environment agencies, NGOs, etc.).
・Where an operator of aquaculture animal production has both organic
36

EU

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

and non-organic units, non-organic unit shall also be inspected.

Swiss
GB

3.4.6 Procedures after inspection
・An inspector submits an inspection report within fourteen (14) days
from the on-site inspection.
・An “inspection report” includes 1. inspection report, 2. inspection
memo,

3.

attachments andphotographs/pictures,

which

are

supporting documents.
⚫

1. The inspector should use inspection report provided by
JONA⚫ 2. Attached documents are evidences to support the inspection
findings⚫ It is recommended to attach photographs/pictures.
・An inspector may ask the operator to submit additional documents,
which are not available or inadequate at the time of inspection.
・An inspector includes all the information necessary for certification in
an inspection report.
・When an inspection report arrives, a qualified person of the office(meaning inspector, certification officer, and document reviewer
hereafter) checks the closing meeting report given at the on-site
inspection.
・If necessary, the qualified person can ask the operator to makecorrective actions to the condition before certification process. Whenthe operator responds to the request for corrective actions, thequalified person forward them to certification officer. The certification
officer decides the necessity of re-inspection to verify corrective
actions.
3.4.7 Plural inspections within a year
・Where the inspection is not carried out in the period indicated in III3.4.2 of this program, additional inspection is carried out depending on
the risk. In this case, the scope of inspection can be limited to a partof operation.
・JONA sees that the operation has a potential risk if the operation falls
into the following conditions:⚫

P.P.M.D. group is organized with more than thirty (30)
farmers
37

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

P.P.M.D., processor, and/or repacker who produce,⚫

process, or handle and grade a lot of items
P.P.M.D. who also produces conventional crop (especially⚫

in parallel production)
Processor,⚫

Repacker

andImporterwhofrequently

purchase ingredients.
An operator who was questioned about their operations in⚫

the past
Warehouse or Transportation operator who frequently⚫

receives and ships out the products
P.P.M.D. (Producer and Processor) who produce or⚫

process the products in which people hold a keen interest⚫ Operation where non-compliances were found at previous
inspection⚫ Operation who received complaints
・JONA shall test soil and chemical residue and/or conduct an additional
inspection based on what factors the operator falls into or the numberof factors.
⚫ JONA shall test product or soil if contamination risk is high
⚫ JONA shall conduct an additional inspection if production
system has risk. The additional inspection is conducted with orwithout prior announcement.
・Certification officer does the comprehensive assessment on a level ofthe risk, and Certification Manager selects the operations with highrisk. Based on the above evaluation, JONA can make on-site
inspections to the same operation more than once within a year. In thiscase, JONA shall not bill application fee but inspection fee according
to JONA Certification Program III-5.
・For EU equivalent program, under No.2018/848, JONA shall make a EU
list of high-risk products based on major, critical or repeating non- Swisscompliances and affecting organic integrity of the products and makeadditional inspections. One of the additional inspection shall be done
unannounced.
・JONA shall carry out additional inspection for 10% of all certified
operators.

38

GB

JONA Certification Program 2024
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3.4.8 Subcontracting inspection to the bodies inside and outside Japan
・JONA may entrust all or some part of evaluation processes, including
on-site inspection, by contracting with a certification body (CB). The
contracted certification body shall meet the conditions as follow
1.

They must be a body accredited under ISO17065 or a bodyconfirmed its conformity to ISO17065 (for the programs otherthan EU). The latter assessment on conformity with ISO 17965
may refer to the registration with MAFF of Japan as aregistered organic certification body.

2.

They must have an agreement on entrusting inspection oforganic operation or evaluation with JONA, which includes
clauses of confidentiality and exclusion of conflict of interest.
JONA makes sure that the CB and the personnel that the CB
uses are not involved in any way of compromise credibility of
the result.

・JONA should annually check if the CB satisfies the afore-mentioned
qualifications (1&2 above), and also evaluates the CB by examining
the inspection reports and etc. of the entrusted cases⚫ In case of a breach of contract by the contracted CB, JONA shallrequest corrective measures and re-evaluate or cancel the contract.
⚫ If necessary, JONA re-evaluate the certification in the past.
・JONA provides the contracted foreign CB with updated informationand technical support on domestic and international certifications that
JONA conducts.
・JONA gives training to the contracted CB once or more a year.
・The contracted CB shall assign an inspector who is trained on
certification schemes that JONA contracts an inspection to.
・JONA makes a list of the contracted CBs. When a foreign applicant iscertified by the contracted CB, JONA entrusts inspection or some partof inspection to the contracted CB with the consent of the applicant.
・For these contracted inspection, JONA is responsible for its
management.

The JONA certification officer makes a certification

decision of the applicant.
3.4.9 Inspection in case of parallel production

IFOAM

If an operator has a parallel production, JONA shall make an inspection

EU

at least twice a year. Either an annual inspection or an additional Swiss
39

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

inspection shall occur during harvest or during processing.

GB

3.4.10 Unannounced Inspection

IFOAM

JONA shall make unannounced inspections to all operators except forEU

those in JONA Original Certification in addition to annual normal

COR

inspections for the following operators. In case of non-JAS operators, the Swissfollowing shall be targeted:

GB⚫

5% of all certified operators of JONA-IFOAM certification⚫

10% of all annual inspections and additional random control visits
of EU equivalent program, Swiss certification, and GB Certification
5% of all certified operators of COR certification.

⚫

Unannounced inspections are conducted randomly in order to assess
the effectiveness of inspections and as scheduled according to the risk
evaluation of each operation prescribed in 3.4.7 of this program. Feesof an unannounced inspection are subject to JONA Certification Program
III-5. When it comes to fees for unannounced inspections, JONA shallcharge not application fee but inspection fee to the operator. However, incase of random sampling, JONA shall not charge either application fee
or inspection fee to the operator.
3.5

Certification

3.5.1 Qualification of member of certification officer
・Certification officer meets the qualification criteria of JONA Organic
Inspection & Certification Manual.
・Certification officer shall be assigned by the Chairperson. A memberof the board and an auditor cannot be a certification officer. The
Chairperson should choose certification officers from different
specialties (such as farmer, processor, handler, consumer, a person ofknowledge and experience)・By an order from the Chairperson, Certification Manager evaluates
periodically performance of a certification officer and report it to theBoard.
3.5.2 Certification
・A certification officer reviews the application and the inspection report
to determine compliance with JONA Organic Standards, JAS Law,applicable JAS Organic Standard, applicable certification standards
and Technical Criteria and whether a certification can be granted tothe applicant. This decision is reported to the Chairperson.
40

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・Certification shall be done by an induvial certification officer or acertification committee that consists of certification officers. A qualified
person of the office shall comprehensively determine which way acertification decision is made by taking application contents and an
inspection result into account.
・The C.C. consists of the groups for different categories described
below, and each group must have more than three officers. Each groupmust have one chair. The chair is chosen by the members of the groupfor every committee meeting.
⚫

[C.C. group for Agricultural products] for certification of
P.P.M.D., Re-packer, and importer of organic agricultural
products and organic non-processed feed (limited to those
prepared or selected only).

⚫

[C.C. group for Processed products] for certification ofprocessor, Re-packer, importer and restaurant operators oforganic processed products and organic processed feed.

⚫

[C.C. group for Livestock products] for certification of
P.P.M.D and Re-packer of organic livestock products.

⚫

[C.C. group for Aquatic products] for certification of P.P.M.D
and Re-packer of organic aquatic products (includingorganic algae).

⚫

[C.C. group for Cosmetic Products] for certification ofprocessor and marketing authorization holder of organic
cosmetic product.

⚫

Certification

decisionoffood

handlerandtransportation/warehouse operator can be made by eitherof the group.
・Any Certification officer who has vested interest with the applicant, or
processed the document review of the application, or did the onsite
inspection, shall not join in the certification meeting of the relevant
application.
・The C.C. can request the inspector for additional explanation if thesubmitted inspection report does not provide enough information.
・After receiving response for the conditions (Ref 3.4.6) from theoperator, office personnel submit the necessary documents to acertification officer. The inspector of the on-site inspection attaches
41

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

his/her comments on the response, and a certification officer or the
C.C. assesses its conformity.
・Certification officer decides if re-inspection should be done in order tocheck improved condition of the operator.
・A certification officer shall directly report its evaluation result to the
Chairperson. In case of C.C., each chair of the C.C. group presides
and coordinates the certification meeting and report a evaluation result
to the Chairperson.
・The Chairperson can order re-investigation to the certification officer
for re-approval if the Chairperson judges the C.C.’s decision isinappropriate.
3.5.3 Notification of a certification decision by the Certification committee
・・The Chairperson, after receiving the certification officer’s or CC’scertification decision, notifies a result of the certification, if any,
recommendation, and so on.
・If certification is denied, reasons for it are informed to the applicant.
・An organic certificate and its certification number shall be issued toeach newly certified operator.
・JONA shall notify an already certified operator of continuation ofcertification with Notice of Continuing Certification.
・JONA office shall keep the records of certification decisions.
・JONA shall not issue a certificate to any contracted operator.
・In case of organic JAS certification and COR certification (except forJAS

repacker (i.e. labeling and packaging certification) , there is not an

COR

expiry date for certification.

(except forrepacking)・In case of JONA-IFOAM Certification, JONA Original Certification, EU

IFOAMCertification, Swiss Certification, GB Certificationand COR (only JONA Org
repacker),certification starts from the beginning of certification date ofEU

the 1st year.

Swiss
GB
COR
(repacking)・COR certificate will not be issued unless ingredients are certified to
COR.
42

COR

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・If a newly COR-certified operator is certified by a different certification
body, JONA shall inform them of its certification with 5 days fromissuance of certification.
・EU certificate is issued in electronic form using TRACES.

EU

3.5.4 Corrective measurement
・If there are any corrective actions imposed., the Chairperson shallrequest corrections to the applicant. The re-certification can be done if
the answers are submitted from the applicant in a timely manner. If a
re-certification is conducted, an inspector of the operator makescomments. In case the C.C. considers an additional on-site inspectionneeded, it must be done to make sure the proposed corrective actions
have been implemented.
3.5.5 Appeal against a decision
・An applicant can make an appeal against the decision made by the
C.C. Appeals shall follow procedures prescribe in Reinvestigation
Policy (Refer JONA Certification Program IV-4).
・Even if an applicant has been rejected for certification, the same
operator can re-apply for certification again with correction of thecause for the rejection.
3.5.6 Classification of non-complianceEU

A certification officer or certification committee classifies cases of
non-compliance as minor, major or critical based on the criteria
below.
Minor

1)

The precautionary measures and controls put in place by
the operator are appropriate and functioning.

2)

The non-compliance does not affect the integrity of theorganic or in-conversion product.

3)

The traceability system can locate the affected product(s)in the supply chain and the product can be prevented frombeing exported to EU as organic or in-conversion.

Major

1)

The precautionary measures and controls put in place by
the operator are not appropriate and functioning.

2)

The non-compliance affects the integrity of the organic orin-conversion product.

3)

The operator did not correct in a timely manner a minor
non-compliance.
43

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

4)

The traceability system can locate the affected product(s)in the supply chain and the product can be prevented frombeing exported to EU as organic or in-conversion.

Critical1)

The precautionary measures and controls put in place by
the operator are not appropriate and functioning.

2)

The non-compliance affects the integrity of the organic orin-conversion product.

3)

The operator fails to correct previous major noncompliances or repeatedly fails to correct other categories
of non-compliances.

4)

There is no information from the traceability system tolocate the affected product(s) in the supply chain and the
product cannot be prevented from being exported to EU asorganic or in-conversion.

List of cases of non-compliance and the correspondingclassification
Minor
Major

・

Significant deviation between input and output calculation(mass balance)

Critical・

Absence of records and financial records showing thecompliance with Regulation (EU) 2018/848

・Intentional omission of information leading to incomplete
records

・

Falsification of documents connected with the certificationof organic product・

Intentional re-labelling of downgraded products as organic・Intentional mixing organic with in-conversion or nonorganic products

・Intentional use of non-authorised substances or products
within the scope of the Regulation (EU) 2018/848

・Intentional use of GMOs

・

The operator refuses the control authority or the control
body access to premises subject to controls, or to its bookkeepings, including financial records, or refuses to allow
the control authority or control body to take samples

3.5.7 Decision on measures to take on established non-compliance of
44

EUJONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

the operator
・ Where the non-compliance is established, JONA decides whichmeasures to take considering the nature of that non-compliance andthe past record of the operator with regard to compliance.
The catalog of measures below is applied.
Minor

III.3.5.4 of this program

Major

・

No reference to organic production in the labelling andadvertising of the entire lot or production run concerned(crop(s) affected) according to Article 42(1) of Regulation(EU) 2018/848

・

Suspension of issuance of Certificate of Inspection andTransaction certificate

・

New conversion period required・Limitation of the certificate’s scope

・Improvement of the implementation of the precautionary
measures and the controls that the operator has put inplace to ensure compliance

Critical・No reference to organic production in the labelling andadvertising of the entire lot or production run concerned(crop(s) affected) according to Article 42(1) of Regulation(EU) 2018/848

・

Suspension of issuance of Certificate of Inspection andTransaction certificate

・

New conversion period required・Limitation of the certificate’s scope

・Suspension of the certificate

・

Withdrawal of the certificate

・ JONA request the operator to increase the frequency of own
controls.
・ JONA makes certain activities of the operator subject to increased
or systematic controls.
・ In the event of critical non-compliance and serious, or repetitive orcontinued non-compliance, the Dispute Settlement Committee is held
to decide disciplinary measures according to VI-6.2 and 6.3 of Dispute
Settlement Policy.
・ The decision is notified to the operator in written format with the45

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

reasons for that decision.
3.6

Agreement after approval of certification

・ The certified operator shall observe Agreement on Certification ofOrganic Operation.
・ All of the certified operators (regardless of a membership status)
shall report to JONA on the articles from 3.6.1 to 3.6.10 after approvalof certification.
3.6.1 Labeling evaluation
・ Labeling of a certified product must be evaluated by JONA before
shipment.
・ A certified operator must submit to JONA Application for Label
Evaluation a with proof of labeling carrying certification logos andorganic claims such as “有機 XX”（Organic XX）, “オーガニックXX” (Organic XX), “有機認定” (Certified as Organic), “JONA 認定” (JONA Certified), “有機 JAS マーク” (Organic JAS Mark), thename of JONA, “JONA ロゴマーク” （JONA Logo Mark）, USDA
Organic seal, Canada logo, EU organic logo and others before
shipment.
・ A qualified person of JONA office evaluates a draft of labeling.
・ JONA Label Evaluation Form confirms compliance of the labels withlabeling rules of JONA Organic Standards §11-1, Organic JAS
Standards, and other applicable standards. JONA shall request
correction if deficiencies are found.
3.6.2 Grading report. Report on compliance labeling・All of the certified operators shall annually sum up the amount ofgraded products (April to March) and submit the grading report to
JONA by the end of June. JONA shall report a result to MAFF by theend of September annually.
・All of the certified operators shall annually sum up the amount ofcompliance labeling from April to March and submit it to JONA by theend of June. JONA shall report a result to MAFF by the end of
September annually.
3.6.3 Report on addition and/or change
・A certified operator shall notify JONA in advance of any addition and/orchange of contents of certification such as ingredients, input materials,
46

JAS

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

equipment, facilities, distribution channel, items for certification, and/or
responsible persons.
・A qualified person conducts a document review on the changes andaddition based on record of past approval and categorize them to (1)significant change/addition, (2) minor change/addition.
(1) Significant change/addition is a content that could increase riskof contamination and co-mingling drastically from currently
certified operations and clearly needs an on-site inspection. In
this case, the Chairperson shall instruct an on-site inspection.
(2) Minor change/addition is a content that could increase risk ofcontamination

andco-mingling

fromcurrently

certifiedoperations but needs a decision from the certification officer
whether on-site inspection is necessary. In this case, officepersonnel asked certification officer to make a decision. The
certification

decision

would

includeanapprovalofchange/addition by reviewing documents and a request of onsite inspection. In the latter case, the Chairperson instructs an
on-site inspection.
・If an on-site inspection is carried out after reviewing documents orcertification decision above, JONA shall inspect them in line with
Certification Program, III-3.4 and make a certification decision in linewith 3.5.
・An application may be denied. In that case, JONA shall inform theresult and its reasons to the application.
・When new members are added, the new member shall be inspected
after verification of compliance of their operation by Production
Process Manager. The operator has to report the addition to JONA for
confirmation.
・The operator shall not release certified products resulting from suchchanges / additions until JONA has approve them.
3.6.4 Sales report
・The operator shall submit JONA sales (including expense such as fee
for repacking and processing) report every three (3) months.
・There are two kinds of sales report format. One for consumer
packaged products to retailers and wholesalers, and the other for raw
materials to processors and packers. The sales must be reported to47

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

JONA in either or both formats according to types of transaction.
・JONA request payment of “User’s Fee” calculated on the sales report.
Refer to JONA Certification Program III-5 for the details.
・A certified operator should pay a requested amount within one (1)month from the date of issuing the bill.
・The user’s fee is charged to use of “Organic JAS mark”, “JONA logo”,
a name “JONA” and/or the code number of JONA as a certificationbody on the products.
・An associate member may not sell organic products to any party
beside a full member that entrusts the associate member without any
permission from it. Its user’s fee is invoiced to the full member.
3.6.5 Issue of Transaction Certificate
・ A certified operator, when it sells organic foods certified by JONA, may
need Transaction Certificate (T/C), which can be requested bysubmitting Transaction Certification Application (T/C. A) and The
Information of the Products to JONA office.
・ JONA will issue an original Transaction Certificate to the buyer of the
products and a photocopy to the applicant after confirming that thetransaction is in line with certification of the applicant.
・ “Transaction certificate” can be issued if it meets the following
conditions.
1. The operator is not being requested for voluntary withdrawal ofgrading or subject to a sanction imposed in line with Conflict
Resolution of Vi-6 of JONA Certification Program.
2. If there is a valid period of certification, the certification of theoperator is valid.
3.There is no unpaid payment that should have been made within 3months from its issuance
3.6.6 Issue of Certification of Inspection (to EU, Swiss, and GB)

JAS・JAS/EU/Swiss/GB-certified operators, exporting organic products toEU

EU and Swiss and GB, can apply for certificate of inspection to JONA. Swiss
JAS-certified operators must meet the conditions agreed between GB
European Union/Swiss/GB and Japan.
・A JAS/EU/Swiss -certified operator fills out Application for Certificate
of Inspection and submits it to JONA office along with attachments.
・A person issuing certificates shall be knowledge for issuing certificates.
48

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・After a person to issue certificates verifies application contents, he or
she issues a certificate of inspection and sends a PDF certificate or ahard copy to the applicant. Upon the agreement with the applicant.
JONA is able to send it to a third party (e.g. exporter).
・For EU and Switzerland, a certificate of inspection is issued in
TRACES. The

commercial

andtransport documents, whereapplicable, the results of sampling analyses of the consignment for
which the COI is issued are uploaded into TRACES. Where TRACES
or one of its functionalities is continuously unavailable for more than
24 hours, JONA may use a fillable electronic template of the certificate
of inspection to record and exchange information. The documents
issued in that way shall be registered with reference in chronologicalorder to ensure the correspondence with the alphanumeric reference
given by TRACES once it becomes functional.

Once TRACES

become available again, JONA shall use the information recorded in
the certificates issued during the period of unavailability to produce
electronically the certificate of inspection and upload the documents.
・JONA shall verify the contents of Application for Certificate ofInspection basically with documents. This documentary check shallverify:(a) the traceability of the products and ingredients;(b) that the volume of the products included in the consignment isin line with the mass balance checks of the operators according
to the recent annual assessment;(c) the relevant transport documents and commercial documents(including invoices) of the products;(d) in case of processed products, that all organic ingredients ofsuch products have been produced by operators or by groups ofoperators certified to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 or by a third
country recognised in accordance with Article 47 or 48 ofRegulation (EU) 2018/848, or have been produced and certified
in the Union in accordance with that Regulation.
If necessary, JONA may conduct an irregular surveillance for physicalcheck of the product before the consignment leaves the country for EU
according to a risk assessment. Moreover, JONA shall evaluate on aregular annual inspection if application of certificate of inspection are
49

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

correctly issued.
・“Certificate of Inspection” can be issued if it meets the following
conditions.
1. The operator is not being requested for voluntary withdrawal ofgrading or subject to a sanction imposed in line with Conflict
Resolution of Vi-6 of JONA Certification Program.
2. If there is a valid period of certification, the certification of theoperator is valid.
3.There is no unpaid payment that should have been made within 3months from its issuance.
・ For consignments made out of bulk organic products, JONA shalldraw up a travel plan in the Trade Control and Expert System(TRACES), including all the premises to be used during the travel fromthe third country of origin or export to the EU.
For consignments of high-risk products designated by the EU, JONA
shall carry out an irregular surveillance for physical check of the
product and take at least one representative sample of eachconsignment. The operator who ships high-risk products for export toEU must notify JONA when the consignments are ready, and JONA
carries out an inspection to check the consignments physically.

Thisinspection is carried out as same procedure as annual inspection. A
certification officer decides whether the consignments can be exported
or not based on the result of the inspection. Moreover, JONA shallhave complete documentation of the traceability of the operators andthe product, including transport and commercial documents, including
invoices. At the request of the Commission or the competent authorityof a Member State, JONA shall send this traceability documentation
as well as the results of the sampling analysis to the control authority
or control body of the importer and to the competent authority of theMember State where the consignment is verified.
3.6.7 Application and issuance of import certificate for US
・JAS-certified and COR certified operators, exporting organic products
to US, can apply for import certificate to JONA if they meet theconditions agreed between US and Japan.
・A JAS-certified operator fills out Application for Import Certificate andsubmits it to JONA office along with attachments.
50

JAS

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・If JONA office verifies application contents, it issues an importcertificate and sends the electrical data of it to the applicant.
・JONA shall verify the contents of Application for Import Certificate
basically with documents. If necessary, JONA may conduct anirregular surveillance. Moreover, JONA shall evaluate on a regularannual inspection if application of import certificate are correctly
issued.
・Import certificate can be issued if it meets the following conditions.
1.

The operator is not being requested for voluntary withdrawal ofgrading or subject to a sanction imposed in line with Conflict
Resolution of Vi-6 of JONA Certification Program.

2.

There is no unpaid payment that should have been made within 3months from its issuance.

3.6.8 Application and issuance of export certificate for Canada
・JAS-certified operators, exporting organic products to Canada, canapply for export certificate to JONA if they meet the conditions agreed
between Canada and Japan.
・A JAS-certified operator fills out Application for Export Certificate andsubmits it to JONA office along with attachments.
・If JONA office verifies application contents, it issues an export
certificate and sends it to the applicant. Upon the agreement with theapplicant. JONA is able to send it to a third party (e.g. exporter) andsend a photocopy of it to the applicant.
・JONA shall verify the contents of Application for Export Certificate
basically with documents. If necessary, JONA may conduct anirregular surveillance. Moreover, JONA shall evaluate on a regularannual inspection if application of export certificate are correctly
issued.
・Export certificate can be issued if it meets the following conditions.
1.

The operator is not being requested for voluntary withdrawal ofgrading or subject to a sanction imposed in line with Conflict
Resolution of Vi-6 of JONA Certification Program.

2.

There is no unpaid payment that should have been made within 3months from its issuance.

3.6.9 Certificate of commercial names of certified products・Upon an application, JONA office shall issue “Commercial name
51

JAS

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

certificate” to an operator. An operator has to draft a list of certified
commercial product list and submit it to JONA office. JONA office shall
shall issue a certificate after it checks if the products in question arewithin its certification contents and label evaluation is completed.
・“Commercial name certificate” can be issued if it meets the following
conditions.
1.

The operator is not being requested for voluntary withdrawal ofgrading or subject to a sanction imposed in line with Conflict
Resolution of Vi-6 of JONA Certification Program.

2.

If there is a valid period of certification, the certification of theoperator is valid.

3.

There is no unpaid payment that should have been made within 3months from its issuance.

3.6.10 Products of nonconformity
・When fields or facilities for organic production, raw material, seed or
seedling becomes nonconforming with Organic JAS Standards,
applicable certification standards, and/or JONA Organic Standards
even due to inevitable reasons, the operator shall report to JONA the
items, the amount of production and the place, the reasons and thetime and date of non-conformity.

The operator shall also informbuyers of the products in writing and without undue delay.
・JONA shall investigate it in line with procedures of irregular inspectionsprescribed in III-3.7.5.
・For EU certification, in case of a suspicion of the presence of nonauthorised products or substances in received products or own
products, the operator shall inform JONA of the case and provide, if
relevant and where available, the following information:a) information and documents about the supplier (delivery note,invoice, organic certificate, transaction certificate)b) the traceability of the product with the lot identification, stock
quantity, and quantity of product soldc) laboratory results, from accredited laboratory when relevant andavailabled) the sampling record detailing the time, place and method used totake the sample
・any information about any previous suspicion with regard to the52

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

specific non-authorised product or substance53

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Chart 4：Report after certification
What to submit?
・Labeling

When?

evaluation ・By shipment

Who?
All certified operators

application
・Packages of each product・Sold products and brand ・Quarterly
name・Sales turnover

All certified operators(January, April, July, andOctober)・Sales amount, period
・Customer

・When an applicant needs

・Shipped amounta transaction certificate

All certified operators

・Date of transaction
・Lot number
・Certification number
・Production amount of each ・At an annual surveillance All certified operators
productor whenever JONA decides
necessary・ JAS-Graded amount of ・Amount from April of the All JAS certified operators
each productpreceding year to March ofthis year
・By the end of June

・Item and amount of non- ・When a non-compliancecomplianceoccurs or when requested

・Date and place that non-by JONA

compliance occurs
・Reasons of noncompliance54

All certified operators

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.7

Term of Certification Period and Continuation of the certification

3.7.1 Certification PeriodJAS・ There is no expiration date of organic JAS certification and COR certification (excluding

COR (except

labelling and packaging). However, a certified operator must receive an annual audit

packaging)by JONA within one (1) year from the certification date. And also as long as certification
continues, a certified operator must receive an annual audit by JONA at least once a
year from the 1st certification date.
・ In case of JONA-IFOAM Certification, JONA Original Certification, EU Certification,

IFOAM

Swiss Certification, UK certification, and COR Certification (labelling and packaging),

JONA Original

certification period is one year after certification is made.

EU
Swiss
UK

COR (only lpackaging)
3.7.2 Continuation/renewal of certification
・ Prior to an annual audit, JONA shall issue an operator Notification of Annual Audit. If
the certified operator is willing to continue their certification, the operator must submit
application for continued certification, which is evaluated in the same manner as theinitial application. If an operator does not submit an application after an excessive time
has passed after the deadline, JONA shall request for a voluntary stoppage ofshipment. If the operator does not submit it afterwards, JONA shall deal with it in linewith V.6 Dispute Settlement Policy.
・ Agreement of Certification of Organic Operation made between an operator and JONA
is automatically renewed for one (1) year if the certification is continued.
・ If an applicant wishes to continue or renew COR certification, they shall inform us ofCOR

its intention of do so by the date written in the notice of the previous year (by the dateof 6 months before the date of next scheduled inspection).
・ Renewing certification is not sometimes decided before the term of validity expires for

IFOAM

such reasons as delaying inspections and not returning the inspection report. If theOrgreason is clear and in line with purposes of organic certification, JONA shall notify theEUoperator of extension of certification period under the conditions to renew certification

Swiss

as results of operator’s fulfillment of the required corrections. Extension of certificationUK

period is within three (3) months, provided that contents and information on which theprevious certification has been approved remain the same.
3.7.3 Procedures for continuing/renewing certification
・ The procedures of renewal of certification are operated just as those of the initial
55

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

certification.
・ Annual surveillance shall be conducted at least once in the period within about one
year after the date of certification or previous inspection
・ JONA shall notify continuance of certification with Notice of Continuing Certification.
・ Inputs shall be verified in principle annually whether they have any change or, if there
is a change, compliance of them (please refer to JONA Certification Program III-3.6.8
in case that a producer uses an input whose content has been changed). However,even if JONA is to decide it is not necessary to verify if there would be any change,
JONA shall verify compliance at least once every 3 years.
・ An on-site inspection for continuing or renewing certification shall be done within 12

COR

months its previous inspection. If justifiable, an inspection can be done within 15
months. However, in any case, the number of certification years shall be as many as
the number of inspections conducted.
・ Annual inspection of organic food handler, organic cosmetics marketing authorization
holder, and warehousing and transporters can be waived if a qualified person decides
an inspection is not necessary because of such factors as traded amount, previous
inspection results, and product type and its decision is approved by a certification
officer.
・ In the case above, an inspection shall be conducted at least once in three years. In
addition, in case of JONA-IFOAM certification program, the number of inspection atleast equals the total number of the certifications and, therefore, JONA may need toinspect organic food handler and warehousing/transporter inspections.
3.7.4 Response to major non-compliances at the time of continuing/renewing certification
・ When an annual inspection finds a certified operator violates required criteria,
certification officer proposes temporary stoppage of claiming organic or revocation ofcertification to the Chairperson.
・ If the Chairperson accepts that offer on temporary stoppage of claiming organic orcancelation of certification, a sanction will be determined according to Certification
Program V-6.
3.7.5 Irregular inspection
・ In addition to inspections for continuing certification on JONA Certification Program III3.7.3, an extra inspection might be conducted if…
⚫ A certified operator report changes or additions of their certified operation, or⚫ General Manager and/or Certification Manager judges an extra inspection isneeded upon request from the competent authorities and relevant ministries andagencies, for a verification of implementation of corrective actions, and/or for
56

IFOAM
Org

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

responding to a rumor about questionable operation which is provided with thereliable information source., or⚫ General Manager and/or Certification Manager judges an extra inspection isneeded from a certain request from a third party and/or for responding to a rumor
about questionable operation which is provided with the reliable information source.
(It may be carried out without prior notice to an operator.)
・ An extra inspection is executed by the procedures of annual inspection. But it might
be conducted without announcement. In case of inspection to verify the changes andadditions to the certification contents, on-site inspection can be omitted if theconformity to the standards can be verified as a result of document review.
・ The certification decision and its notification is made according to the proceduresprescribed in III-3.5 of this program.
・ Basically, a certified operator bears expense of an extra inspection. Refer to JONA
Certification Program III-5 for the details.
3.7.6 Discontinue the certification
・ If a certified operator intends not to continue the certification, it must notify JONA ofthe discontinuation of grading operation in writing in the format of JONA.
・ JONA shall report it to an authority or an organization applicable to certification.
・ If certified operators do not wish to continue organic JAS certification, they need toJAS

inform JONA of it in advance. JONA discloses the information of this operator to the
public. (See JONA Certification Program VI-2 on disclosure of information.)・ If a certified COR operator changes the certification body from JONA, it shall notify
JONA of its intent to change the certification body. Once the certificate is issued by a
new certification body, the operator must inform JONA, return the certificates to JONA,
and stop the use of any labels or advertising indicating JONA on product it markets.
JONA shall immediately cancel the certification and report it to CFIA.
・ Organic products in inventory at the time of cancellation can shipped as organic with
the name of JONA once the amount in stock is reported to both certification body and
if it is agreed by JONA. The operator may be able to hold the certificate as long as they
have the organic products in stock.
3.8

Keeping the documents relating to certification

・The related documents include Application for Certification, Required Attachment andStatement of Applicant’s Operation and other relevant documents submitted to JONA.
Slips or records shall be kept no earlier than the next inspection.
・ All documents concerning an application for certification should be kept in preparation
for a request to submit from JONA, other certification body, or the competent
57

COR

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

authorities.
・ The operator shall keep complaint records on organic products and make themavailable to JONA when necessary.
・A certified operator must keep the related documents for certification for a periodJAS

between date of grading and expiry date for consumption or best before date (in casethat it is within a year, it shall be at least one(1) year from shipment. if there is no expiry
date or best before date, it is three (3) years from shipment).
・A certified operator must keep the related documents for certification for at least five (5)year from creation.

IFOAM
Org
COR
EU
Swiss
UK

3.9

Handling and disposal of nonconformity items

・When fields(in case of organic aquaculture, culturing site or collection site), production
facilities, raw materials, seeds/seedlings etc do not conform with Organic JAS
Standards, JONA Organic Standards and/or other applicable standards, these products
are regarded non-conformable.
・The operator must report to JONA items, quantity of products of nonconformity, where,
why and when they were produced whenever requested by JONA (Please refer to III3.6.10 of JONA Certification Program.) The operator shall also inform its buyers thatorganic label of the products of non-conformity shall be removed or void.
・Items and quantity, time and date of noncompliance, ways of disposal, the methods oflabeling must be recorded and the related documents must be kept in the period set by
III-3.8.
・Crops in a buffer zone, raw materials used for purging etc. are included in nonconformable products.
・In the case of parallel production, it is recommended to keep the records of non-organic
products in order to present that there is no mixture of organic and non-organic
products.
・It is not permitted to label and sell or distribute non-conformable products as organic.
・The non-conformable products must be handled as non-organic products, and thedisposing methods and quantities must be recorded.
・An operator must make rules concerning disposal of non-conformable products andstate it clearly in manuals. The operator must educate their personnel how to handle
non-conformity products.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

3.10 Handling the Certification documents
3.10.1 Reissue of Certification documents
・JONA shall not reissue organic certificate (hereafter called “certificate”) and documentsof notification regarding certification in principle. The certificate issued by JONA can be
re-issued only in the following cases. If they are re-issued, JONA shall collect the oldcopies.
1.

Addition and change of contents of the certification

2.

Loss or damage of the issued certificate for a legitimate reason

・The reissue of a certificate with a change of contents on the certificate needs to beapproved by the Chairperson with the verification by certification officer.
・In case of the loss of the certificate, an operator is billed for 1,000 yen.
3.10.2 Reproduction of the certification documents
・If an operator provides copies of the certification documents to others, the documents
shall be specified as a reproduction and reproduced in their entirety.
3.10.3 Returning the certification documents
・An operator who gets certification cancelled, temporary stopped its certification orwithdraw certification must return its certificate back to JONA. The suspension is lifted,
JONA returns the certificate to the operator.
4

Supervision Under Organic Regulations
4.1

Reports to the Applicable Authorities

4.1.1 Report

JAS・JONA shall report, to the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) via
FAMIC, name and address of an operator, their products, fields or facilities relevant tothe certification and its contents when JONA grants a JAS certification.
・JONA shall report to MAFF via FAMIC in a timely manner the changes that need to bereported in line with Organic JAS regulations.
・JONA shall report the following issues when we decided a case fall into one of them.
⚫

If products with organic JAS marks or handling methods of organic materials do
not comply with JAS standards and it has not been corrected immediately⚫

If JONA decides that products mandatory for certification is not labelled correctly
and, therefore, it conflicts consumers’ interest.

⚫

If JAS labeling is false, contrary to the fact and JONA decides that use of JAS
standards can be troubled due to losing credibility and the false label cannot becorrected immediately.

・JONA shall collect grading reports and parcel size report (parcels size in case of(overseas) P.P.M.D of organic plant, organic feed, organic livestock, and organic algae
59

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

and compliance report in case of handling operation) of each year (April to March) by
the end of June annually and report it to the minister of MAFF by the end of September.
・JONA shall report on certificates for exports in a previous year by the end of January.
・JONA shall report on the amount of exported amount under equivalence agreements
each year (January to the end of December) to the minister of MAFF.
・JONA shall report to FAMIC under the control of Secretary General for the issues that
JONA office decides to be reported to the authorities and the ministries applicable.
・JONA shall send a list of COR certified operators to IOAS and COO by the end of

COR

December.
・JONA shall make an annual report to EU commission by the end of February.

EU・JONA shall make an annual report to Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture by the end of Swiss
March.
・JONA shall make an annual report to DEFRA by the end of February
4.1.2 Withdrawal of JAS Organic CertificationJAS・As it is stated in JONA Certification Program VI-6.3, when JONA temporarily stops
shipment by a certified operator or cancel certification of them, JONA shall report to
MAFF information of the relevant organic operation including the name and address ofthe operator, category of products, the address of fields (in case of organic aquaculture,
culturing site or collection site) and facilities, certification number, the date of taking
measures, the reasons for the decision.
・ JONA shall report canceled and suspended certification by the 25th of each month. If

CORrequested by IOAS, JONA shall report it more frequently.
・ JONA shall submit an annual report to EU commission by the end of February.

EU・JONA shall make an annual report to Swiss Federal Office for Agriculture by the end

Swissof March.
4.1.3 Seminar
・ JONA shall educate and train the people concerned for effective managementof JAS system.
・ JONA holds seminars for certified operators to improve their understanding of
Organic JAS regulations and technical skills according to Seminar Manual.
・ Seminars are held based on the annual plan developed in the beginning of the
fiscal year (January).

When Secretary General, General Manager, orCertification judges seminars are needed, they can be held separately from theplanned ones.
・ JONA may recognize the seminars held by other bodies after the contents are
confirmed. JONA makes it public the list of seminars it recognizes.
60

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

4.1.4 Monitoring
・ JONA shall conduct a surveillance of the market and monitor implementation of
the regulations properly.
・ JONA shall communicate with the authorities whenever necessary andcooperate with them by conducting a surveillance of the marker and reportingit to them.
4.1.5 Cooperation with other bodies
・ JONA shall communicate with registered overseas certification bodies andother certification bodies whenever necessary and cooperate with theauthorities on surveillance of certification activities overseas and reporting it tothem.
・ These policy apply to our members.
・ In case of EU certification, JONA shall use the Organic Farming Information
System (OFIS) for the exchange of information with the Commission, with othercontrol authorities and other control bodies, and with the competent authoritiesof the Member States and of the third countries concerned(a) JONA immediately share information on any suspicion of non-compliancethat affects the integrity of organic or in-conversion products.
(b) When JONA receives a notification of suspected or established noncompliance affecting the integrity of organic or in-conversion products, JONA
immediately carries out an investigation and complete it as soon as possible,then, reply, within 30 calendar days from the date of receiving the notification,by using the template set out in Annex III to COMMISSION DELEGATEDREGULATION (EU) 2021/1698 and inform about the actions and measurestaken including the results of the investigation and provide any other available
required information.
(c) Where operators and/or their subcontractors are subject to controls by thedifferent control bodies, JONA exchanges the relevant information on theoperations covered by their control activities.
(d) Where

JONA

accepts

applicationfromoperators

and/ortheirsubcontractors who has changed their control bodies to JONA from othercontrol body, JONA requests the previous control body to provide the control
file of the operator concerned including inspection, sampling analysis and theresult with an indication of the deadline to take action, the status of thecertification, the list of non-compliances and the corresponding measures takenby the previous control authority or control body. JONA shall ensure that non61

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

compliances noted in the report of the previous control authority or control body
have been addressed by the operators or groups of operators.
(e) Where the operator certified by JONA changed its control body from JONA
to other control body, and JONA is requested the control file of operator fromthe new control body, JONA provides to the new control body the information
mentioned in (d) within 30 days.
Where operators or groups of operators are subject to a traceability check anda mass balance check, JONA exchanges the relevant information allowing
finalisation of these checks
4.1.6 Document control
・ The statute, JONA Certification Program and other manuals (JONA OrganicStandards etc), data (financial statements, list of certified operators etc) andrecords etc shall be kept according to Document Control Program properly.
・ JONA shall keep records and slips on certification activities, application control
log, financial statements and so forth for 5 years. Electric data on certification
will be kept as long as the applicable operator are certified. Once theircertification becomes invalid, JONA shall keep them for another 5 years.
However, the minutes of certification committees shall be kept as long as theapplicable certification are valid.
・ In the case of EU certification, JONA shall keep an updated electronic databaseof the information of the certified operators and on the controls performed by
JONA over them and provide that information available to the European
Commission upon request.
4.1.7 Control of label
・ JONA shall have certified operators properly control the use organic certificates
JONA issues and organic JAS marks.
・ JONA’s certified operators, inspectors, certification officers, and Board
members shall promptly report to the Chairperson improper expression onorganic JAS certification on advertisements, catalog, or other media or misuseof JONA certificates and organic JAS marks.
・ The Chairperson shall process the report above in line with JONA Certification
Program III-3.7.4. She or he will decide how to respond to other cases bycommunicating with MAFF.
4.1.8 Management resources
・ JONA shall reserve management resources for stable operation of certification
body. As a protective measure to unexpected debts that are caused by62

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

certification operations, it shall have “liability insurance for specialized
operations”.
・ Financial statements (inventory, balance sheet, P/L, and annual report) shall becreated within 3 months from the end of business year annually and kept for 5
years.
4.1.9 Audit and corrective action to non-compliant operation
・ The Chairperson assigns a person to conduct an internal audit of certification
operations at least once a year and periodically. The operations of internal
audits are prescribed in “Internal Audit Policy”.
・ If non-compliance operation with JONA Cerification Program is found in anaudit, regardless of internal or external, JONA shall identify what it is, assess a
cause of the non-compliance, implement corrective actions, and decidepreventive actions. The Chairperson shall order a irregular audit to the internal
audit department on efficiency of corrective and preventive measures a while
after those measures start to get implemented. Non-compliances and corrective
actions shall be recorded in “Non-compliance and Corrective Action Record”.
4.1.10 Management review
The Chairperson shall check suitability of certification operations and methods andappropriateness of management resources at least once a year and periodically. It
procedures are prescribed in “Management Review Policy.”
4.1.11 Change of requirements
・ JONA shall notify operators of changes of organic standards of its certification
scope and other related requirements in a timely manner (in case of COR,
within 2 months from notification).
・ JONA shall confirm that certified operators respond to the changes asnecessary in an annual surveillance and a irregular surveillance of theoperators in the transitional period (in case of COR, within one year unlessregulated otherwise).
4.1.12 Special authorization
JONA may request for grant specific authorization for the use of products andsubstances if necessary. To request the Commission to carry out an assessment,
JONA submits the documents describing the product or substance concerned,
giving the reasons for such specific authorisation and explaining why the products
and substances authorised under this Regulation are not adequate to be used dueto the specific conditions in the relevant area.
4.2

Audit by the authority
63

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

4.2.1 Registration as certification body

JAS・JONA applied to MAFF, is registered as an Organic Certification Body at MAFF undercurrent JAS Law and will renew its registration continuously.
・JONA shall operate certification works as a registered certification body in line withorganic JAS regulations.
・ JONA shall apply for COR accreditation to CFIA and is registered as a COR

COR

certification agency.
・ JONA shall conduct certification activities as a COR certification body.
・ JONA applied to EU commission for registration as a control body under EC Reg withEU

an evaluation from IOAS and is registered.
・ JONA shall conduct certification activities as a registered EU- certification body
・ JONA shall notify the Commission in due time, and not later than within 30 calendar
days, of the occurrence of changes to the content of its technical dossier.
・ JONA shall provide at the request of the Commission or the competent authorities ofthe Member States all information related to its control activities.
・ JONA shall keep the supporting documents relating to the request for registration asa EU certification body and those required under this Regulation for 5 years to makethose available to the Commission and the Member States.
・ JONA applied to Swiss government for registration as a control body under Swiss

Swiss

Organic Farming Ordinance and is registered.
・ JONA shall conduct certification activities as a registered certification body under
Swiss Organic Farming Ordinance.
・ JONA applied to DEFRA for registration as a control body under The Organic

GB

Products Regulations 2009 and is registered.
・ JONA shall conduct certification activities as a registered certification body under The
Organic Products Regulations 2009.
4.2.2 Audit of a registered certification body
・ JONA shall undertake an audit by an applicable authority on the certification
operation.
・ JONA shall undertake an audit of the execution of certification and the related
activities upon a request of Governmental Authorities concerned.
・ JONA shall undertake an audit by MAFF and FAMIC for its operation. The scope of
acceptance of audit is as follows:⚫

Manuals and records of the operation for Organic JAS Certification⚫ Qualifications and so forth of inspectors and certification officers involved in theoperation of Organic JAS Certification
64

JAS

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures⚫ Operation plan and its implementation of Organic JAS Certification⚫ Organizational structure of board members and staff⚫ Financial basis
5

Fees and expenses (*Initial fee and annual fee are not taxed. All fees and expenses
are free of tax for overseas operators.)
Abbreviation in this section: gr=group, ind: individual◆JONA Membership Fee in yen (tax excluded)
Item

JONA Full Member

JONA Associate(1)

member (2)

2,000

2,000

0

Annual Membership

20,000 (gr)6,000 (gr)0Fee2,000 (ind)2,000 (ind)Initial Fee (for the 1st

Non-Member

year)(1) A JONA full member is a group or an individual who supports purposes of JONA as a nonprofit organization and voluntarily engages or is planning to engage in organic production,
processing, distribution, and such. JONA shall not exclude them for nationality, region, race,
religion, and so forth but JONA may reject those who have engaged in an illegal, organic
operations.
(2) An associate member is an organization or an individual who is contracted with a full
member(3) A non-member is an applicant (group and individual) that does not join JONA. In addition,
operators contracted with a non-members are called consigned operators (groups andindividual).
◆Pre-application fee
Item

System Use Fee

in yen (tax excluded)
JONA Full

JONA Associate

MemberMember00

Non-Member(gr)
1st year, 22,000 yen
2nd year and on, 20,000 yen(ind)
1st year, 4,000 yen
2nd year and on, 2,000 yen

65JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures(consigned gr of a nonmember)
1st year, 8,000 yen
2nd year and on, 6,000 yen(consigned ind of a nonmember)
1st year, 4,000 yen
2nd year and on, 2,000 yen

66

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures◆Organic Certification Fee (for the initial year)

in yen (tax excluded)

The following fee will be applicable to each certificate an applicant wishes to apply for.
Consigned
Item

Full

Associate

membermemberNon-member

operatorFeeof

non-member

from

2nd facility(perfacility)JAS,
IFOAM,
Org
application
fee(gr)20,000(gr)20,000(gr)20,000(gr)20,000(gr)20,000(ind)10,000(ind)10,000(ind)10,000(ind)10,000(ind)10,000(gr)30,000(gr)30,000(gr)30,000(gr)30,000(gr)30,000(ind)15,000(ind)15,000(ind)15,000(ind)15,000(ind)15,000

Refer toRefer toDoc

Doc Review

Review fee

fee

per

application
COR,

EU,

Swiss, GBapplication
fee

per

application
Doc Review
fee

Refer to Doc

Doc

Review fee

Review fee

Review
fee

Refer

fee

inspection

inspection

inspection

inspection

inspection

fee

fee

fee

fee

fee

operation
fee

Refer

Refer to Doc

Inspection

Certification

toRefer toto(gr)100,000(gr)50,000(ind)10,000(ind)15,000

Refer

to

(gr)100,000(ind)10,000

Refer

to

Refer

to

(gr)50,000(gr)50,000(ind)15,000(ind)15,000

4. Regardless of whether it is a full member, associate member, non-member, or consigned operatorof non-member,additional Certificaion Operation Fee would not incur for additional certificate of
the same category. .
5If a JONA-IFOAM applicant also applies for EU certification, the difference between the IFOAM
certification application fee and the EU certification application fee (10,000 yen for corporations
and 5,000 yen for individuals) will be charged in addition to the IFOAM certification application
fee.

6
67

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures◆Organic Restaurant Certification Fee (for the initial year)
Item

Full member

Non-member

Fee from 2nd facility(gr, ind)(gr, ind)(gr, ind)

10,00010,00010,000(gr, ind)(gr, ind)(gr, ind)

80,000100,000

50,000

JONA Associate

Non-Member

Application fee(Original, JAS
respectively)
Inspection fee andcertification operation
fee(Original, JAS as awhole)◆Post-certification fee
Itemin yen (tax excluded)
JONA Full Member

MemberUser’s fee (for use of

0.4% of sales ofCharged to full

0.4% of sales ofmarks and names of

products which bear

memberproducts which bear

JONA)

the name of JONA,

the name of JONA,

certification code andcertification code andso on (up to 450,000

so on (up to 450,000

yen a year)

yen a year)
Charged to theconsigning nonmember in case of
consigned operator

9 No user’s fee is charged to organic restaurant certification operators.
10 For applications from Latin America, user’s fee will be charged in US $. The maximum
user’s fee is calculated from the organic sales of the operator from January to Decemberof the year, using the average annual TTB rate of Mitsubushi UFJ Bank of the year
publishedatMitsubishi

UFJ

Researchkawasesouba.jp/fx/year_average.php.

68&

Consulting,

http://www.murc-

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures◆Fee regarding certification (every year from the second year) in yen (tax excluded)
Same with the 1st year.

◆Irregular Surveillance Fee (9)Itemin yen (tax excluded)

JONA Full Member

JONA Associate

Non-Member

MemberIrregular surveillance

20,000 (group)

20,000 (group)

20,000 (group)by on-site inspection

10,000 (individual)

10,000 (individual)

10,000 (individual)

+

+

+

Inspection Fee

Inspection Fee

Inspection Fee■Document review fee in yen
Item
Document review

Fee
5,000

Note
Per each certificate.
However, for the same certification category of multiple
certification schemes, 2,500 yen shall be added from the 2 ndcertification scheme. In addition, 2,500 yen shall be charged
for Overseas Labeling Operator who is already certified toother Organic JAS certification or is applying for it
simultaneously.
e.g. In case of JAS crop PPMD ＋ EU- Producer ＋ COR-

69

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Production + Oversea Labeling Operator, it is 5,000 yen＋
2,500yen＋2,500yen + 2,500 yen.

※Organic restaurant of JONA Original Certification or JAS Organic food identification forrestaurants shall be evaluated by certification activity fee.
※Document review fee shall not be applicable to irregular surveillance.
※If multiple inspectors are assigned for one inspection, chief inspector shall review the
documents and document review fee for the chief inspector shall be charged.

◆Inspection fee (tax excluded)
JONA’s inspection fee is classified into daily allowance and fee for inspection report.
■Daily allowance in yen
Item
Inspection daily allowance forFee
25,000

one inspector

Note
Maximum 8 hours/day. However, in case of
an inspection for part of certification
contents or an inspection of multiple daysor overseas labeling certification of an
operation that has been already certified to
PPMD,

Repacker,orImporter

Certification , 15,000 yen shall apply for a
Max 4 hour inspection
Transportation fee for one

5,000

inspector

Applicable to a day only for transportationdue

toinspection

scheduleoraninspection that needs more than 7 hours
transportation.

■Allowance for chief inspector in yen
Item
Allowance for chief inspector

Fee

Note

15,000 Applicable for chief inspector’s works incase that multiple inspectors are assigned
for a crop producer inspection.

70

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures◆Inspection Report Fee
Itemin yen (tax excluded)

Fee

Note

1st

10,000 yen

For the 1st certificate for each certification category

For

each

5,000 yenFor each certificate from the 2nd certificate and on in the same

certificate

fromcertification category. E.g. If an applicant of PPM of Organic

the 2nd certificate

Processed Foods applies for manufacturer of IFOAM-

and on.

accredited program, additional 5,000 yen shall incur in

For

the

Certificate

addition to 10,000 yen (of thePartialcolumn above).

5,000 yen

For inspection of part of the certification contents

10,000yen

Only applicable for crop certification

inspection

Non-chief
inspection report
fee

t

d
Not

71

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures・ The applicant bears in principle such expenses as those for traveling and accommodationof the inspector.
・ Report fee in principle includes such expenses as those for correspondence andconsumables.
・ Remote inspection tool fee of 2,000 yen shall be paid by the applicant.
・ Traveling cost is in principle charged as either departing from 1. the address where theinspector registers JONA that s/he resides, 2. Tokyo Station, or 3. Sendai Station, whichtake traveling time and expenses into account.
・ Accommodation fee shall not exceed 8,000 yen per day if circumstances do not allow.
・ The inspector shall pay for his/her own meals in principle.
・ Inspection fee shall be requested from the inspector to JONA, which shall request theapplicant.
・ In case of on-site inspection outside Japan, daily allowances for on-site inspection andinspection trip shall apply but JONA determines report fee with non-Japaneseenvironments taken into account.
・ JONA shall charge translation fee (not applicable for English translation) at an on-site
inspection outside Japan. Translation fee for annual inspection in China shall be 15,000
yen and that for irregular inspection in China shall be 10,000 yen.
・ If a translator must be provided at an on-site inspection outside Japan, the applicant mustbear the expense of it.
・ In case of an on-site inspection carried out by a contracted CB based on III-3.4.8 of thisprogram, JONA has the right to charge the inspection fee. However, JONA may assign
the right to the contracted CB◆Other fees (tax excluded) in yen
Item

JONA Full

JONA Associate

Non-Member

MemberMemberTransaction

1,000/US$10 (only

1,000/US$10

1,000/US$10 (onlycertificate

for Latin American(only for Latin

for Latin American

operators)

Americanoperators)

operators)
Certificate of

1,000

1,000

Inspection (EU)

72

1,000

JONA Certification Program 2024
III. Certification Procedures

Import certificate

1000

1000

1000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

1,000

3,000

3,000

3,000

15,000 (115,000 (115,000 (1program)*1,2

program) *1,2

program) *1,2

20,000 (220,000 (220,000 (2programs) *1,2

programs) *1,2

programs) *1,2

(USA)
Certificate ofInspection (GR)Export certificate(Taiwan)Export certificate(Canada)Commercialname certificate
Course Fee・In principle, JONA shall not reimburse the fee received.
(*1) Only JONA members or employees of JONA members may be exempted from paying
the fee for the second and subsequent times when the same person takes a program
again that he/she has taken in the past.
(*2) 15,000 yen for one program, 20,000 yen for two or more programs to be taken(applied for) at one time.

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JONA Certification Program 2024
IV. Input confirmation

IV. Confirmation of input substance
JONA has a program to confirm that a specific input is in line with the materials allowed in
JONA Organic Standards (including those in Attached Tables of JAS Standards). The
manufacturer of the product can apply for confirmation of compliance. The product confirmed
as compliant is called “confirmed product”, use of which could be applied by the operator orapplicant without submission of materials on the product. This confirmation is not intended
to insist that use of the product suits organic production. When the certified operator orapplicant wishes to use a confirmed product, they have to get an approval from JONA
regarding purpose, reasons, and usage of it.
The procedures to apply for confirmation of product are prescribed in the following.
1

Scope and objectives for the confirmation
Scope of the confirmation

1.1

An applicant for confirmation is a producer, P.P.M.D., fertilizer manufacturer/distributor,
manufacturer/distributor of materials for agricultural use, manufacturer/distributor ofmaterials for food processing, and so forth. They manufacture and distribute fertilizers,
soil conditioners, agricultural products, additives, and so forth.
Geological area for the confirmation

1.2

Geographical areas for confirmation is within Japan and any other country.
Qualification for the staff of confirmation process

1.3

Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-1.4 and Standard Committee member
2

Prior to submitting the application
Applicant

2.1
2.1.1

Eligible applicant•

Operator who are categorized in JONA Certification Program III-d-1.

•

An applicant can be member of JONA or non-member•

Applicant who wish to have the materials to be confirmed. The material should
be on the material lists within JONA Organic Standards (including those in
Attached Tables of JAS Standards).

•

Applicant who understand JONA Organic Standards, JONA Certification
Program, and related regulations.

2.2

Hearing prior to application

Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-2.2 with organic food and “certification”
replaced by “confirmed product” and “confirmation” respectively.
2.3

Basic agreement prior to submitting the application
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JONA Certification Program 2024
IV. Input confirmation

Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-a-2.3 with organic food and “certification”
replaced by “confirmed product” and “confirmation” respectively.
3

Confirmation Process
3.1

Submitting the document⚫ An applicant has to submit “JONA Confirmed Product Application Form”.
⚫ An applicant must fill out “JONA Confirmed Products Application Form” and attachnecessary documents.
⚫ An applicant must collect the information to attach to the application.
3.2

Acceptance of application and the document review by JONA administration
office⚫ The office receives the application documents to make sure if there is insufficientmaterial, data, report or an omission.
⚫ After checking them, the office requests additional requirements or documents, if
needed.
⚫ When confirmation by the office is completed, application for certification is
accepted.
⚫ The office may request a member of Standard Committee first processing of theapplication document.
⚫ In the first processing, a Standard Committee member evaluates compliance of the
product with JONA Organic Standards.
⚫ In the initial processing, it will be decided whether an on-site inspection can be doneor whether more information is necessary.
⚫ A result of the first processing is notified to the applicant by JONA Office.
⚫ The applicant can object to a result of the first processing. An objection can beraised through the procedure of appeals (JONA Certification Program IV-3 apply with“certification” replaced by “confirmation”.)⚫ It is prohibited to be engaged in the review of the said processing for a member ofthe office or Certification Committee who has interests (such as investment, businessdeals, consultation or employment) with the applicant for the past 2 years from the day
the said application is received.
3.3

Appointing the inspector and assigning the on-site inspection⚫ Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-3.4.
⚫ An on-site inspection should be carried out approximately at the time of receiving
ingredients, right before or after production, during busy days of shipment, when
products are stored, and so forth.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
IV. Input confirmation

3.4

Confirmation by Standard Committee⚫ Standard Committee evaluates, with Inspection Report and Application Documents,
conformity to JONA Organic Standards, Organic JAS Regulations and technicalcriteria, decides certification and determines, if any, conditions for certification.
⚫ If the committee can’t make a decision only by the inspection reports, additional
explanation should be called for to the inspector.
⚫ JONA notifies the operator of a confirmation decision by document. It may include
minor conditions to be improved.
⚫ Confirmation Notice and a confirmation number are granted to a certified applicant.
⚫ In case that improvement of conditions is necessary, the notice of conditions forconfirmation is given. The applicant must submit an affidavit to improve the conditions
and its related documents (Refer to JONA Certification Program IV-3 with “certification“replaced by “confirmation”.)⚫ Standard Committee confirms improvements and decides whether or notconfirmation is given.
⚫ However, when JONA recognizes the necessity to verify improvement of conditions,the office should carry out the confirmation work such as inspection.
⚫ In case of denial or objection against submitted conditions, the applicant has theright to make an appeal against the decision. Appeal should be made under
Reinvestigation Policy.
3.5

Agreement after approval of the confirmation⚫ It is allowed to label JONA logo mark and indicate confirmation by JONA on thecontainers, packages, and so forth of confirmed products.
⚫ The labeling and indication must be approved by JONA before it is used. In order to
get an approval from JONA, JONA Labeling Evaluation Form with a drafted sample
must be submitted before sale.
⚫ JONA Administration Office evaluates labels.
⚫ The confirmed operator shall notify JONA in advance of any change of contents ofcertification such as ingredients, inputs, processing equipment, facilities, distribution
channel and/or items. JONA decides whether or not another inspection or certificationis needed by those changes.
⚫ The confirmed operator shall notify JONA without delay of a stoppage of confirmed
production, processing, handling, etc.
⚫ The confirmed operator must submit documents and records to verify improvementsof the conditions given from JONA. If they are not submitted, the confirmation will becanceled.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
IV. Input confirmation

3.6

Term of Confirmation Period and Continuing/Renewing the confirmation⚫ A confirmation period is as long as one year after the decision.
⚫ It is necessary for a confirmed operator to get inspected for renewal within one (1)year from the confirmation date.
⚫ The operator should notify JONA of her/his intention to renew confirmation one (1)month at the latest before the expiration of the term of validity.
⚫ The operator shall send the application for renewal to JONA. The application
documents include same contents of the initial application.
⚫ The schedule of renewal inspection is decided between the operator and JONA.
⚫ In some cases, decision of renewal confirmation might not be decided within theterm of validity expires, due to the delay of inspections, delay of the inspection reportsubmission, or by not holding the Standard Committee. If the reason is clear and inline with purposes of confirmation, JONA shall notify the operator of confirmation
extension period under the conditions to improve the conditions and to renew
confirmation.
⚫ Extension of confirmation period is effective only with the condition that the contentsof confirmed material remain the same.
3.7

Keeping the documents relating to the applications⚫ The confirmed operator should keep the related documents for confirmation for atleast three (3) years.
⚫ The related documents include Application Form, Attached Documents, conditions,production records, the reports handed in to JONA, confirmation notice and etc.
3.8

Handling and disposal of non-approved items⚫ When fields, production facilities, raw materials, seeds/seedlings, etc. do notconform with materials allowed in JONA Organic Standards, these products are
regarded non-conformable.
⚫ Non-conformable products cannot be labeled and sold as confirmed products.
⚫ The names and quantity of non-conformable products, the time and date, reason,
and a way of disposal should be reported to JONA and recorded.
⚫ The operator should make rules concerning disposal of non-conformable products
and state it clearly in manuals, etc. S/he should indicate the handling to workers andpersons concerned.
3.9

Reissue of Certificate

Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-a-3.10 with “certification” replacedby “confirmation” and “certification committee” replaced by “standard
committee”.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
IV. Input confirmation

4

Fee

Pursuant to JONA Certification Program III-5. As far as inspection report fee is concerned,
that of processor applies.

78

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

V. GLOBALG.A.P.
There has been an increasing tendency to seek farming that controls sanitation on the farmand that is financially and environmentally and sustainable in and outside Japan. JONA has
decided to move to Global GAP certification (hereafter GGAP certification) after taking theinternational trend into account. Section V of JONA Certification Program prescribes
procedures of GGAP certification.
1

Scope of Certification
1.1

ApplicantAn applicant shall be a person that is responsible for its own products such as a producer,
a production cooperative or a producer group. Collection or processing is not subject to
GGAP certification.
1.2

Geographical scope of certification

JONA covers Japan as a geographical scope of the certification.
1.3

Language used for evaluation

The language used for evaluation is Japanese in principle.
2

Evaluation
Personnel involved in evaluation

Personnel who meet the following qualification up to the type of operation will do theevaluations.
⚫

On-site inspection without QMS audit: Inspector
Meeting Annex III.1 of General Regulations III⚫

On-site inspection of Option 1-3 and Option 2 and certification decision of all
options: QMS auditor
Meeting Annex III.2 of General Regulations III⚫

Any other operations: certification staff
Shall have adequate knowledge to do operations.

In this program, inspector and QMS auditor shall be called “evaluator”.
Personnel involved in evaluation shall have excluded an interest with anapplicant for the past 2 years (see JONA Certification Program VI).

3

Evaluation procedures
3.1

Self-assessment, internal inspection, internal audit

An applicant, before application, shall do a self-assessment to verify conformance withGGAP standards. The applicant shall conduct the self-assessment in the following
79

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

conditions and submit its result at the application.
The conditions that the applicant meet are...
⚫

All parcels, products, and processes for certification are subject to the assessment.

⚫

The assessment shall be done by the applicant itself or anybody else as long as theapplicant can be responsible for its contents.

⚫

The self-assessment shall be done based on GGAP CPCC checklist (prescribed by
GGAP). This checklist shall be available anytime for JONA for verification.

⚫

All non-applicable and non-conformity points shall have comments on objective
evidence in GGAP CPCC checklist.

⚫

An applicant that fall under Option 1-3 or Option 2 shall do a QMS internal audit
based on GGAP QMS checklist at least once a year. Internal audit shall be
conducted by a person who meets Annex II.1. of Internal Regulation II,

3.2

Application⚫

An applicant shall understand GGAP standards.

⚫

An applicant shall fill out application form and submit it to JONA together with the
documents listed.

⚫

An applicant shall not have their products for certification registered by a different
certification body or under a different option (see JONA Certification Program V2.3.1).

⚫

An applicant shall be an individual person or a legal person and shall not be any
non-legal person such as a private organization.
3.2.1 Certification category
The applicant shall be classified to the following category. The applicant shall makeclear which option the applicant like to apply for.
Option 1：Individual producer
Option 1-1 An individual producer that has one production site
Option 1-2

An individual producer or organization that has multiple

production sites (without QMS)
Option 1-3

An individual producer or organization that has multiple

production sites (with QMS)
Option 2：Group producers
Producer group that applies for group certification
3.3

Acceptance of application and registration
80

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

⚫

JONA shall check if the application falls under the scope of certification when it
receives application documents.

⚫

JONA shall check if all documents necessary are submitted to accept an application.

⚫

If the application is accepted, JONA send Global GAP Certification and Inspection
Agreement, Sublicense and Certification Agreement and an invoice.

⚫

JONA shall issue an invoice for 80% of the total evaluation fee, excluding actual
expense, and GLOBALG.A.P. registration fee. JONA does not guarantee issue of

the GLOBAL GAP certificate just because an applicant paid for the fee. However,
if an applicant is a public entity and they wish to pay 100% (including expense)of an audit after the audit, JONA checks its reasons and may approve it.
⚫

JONA shall register the applicant on the database of Global GAP within 28 days
after the date of acceptance when it verifies the agreement of the contract and thepayment of the invoice. GGN number shall be informed to the applicant.

⚫

JONA shall not accept an application if an agreement on contract is not made or if
a payment is not made and return application documents or, if agreed by theapplicant, disposed of them.

⚫

The product scope is linked to the location where that product is produced. Products
produced in a non-registered location cannot be certified, and likewise products thatare not registered but are grown on a registered location cannot be certified.

⚫

JONA shall inform the applicant if the applications is not in the scope of certification.

3.4

selection of inspectors/auditors⚫

After confirming all documents necessary are submitted, Scheme Manage shalldesignate inspectors and auditors of the application. If there are multiple evaluators,
Scheme Manage will choose the chief among them.

⚫

Chief inspector/auditor shall communicate with Scheme Manager on acceptance ofevaluation within 3 days from the date of the designation.

⚫

JONA shall send Evaluation Doc data to inspectors/auditors who accepted aninspection/audit.

⚫

Inspector/auditor shall communicate with other inspectors/auditors and an applicant,decide evaluation date and meeting place, and make an evaluation plan within 7days from the date of receiving of Evaluation Doc and send it in pdf format.

⚫

One inspector can conduct the same operator up to no more than 3 consecutive
years (not 4). However, an inspector can do an operator of Option 1-3 and Option
2 for more than 4 years.

⚫

One auditor may audit the same operator no more than 4 years (not 5).
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V GLOBALG.A.P.

3.5

On-site inspection, on-site audit⚫

Inspection/audit shall be done in line with initial meeting manual, evaluation manual,& exit meeting manual.

⚫

The timing of on-site inspection/audit shall be designed for the evaluator(s) to verify
compliance with all requirements necessary.

⚫

If an inspection is done after the harvest of the crop items for certification, JONA
may be able to evaluate after an additional inspector or additional information. If all
the control points cannot be verified, the crop items cannot be listed on thecertificate.

⚫

If harvest has already taken place at the time of inspection, the evaluator(s) canverify compliance according to the records kept by the applicant. However, in thatcase, JONA shall allocate a subsequent inspection or an unannounced inspection
at the timing of harvest.

⚫

The inspectors shall inspect all production sites of an applicant under option 1-1 or
1-2 based on ‘GGAP CPCC checklist’.

⚫

For an applicant under option 1-3 and 2, inspector(s) shall inspect farms based on‘GGAP CPCC checklist’ and QMS auditor shall audit members or sites based on‘GGAP QMS audit checklist’. The inspector shall decide which members will bechosen after the QMS audit based on risk assessment..

⚫

The post-harvest facilities used collectively shall be inspected for more than squareroot of their total numbers.

⚫

The number of members subject to on-site inspection in case of option 1-3 or 2 isdetermined in line with I.5.2 of General Regulations I and producers subject toinspections shall be notified within 48 hours (2 working days) from the beginning of
the inspection. The risk assessment takes the following factors into account.
1.

Failure to comply with significant QMS and/or product handling requirements
affecting the producer member’s compliance2.

Customer complaints; e.g. illegal pesticide residue detection

3.

Significant inconsistencies between the internal audit/inspection reports andthe CB inspection/audit findings⚫

4.

The possible need to determine if the NC is structural or not

5.

Number of products

The evaluator(s) may stop the evaluation upon an agreement with the applicant if
either of the following conditions is met.
1.

Untruthful conduct on compliance with CPCC is confirmed.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

2.

Integrity on food safety, workers safety, environment, consumers, and/or
product is seriously bleached.

3.

There are more than 20 non-compliances for “Major Must” or “Minor Must”
issues and they cannot be expected to be resolved by the deadline.

⚫

The evaluator(s) shall agree with the applicant on a summary of the inspection at
the end of the inspection. The representative of an applicant shall confirm or sign
the summary.

⚫

The evaluator(s) shall identify non-compliances found during the evaluation on
Evaluation report and send it along with Non-compliance report to the applicant.
They shall be corrected within no more than 28 days from the end of inspection. If
the applicant needs to comply with 100% of Major Must or more than 95% of Minor
Must control points to get certified. Otherwise, the applicant shall be given a warning.

⚫

An applicant shall present corrective actions(immediate correction,cause analysis,
and preventive actions to the auditor.

⚫

The chief inspector/auditor shall evaluate the corrective actions from an applicant
are addressed to check if they have resolved non-conformance.

⚫

If non-conformance cannot be resolved in the assigned period, sanctions will begiven.

⚫

Information on certification shall be disclosed to the accreditation body or Global
GAP if it is requested from them.

3.6

Review and certification⚫

Scheme Manager shall designate reviewer and a certification officer for theapplication whose inspection report has been completed. For the time being, acertification officer would play a role of reviewer.

⚫

A reviewer shall meet qualification of an auditor and complete the training by JONA.

⚫

A certification officer shall review and make a certification report from receiving
accepting a certification operation and report it to JONA Chairperson.

3.7

Notification⚫

The Chairperson shall confirm the certification decision and, if it is appropriate,notify it to the applicant.

⚫

If the certification decision is “certification”, JONA shall issue a certificate.

⚫

If the certification decision is “decertification”, JONA shall inform the applicant of theresult along with reasons by document.

⚫

The certification period is 12 months.
83

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

⚫

JONA shall register them in Global GAP database.

⚫

In case of an applicant that consist of multiple farmers, the certificate shall be sent
only to an applicant. They may not market any product under their name withreference to the certificate.

3.8

Surveillance (only for option 1-3 & 2)⚫

For the operators certified under option 1-3 or 2, JONA shall make an additional
inspection

for

more

than

50%

of

√𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑢𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑒𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒𝑟 /𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑠 .
3.9

Unannounced inspection, unannounced audit⚫

JONA shall make unannounced inspections to 10% (minimum 1 inspection) of all
operators certified under option 1-1&1-2 (see V-2.3.1) and unannounced audits of
QMS to 10% (minimum 1 audit) of all operators under option 1-3 & 2.

⚫

JONA shall take into account geography, crop type, compliance history, etc when
we select operators subject to unannounced inspections.

⚫

An unannounced inspection can be done with a notification within 48 hours on
working days prior to the inspection in principle. The inspection can be extended if
it is an exceptional and justifiable case such as medical reason but the operator will
receive a warning from JONA. JONA shall make another inspection plan, notify
them of it within 48 hours on working days before the planned inspection date, andcarry out an unannounced inspection. If the 2nd inspection cannot be carried out due
to unjustifiable reasons, JONA shall issue a suspension of all products.

⚫

An unannounced inspection for option 1-1 & 1-2 operators shall be carried out for
the Major Must and Minor Musts of GGAP CPCC checklist, or shortened lists.

An unannounced audit for option 1-3 & 2 operator shall be carried out with GGAP QMS audit
checklist.
3.10 Unannounced Reward Program⚫

If an applicant applies for “Unannounced Reward Program”, they can waive anadditional unannounced inspection by having an annual inspection in an
unannounced manner. However, if JONA has justifiable reasons, it can conduct anunannounced inspection in addition to annual inspections.

⚫

An annual inspection in an unannounced manner shall cover all check lists.

3.11 Sanctions⚫

JONA will

apply

sanctions(warning,
84

suspension,or

revocation)

when

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

noncompliance is detected.
⚫

The producer/group of producers may not change certification bodies until thenoncompliance leading to the sanction is resolved.

⚫

JONA reserves the right to lift a sanction if there is sufficient and appropriate
evidence of corrective action.

3.11.1 Warnings⚫

Warnings shall be issued for all types of noncompliance found (noncompliance with
CPCC, General Regulations, and contractual requirements).

⚫

If noncompliance is detected during an inspection/audit, a warning shall be issued
to the producer/group of producers when the inspection/audit results are finalized.

Initial Inspection/Audit⚫

If nonconformance is not resolved within 28 days of the initial inspection/audit, the
GLOBALG.A.P.

⚫

If the nonconformance is not resolved within 28 days after the initial inspection/audit,
the status of the producer/group of producers will be changed to "with unresolved
nonconformance" in the GLOBALG.A.P. database.

⚫

If the cause of the warning is not resolved within 3 months, a certificate will not be
issued, but the producer/group of producers may be re-inspected/re-inspected attheir request. However, a re-inspection/audit may be conducted at the
producer/group of producers' request.

Renewal Inspection/Audit⚫

Noncompliance shall be resolved within 28 days.

⚫

In case of noncompliance due to non-compliance with the contract, General
Regulastions, or Major items, JONA will set a period of time (not exceeding 28 days)
to resolve the noncompliance. The period may be shortened according to theimportance of the non-compliance.

⚫

In cases of serious consequences for food safety, worker safety, the environment,
consumers, and the product, JONA will immediately suspend the certification of the
production. This will be communicated to the producer/group of producers bymeans of a JONA notification letter.
3.11.2 Suspension of Product Certification⚫

If the cause of the warning is not resolved within 28 days, JONA will impose
suspension of certification on the producer/group of producers.

⚫

Suspension of certification may apply to some or all of the products subject tocertification.

⚫

If a suspension is applied, JONA will set a timeframe of not more than 12 months
85

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

for remediation. Lift the suspension of certification of the produce when evidence ofcorrective action is provided by the producer/group of producers and it isdetermined that the cause of the suspension will be resolved before the corrective
deadline.
⚫

If the cause of suspension is not resolved before the deadline, JONA will revoke
the certification.

3.11.3 Cancellation⚫

Revocation of a contract shall be applied in the following cases(1) Evidence of fraud or discreditation of compliance with the requirements of the
GLOBALG.A.P. is confirmed.
(2) Failure to demonstrate effective corrective action during the corrective period ofsuspension of certification.
⚫

In the event of contract revocation, the producer/group of producers may not use
the GLOBALG.A.P. logo/trademark, certificate, documentation, etc. on all products
and sites.

⚫

Producers/producer groups that have received a decision of revocation may notundergo inspections or audits of GLOBALG.A.P. certification for a period of 12months from the date of revocation.

3.12 3Appeals
A producer/group of producers may file an appeal against non-compliancecommunicated to them by JONA. Appeals shall be made in writing stating the reasonsfor the appeal.
3.13 Renewal surveillance (subsequent inspection)⚫

JONA shall issue notification of surveillance for renewing certification to certified
operators 3 months prior to the excepted timing of inspection to inform the timing of
inspection⚫

If an applicant wishes to renew certification, it would need to submit application
documents by the date written in notification of surveillance for renewing
certification.

⚫

JONA shall determine the timing of inspection/audit for renewing.

⚫

Procedures of renewal surveillance would follow V.3.1 to 3.9 except for the following.

⚫

The timing of on-site inspection shall be in the period of 8 months, from 4 months
before the expiry date of certification to 4 months after the expiry date. If certification
period is expected to become expired, the operator may request an extension of86

JONA Certification Program 2024
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the certification period. JONA can grant the extension up to 4 months fromexpiration of the certification period only if its reason can be justifiable.
⚫

An extension shall be granted in the following cases(i) When JONA conducts inspections/audits later than the expiration date in order
to see the mebers of newly added products, processes, or producer groups.
(ii) Resource constraints of JONA(iii) When JONA is unable to conduct the scheduled inspection/audit due to force
majeure such as natural disasters, health reasons of producers, etc..

3.14 Label evaluation⚫

In GGAP certification, Global GAP Logo cannot be labeled on the products but used
for business communication. On the other hand, Global GAP QR code can belabeled on products only if directly conned to the products and used for business
communication.

⚫

The certified operators shall need to apply for label evaluation for use of those logos,
the name of JONA, and any advertisement and publication of Global GAP
certification and get an approval from JONA before use.

3.15 Notification of changes in certification requirements
JONA shall notify certified operators of any changes in standards and procedures related
to Global GAP certification, including the date of application and, if applicable,transitional period, in a timely manner.
3.16 Change of certification body⚫

All producers or producer groups registered to the Database may change
certification body.

⚫

All producers or producer groups that transfer to JONA shall have to resolve anunresolved sanction prior to application. It goes same if when they transfer from
JONA to a different certification body.

⚫

JONA shall check if an applicant has been certified by a different certification bodyand, if they have, their certification status on the Database.

⚫

In transferring certification body, the existing GGN of the producer or producer groupis transferred.

⚫

Producers or producer groups cannot be registered by different certification bodies
for the same products simultaneously. If they have “Global GAP Sublicense andCertification Agreement” with a different certification body and JONA, the87

JONA Certification Program 2024
V GLOBALG.A.P.

agreement will be valid when a previous certification body, whichever it is, releases
GGN number.
⚫

JONA shall close the registration process, including entering into “Global GAP
Sublicense and Certification Agreement” with producer or producer group. The
transfer takes place even after the producer or producer group’s certificate got
expired and there is no binding service contract between the producer or producergroup and the previous certification body.

⚫

There is a period when the producer does not have a valid certification if the “Dateof Acceptance” (signing of the ‘GLOBALG.A.P. Sublicense and Certification
Agreement’) and “Date of Audit” are after the outgoing CB’s certificate expiry date.

⚫

If “Date of Acceptance” and perhaps also “Date of Audit” of JONA takes place before
the previous certification body’s certificate expiry date, JONA’s certification shall bevalid after certification by the previous certification body gets expired. JONA shallkeep the certification cycle of the previous certification body.

4

Fee (indicated without tax)
4.1

Initial and annual evaluation● In case of Option 1-1&1-2
Item
Certification

Comments

Fee（in yen）
Operation

Fee

200,000
1 man-hour = within 8 hours of screening
Basic fee is 100,000 yen.
Man-hours may be added in increments

Farm Evaluation Fee(noQMS)

100,000x(1＋of 0.5 man-hours depending on thereview time.

X)man hour Reasonsfor

additional

man-hours:

Multiple sites, multiple sub-scopes, area,
numberofitems,

new

applicants,business scale, etc.
Post

HarvestUnit

Evaluation Fee
External

Subcontractor

40,000Per one unit. This excludes PHU locatedin the same site with a farms.

20,000 Per one unit.
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V GLOBALG.A.P.

Evaluation Fee

This applied only to the facilities theevaluator(s) actually visit like seedlingnursery (in most cases, post-harvest
units)
Applicable only to each site additional toMultisite Evaluation Fee

20,000 the 1st site of multi-site operators without
QMS.
Applicable only to each sub-scope
20,000 additional to the 1st sub-scope of an

Sub-scope evaluation fee

operator with multi sub-scopes.
Additional

On-siteevaluation/

inspection

Applicable if an additional evaluation or
100,000 re-evaluation

Document

fee

Reviewan

on-siteinspection

reevaluation

requires

Applicable if an additional evaluation or
30,000 re-evaluation requires only document
review without an on-site inspection

Organic JAS certification-50,000

deduction

Subject to having organic certificationfrom JONA or EFRN.

● In case of Option 1-3 & 2● First visit and 2nd visit (surveillance)
Item
Certification

Comments

Fee（in yen）
Operation

Fee

200,000

Farm Evaluation Fee

Applies to producers to be inspected
regardless of the type of audit inspection(initial audit, renewal audit, or additional
100,000×No.
of inspected

audit).
The number of producers to be inspected

producers is based on the principle of √ registeredproducers, and may vary depending on
the status of the audit and the content of
the application.
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V GLOBALG.A.P.

Post

HarvestUnit

Per one unit. Applicable to the units that

Evaluation Fee

are actually visited.
50,000√In

principle,

registeredcentralhandling facilities.
External

Subcontractor

Evaluation Fee

Per one unit.
20,000This applied only to the facilities theevaluator(s) actually visit (in most cases,
post-harvest units)

Sub-scope evaluation fee

Applicable

only

to

each

sub-scope

100,000 additional to the 1st sub-scope of an
operator with multi sub-scopes.
Additionalevaluation/re-evaluation fee

On-siteinspection
Document
Review

Organic JAS certification
deduction

Applicable if an additional evaluation or
200,000 re-evaluation

requiresanon-siteinspection
Applicable if an additional evaluation or
80,000 re-evaluation requires only document
review without an on-site inspection-50,000

Subject to having organic certificationfrom JONA or EFRN.

Notes
⚫

The amounts above are indicated without tax.

⚫

Expenses for travel and accommodation shall be charged separately.

⚫

Organic JAS certification of Option 2 deduction is applicable if at least one of themembers is certified to organic JAS.

⚫

Fees incurred by Foodplus shall be invoiced to an applicant to the fee chart which
is publicly available..

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VI Common matter

VI. Common matter for each certification programs
1

Confidentiality and exclusion of conflict of interest

・ Inspectors, certification officer, document reviewers, certification staff, members ofcommittees, other JONA staff including the directors and office staff and concerned parties
ought to ensure confidentiality. They ought to avoid conflict of interest. All personnel
should sign on the written oath such as Agreement of Inspector for inspector, Affidavit for
Certification officer for Certification officer, and Affidavit for board members anddeclaration of administration office staff.
・ The inspector, Certification officer, board members and office staff shall report the most
updated conflict of interest annually.
・ The following clause describes rules of disclosure of information.
2

Disclosure of information
2.1

Disclosure Information about certified operator⚫ JONA maintains a list of certified operators (name, address, category of products,
location of its fields (in case of aquaculture, culturing site and collection site) andfacilities and the date of certification), certification number and validity of certification(only for EU operators). The list is publicly available. JONA disclose the information
only at the JONA office (the place stated in JONA Statue and on its website). If it isneeded, JONA might provide the requested information by FAX or e-mail. This
information is accessible until the date on which the certified operator discontinues its
grading activities or JONA cancels its certification.
⚫ Once JONA receives a notification for voluntary withdrawal of certification fromoperators, JONA discloses information (the name of the operator, its address, categoryof certified products, location of its fields (in case of aquaculture, culturing site andcollection site) and facilities, date of withdrawal and the certification number) at the
JONA office and on its website for one (1) year from the date of the withdrawal.

For

the EU certification, the information is kept in the list for 5 years after the withdrawal.
⚫ When JONA suspends, or cancels the certification, JONA discloses information
about the operator (name, address, category of certified products, location of its
facilities, date of suspension or cancellation) at the JONA office and on the website forone (1) year from the date of cancellation or during the period of suspension. For the
EU certification, the information of suspension and withdrawal of certfication is kept in
the list for the period of suspension and for 5 years after the withdrawal respectively.
⚫ For the EU certification, when JONA reduces scope of certification of certified
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operators (e.g. removal of product, removal of plots, removal of crops, etc.), JONA
provide the information on its website until next change to the scope is made or the
new certification decision is issued.
⚫ For the EU certification, JONA shall immediately update the list of certified operators
after any change of the status of the certification and keeps the published list for five
years.

Obligation of JONA about other information and its confidentiality

2.2⚫ JONA shall not disclose in principle information of certification procedures and any
information regarding certification except for that of 2.1 above. In requesting suchinformation, one shall in writing request it to JONA with reasonable reasons stated withthe request. JONA may disclose information to the reasonable extent if the
Chairperson decides so.
⚫ JONA shall be responsible to an applicant and inspectors to keep information
regarding certification confidential, but JONA may be able to disclose and present
information to applicable parties with a consent from those whom it concerns in thefollowing cases. Meanwhile, if requested from MAFF, a government agency ofequivalent foreign country, FAMIC, and IOAS, JONA may be able to present
information to them only by notifying it to a certified operator in question.
•

If JONA is requested by a different certification body to disclose information on
the products from a JONA-certified operator for use by an operator certified by
the body, JONA may disclose application documents and inspection report ofthe said operator to the body under contract between the body and JONA.

•

If an operator certified by JONA sells their products to a party that intends toobtain organic certification by a different certification body, the certified operator
may request JONA to present application documents and inspection report ofthe said operator under contract between the body and JONA.

⚫

JONA shall provide information regarding certification promptly and adequately toauthorities and control bodies concerned in the following cases to the extent which are
regulated by respective organic regulations below:
EU Certification• Where operators and/or their subcontractors are certified according to theprograms that is controlled by organizations other than JONA.
• Where operators and/or their subcontractors change their control body
• Where operators and/or their subcontractors withdraw certification
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter• Where irregularities or infringements affecting the organic status of products are
found
COR Certification• If requested from a certification body an operator is switching from JONA to,
JONA shall issue ‘Letter of Good Standing” after verifying there is not any
unresolved non-compliance on certification or contracts.
⚫ In case operators and/or their subcontractors change their certification bodies to
JONA for EU Certification, JONA shall request their previous certification bodies toprovide the information concerning the non-conformities raised in the last inspection,
the corrective measures, the evaluation result of those measures and the reasons ofwithdrawing certifications.
⚫ JONA and a certified operator, if agreeing, shall accept an surveillance/inspectionof applicable governments, FAMIC, or other controlling body (an auditor from IFOAM,IOAS, or ISO audit agency).
⚫ As for operators certified to Global GAP, JONA prescribe how to handle information
below.
• A photocopy of inspection report, objective evidence of corrective actions, andcompleted inspection and audit check lists shall be provided only with aconsensus with the operator when requested to national legislations, Foodplus,
IOAS, and other CBs.
• If a producer or producer group is included in the certification JONA sanction
and if they are also certified by other certification body, JONA shall communicate
on the scope of sanction, if necessary, the details on sanction. Likewise, JONA
also received information necessary on sanction from other certification bodies.
• Communications between certification bodies shall be done on informationnecessary. A sanction issued from a different certification body is valid and
JONA shall respect a sanction.

3

Impartiality Policy⚫ The Chairperson shall identify the risk to the impartiality on an ongoing basis andattempt to eliminate and minimize the identified risk. The elimination of the identified
risk or the identification of the risk to impartiality and the result of its management isregistered to the list of impartiality analysis.
⚫ The Chairperson calls for the impartiality committee on the impartiality of theoperation at JONA once or more a year.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter⚫ The procedure for the previous clause is provided in Impartiality Committee
Operation Policy.
⚫ The impartiality committee discusses the impartiality of the certification activities of
JONA and offers an opinion on the result of its discussion to the chairperson.
4

Reinvestigation Policy⚫ Applicant can make an appeal for reinvestigation when he is dissatisfied and havean objection to evaluation result.
Request of appeal

4.1⚫ An appeal should be filed by submitting a document on issues and reasons of theappeal within thirty (30) days from a notice of decision.
⚫ The administration office notifies its receipt of the request of appeal to the applicant,reviews the contents of appeal and reports by document the outcome to the applicant
within two (2) weeks.
⚫ In the case of further dissatisfaction or objection with the report, the applicant canmake an appeal directly to the Reinvestigation Committee within thirty (30) days.
⚫ An appeal against the decision made by the Reinvestigation Committee can bemade no more than twice for one case.
⚫ An appeal can be received only if it is made by document. The document has tostate date of appeal and name of appellant with her/his signature and stamps.
Reinvestigation Process

4.2

The Administration Office reviews the contents of appeal. The office shall inform theappellant if it will take more than two (2) weeks for the office to answer The officecollects additional information or hearings from the inspector. An outcome of the review
is to be informed by documents of within thirty (30) days.
⚫ The reinvestigation should be carried out by the committee and a decision is madewithin thirty (30) days on acceptance of appeal. An outcome of the reinvestigation shallbe reported to the chairperson and the appellant.
⚫ When the Reinvestigation Committee decides it necessary, JONA can conduct an
on-site inspection. The inspection shall be conducted in accordance with JONA
Certification Program. Articles on drafting and notification of inspection plan,
conduction on-site inspection, and making and reporting an inspection report are
applicable.
⚫ The decision is one of the followings.
•

Approving the legitimacy of the contents of appeal (fact and rationale). The
reinvestigation committee instructs the certification officer to re-judge.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter•

As the facts and records in the appeal against the decision are not complete, adecision will be held until more detailed information shall be revealed by further
investigation by the Administration Office.

•Denial of the appeal as there is not justification in appeal (fact and rationale)⚫ JONA shall keep logs and documents related to reinvestigations properly/⚫ JONA shall conduct preventive measures and retroactive measures if necessary.
4.3

Reinvestigation Committee⚫ The Reinvestigation Committee consists of one (1) chairperson and two (2)members.
⚫ The Reinvestigation Committee consists of a member from the Standard Committee,
a certification officer who was not involved in the evaluation, ana a full member of
JONA having no interest in the matter or the trade. The chairperson is chosen by the
3 members.
⚫ The members shall be recognized by the board of directors recognize that they havesufficient knowledge for JONA Organic Standards, JONA Certification Program,organic system and related regulations.
⚫ The members shall sign Agreement of Reinvestigation Committee Member andreport the conflict of interest so as to ensure the confidentiality and avoid conflict ofinterest.
⚫ JONA can give training to the members to provide necessary information forreinvestigation. The chairperson appoints the trainer.
⚫ The JONA chairperson evaluates the performance of the members in each case ofreinvestigation.
4.4

Expenses of reinvestigation⚫ A person or firm that filed appeals should bear a whole expense for reinvestigationin principle. Meanwhile, if the appeal turn out to be approved fully after reinvestigation,
JONA shall bear the whole expense for reinvestigation.
⚫ Expense includes the expense for holding Reinvestigation Committee (5,000 yen
for daily allowance of each member, traveling expense and so forth) and re-inspection
for irregular surveillance.
⚫ The Administration Office demands for the payment after a final appeals decision ismade.
5Complaint policy
5.1

Accepting complaints⚫ Complaints regarding certification decisions shall be processed according to JONA
Certification Program VI-4.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter⚫ JONA shall accept complaints, if possible, in writing. Complaints made verbally so
as by phone shall be recorded on important matters (date, complainer, contact of thecomplainer, content). General manager and/or Certification shall inform reception of acomplaint on certification to a complaining person and Secretary General on generalissues.
⚫ A complaint shall be recorded on Complaint Report and reported to the Chairperson.
⚫ The Chairperson instructs Secretary General, General Manager, or Certification
Manager to deal with a complaint, depending on its contents.
5.2

Dealing with complaints⚫ Personnel in an applicable department shall fill out Complaint Report and report on
dealing a complaint to the Chairperson and a responsible person.
⚫ The General Manager shall inform the complainer of a response to the complaint,
which is approved by the Chairperson.
⚫ The Chairperson shall report to a government in dealing with a complaint if s/he
decides it is necessary to do.
⚫ If the complainer complains further after JONA notifies him/her of its response, theChairperson shall decide how to deal with this.
⚫ Complaint records shall be kept for at least five (5) years.
⚫ Complaint records shall be utilized for dealing with similar future cases and forpreventive measures. If necessary, JONA shall make retroactive measures.
⚫ Records can be kept on other forms if they are equivalent to complaint records.
5.3

Management of personnel dealing with complaints⚫ Personnel dealing with complaints shall be a qualified person.
⚫ Secretary General shall evaluate competence of the personnel for every complaint.
If there is not a problem, his or her signature on the complaint record means it.
6

Dispute Settlement Policy

When a JONA member makes a violation of JONA Statute, JONA Organic Standards, JONA
Certification Program, and other rules, disciplinary measures should be imposed according
to Dispute Settlement Policy . Even if the violator is not a member of JONA, this policy also
applies to the violation for the sake of creditability of JONA certification and JONA Mark.
However, in case of GLOBALG.A.P. certification, if a certified operator turns out not be able
to resolve non-compliance with the assigned deadline (maximum 28 days), JONA shall issuesuspension of shipment. If they continue not to be able to improve, JONA shall cancel theircertification. A sanction will not run out with the cycle but stays with the GGN until such timethat the non-conformance is closed.
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VI Common matter

Assessment of violation

6.1⚫ When a JONA staff received the report of violation of suspicious case of violation,
the person should record it on Complaint Report. And then the case should be reported
to the Chairperson.
⚫ JONA can urge the operator to voluntarily stop operations related to the certification,even before investigating the case, if the Chairperson judges violation in the case ishighly anticipated and too risky for continuing the operation as it is or poor cooperation
with evaluation because of long standing unpayments for invoices. This is voluntaryand distinguished from the suspension of certification. Voluntary withdraw should berequested in such cases that organic integrity of products is suspected, when an
intentional bleach is possible, or when the operator does not pay by the due date set
in a warning letter from JONA.
⚫ Certification manager designated by the Chairperson shall investigate violation of
the suspected case by the following procedures.
•

To collect the evidence documents•

To interview with corresponding operator and person provided the information
to ensure the reliability of the information.

•

To verify which violation the suspicion applies to, violation of certification,
violation of labeling, violation of agreement, or violation of JAS regulations.

⚫ Certification Manager shall complete and report an initial investigation on within ten(10) days.
⚫ When Certification manager confirms violation, it should be reported to the
Chairperson immediately. If the case is about violation of certification, the investigatorshould consult with a certification officer appointed by the Chairperson before reportingto the Chairperson.
⚫

Regarding to Violation of labelling, in case that non-members or non-certified
parties made the abusive use, false statements regarding a product's certificationor the incorrect use of its certification marks, Certification manager reports thecase related to JAS and asks for investigation to FAMIC.

As for the caseregarding certification other than JAS, the investigator contacts the violator andrequests the discontinuation of violation in writing. If necessary, JONA takes alegal action against the violator.
⚫ If the suspicion turns out not to reflect facts but to be merely a rumor, the investigator
shall stop his/her investigation and report it to the Chairperson.
⚫ For EU certification, where JONA suspects, receives substantiated information, or
has been informed of a suspicion of non-compliance, JONA immediately carries out
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JONA Certification Program 2024
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investigation as mentioned above. JONA provisionally prohibits both the placing on
the market of the products concerned as organic or in-conversion products and theiruse in organic production pending the results of the investigation. Before taking sucha decision, JONA gives the operator an opportunity to comment. In the event that theresults of the investigation do not show any non-compliance affecting the integrity oforganic or in-conversion products, JONA allows the operator to use the products
concerned or to place them on the market as organic or in-conversion products.
6.2

Dispute Settlement Committee⚫ The Chairperson calls for the Dispute Settlement Committee based on the report by
Certification Manager.
⚫ The Chairperson should notify the suspected operator of holding the Dispute
Settlement Committee at least one (1) week prior to holding the committee to grant
the operator the opportunity for explanation.
⚫ The Chairperson chooses members of the Dispute Settlement Committee for eachcase. The committee is organized with one (1) member from the board members, one(1) certification officer, and Certification Manager.
⚫ The board member will be selected from the chairperson as a person that has goodunderstanding in JONA Organic Standards, JONA Certification Program,

Organic

JAS regulations and other applicable regulations.
⚫ If the Dispute Settlement Committee or the Chairperson thinks necessary, thecommittee can call for a third-party person for advice.
⚫ The Chairperson shall not choose the Board member that has the conflict of interestor the certification officer who committed the certification process related to the casewhen s/he chooses the members of the Dispute Settlement Committee.
6.3

Disciplinary measures and its notification⚫ The Dispute Settlement Committee judge on disciplinary measures listed below.
a. order to stop the shipment and callback
b. suspension of certificationc. cancellation of certificationd. expulsion
A decision on d must be decided in the General Assembly after the approval fromthe Board.
⚫ The Chairperson should notify facts of the violation and disciplinary measures to theoperator within one (1) week (decision on d shall be agreed from the board and/or thegeneral assembly).
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter⚫ If the Chairperson orders suspension of certification (under JAS, stoppage of
grading, labeling compliance, shipment of graded products, or advertisement on labelof compliance), the Chairperson shall assign at least one qualified person to informthe operator of corrective actions needed to end suspension.
⚫ If Dispute Settlement Committee decides that an appropriate improvement has
been made for sanctions a or b of the above dots, the sanction shall be lifted and it is
notified to the violator.
⚫ The Chairperson consult with MAFF and decide its response in case the operator
submits the voluntary withdrawal of operation during the period of suspension or when
the cancellation of certification is notified to the operator.
⚫ JONA shall collect organic certificates if it orders cancellation of certification or if
certification is withdrawn. When suspension of certification is ordered, JONA shallcollect organic certificate temporarily.

JONA shall restore the certificate to theoperator when the sanction is lifted.
⚫ If the operator withdraws certification or if JONA orders cancellation of certificationor suspends the shipment of products of organic claim, the Chairperson shall requests
to the operator to stop all public relations or advertisement regarding organic
certification and use of label of organic claim.
⚫ The minutes of the Dispute Settlement Committee shall be kept by the chairperson.
6.4

Disclosure of information and report⚫ With judgment of Dispute Settlement Committee, if JONA stops the shipment
temporary, or canceled the certification, JONA discloses information about theoperator (name, reasons and so on) on the website and report to the Minister ofAgriculture, Forestry and Fisheries without delay as required by the Law.
⚫ JONA shall make it accessible in the office and public on its website if JAS-gradedproducts are shipped, if label of compliance is used for advertisement, or organic JAS
mark or label of compliance is used inappropriately even after cancellation ofcertification.
6.5

Miscellaneous⚫ To revise this manual, the General Manager submits a draft to the board meeting,then the Board makes a decision of it.
⚫ The Chairperson consults others such as the board members and judges thematters which are not ruled in this manual.
7

Restrictions

・ JONA does not provide any services for promotion, any support of such activities, andsale promotions of organic products and certified operators.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VI Common matter

・ JONA member can utilize Inter-Communication, JONA’s periodical publication theirproducts and JONA, for their promotion and access to other operators.

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JONA Certification Program 2024
VII Analysis and Residue Sampling

Analysis and Residue TestingVII.
1

Testing of pesticide residues, GMO, GMO derivative, etc.

・ Testing of chemical residues and GMO, GMO derivative, etc by laboratory is not a requiredcondition for certification.
・ The method of organic certification is to certify that cultivation, processing and distribution
are carried out as regulated in the Organic Standards. Testing is not a major instrument
to decide organic certification.
・ It is recommended that analysis should be carried out by an applicant.
・ However, analysis is to be carried out by JONA in the following cases for reflecting
consumers’ interest.
1.1

Testing in the case of suspicion⚫ When required for certification decision by the certification officer.
⚫ When fields requested for certification are exposed to contamination from thevicinity.
⚫ When conformity of the organic certification is suspected after certification is
granted.
⚫ In the above cases, testing of soil, pesticide residues, water and chemical residues,
and GMO, GMO derivative, etc is to be carried out.
1.2

Testing to ensure JONA’s credibility⚫ JONA conducts for its credibility tests including residue analysis of certified products
and GMO based on the risk analysis of certified operators defined III-3.4.7 of thisprogram besides tests described in VII-1.1.
1.3

Handling of sampling Test

⚫ In order to ensure credibility of certified products by JONA, analysis of soil testing,or pesticide and chemical residues, GMO, GMO derivative, etc, from 3% (5% in caseof EU Certification) of the total certified operators of the year will be carried out. Thisshould count the results voluntarily or involuntarily submitted from the certified
operators.
⚫ For EU certification, JONA shall, in addition to the above-mentioned sampling, takeone sample for each operator categorized as high risk described in III-3.4.7. In caseof crop, the most appropriate time to detect potential use of a prohibited substance will
be chosen. For non-crop products, a sample will be taken from raw material,
intermediate product, or processed product.
⚫ The laboratories for analysis are those registered to the Ministry of Health, Laborand Welfare, and laboratories accredited to ISO-17025.
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JONA Certification Program 2024
VII Analysis and Residue Sampling

IFOAM / COR / EU-equivalence programs are done only by the laboratories accredited
to ISO 17025, with which JONA has contracted.

Test results from any otherlaboratories will be regarded as reference information.
⚫ JONA checks and records the status of registration or accreditation of thelaboratories in the previous clause before the end of the period.
⚫ Sampling is taken by a competent person approved by JONA in principle.
⚫ JONA shall respond to test results in line with JONA Organic Standards 11-5-9 and11-5-10.
⚫ For EU certification, in case of investigation under suspected non-compliance,
JONA shall identify at least a) name, lot identification, ownership and physical locationof organic products in question, b) whether the products in question are still available
on the market as organic, c) the type, name, quantity, and other relevant informationof the present prohibited substance, d) stage of food chain where the prohibited
substance is detected and, in case of crops, whether the sample was taken preharvest or post-harvest, e) whether other operators in the supply chain are affectredand f) the results of previous official investigations on the organic or in-conversion
products and operators concerned. The investigation shall conclude on at least (a)theintegrity of organic and in-conversion products, (b) the source and the cause of thepresence of the prohibited substance, (c) the elements provided in Article 29(2)(a), (b)and (c) of Regulation (EU) 2018/848.

JONA draws up the final report of theinvestigation including the records of the abovementioned elements in this paragraphand the records of the information exchanged with the competent authority, control
bodies and the Commission related to the investigation. This final report is preparedbased on the OFIS template presented in Annex III of Regulation (EU) 2021/1698.
2

Expense for analysis

・ For tests in case of suspicion, an applicant shall pay for expense for sampling analysis(daily allowance of inspectors, inspection report fee, travel fee, analysis fee).
・ For test defined in this Program, JONA shall pay for sampling analysis.
3

Item for analysis

・ If contamination is suspected, JONA shall research on which chemicals or pesticides are
possibly contaminating the sample. JONA consider high-risk chemicals for testing.
Allowed testing level, and other details are pursuant to JONA Organic Standards 13-5 foranalysis items

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VII Analysis and Residue Sampling

FIN

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JONA Certification Program 2023
April 1993

Established

Lastly amended on

10 March, 2024

Issued by Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association
Copyright: Japan Organic and Natural Foods Association