§ 205.501 General requirements for accreditation. ( a ) A private or governmental entity accredited as a certifying agent under this subpart must: ( 1 ) Have sufficient expertise in organic production or handling techniques to fully comply with and implement the terms and conditions of the organic certification program established under the Act and the regulations in this part;
( 2 ) Demonstrate the ability to fully comply with the requirements for accreditation set forth in this subpart;
( 3 ) Carry out the provisions of the Act and the regulations in this part, including the provisions of §§ 205.402 through 205.406 and § 205.670;
( 4 ) Continuously use a sufficient number of qualified and adequately trained personnel, including inspectors and certification review personnel, to comply with and implement the USDA organic standards. ( i ) Certifying agents must demonstrate that all inspectors, including staff, volunteers, and contractors, have the relevant knowledge, skills, and experience required to inspect operations of the scope and complexity assigned and to evaluate compliance with the applicable regulations of this part. ( A ) Certifying agents must demonstrate that inspectors continuously maintain adequate knowledge and skills about the current USDA organic standards, production and handling practices, certification and inspection, import and/or export requirements, traceability audits, mass-balance audits, written and oral communication skills, sample collection, investigation techniques, and preparation of technically accurate inspection documents.
( B ) All inspectors must demonstrate successful completion of training that is relevant to inspection. Inspectors with less than one year of inspection experience must complete at least 50 hours of training within their first year and prior to performing inspections independently. Inspectors with one or more years of inspection experience must annually complete at least 10 hours of training if inspecting one area of operation (as defined at § 205.2) and an additional 5 hours of training for each additional area of operation inspected.
( C ) Certifying agents must demonstrate that inspectors have a minimum of 2,000 hours of experience relevant to the scope and complexity of operations they will inspect before assigning initial inspection responsibilities.
( ii ) Certifying agents must demonstrate that all certification review personnel, including staff, volunteers, or contractors, have the knowledge, skills, and experience required to perform certification review of operations of the scope and complexity assigned and to evaluate compliance with the applicable regulations of this part. ( A ) Certifying agents must demonstrate that all certification review personnel continuously maintain adequate knowledge and skills in the current USDA organic standards, certification and compliance processes, traceability audits, mass-balance audits, and practices applicable to the type, volume, and range of review activities assigned.
( B ) All certification review personnel must demonstrate successful completion of training that is relevant to certification review. Certification review personnel with less than one year of certification review experience must complete at least 50 hours of training within their first year performing certification review. Certification review personnel with one or more years of certification review experience must annually complete at least 10 hours of training if conducting certification review related to one area of operation and an additional 5 hours of training for each additional area of operation.
( iii ) Certifying agents must maintain current training requirements, training procedures, and training records for all inspectors and certification review personnel.
( 5 ) Demonstrate that all persons with inspection or certification review responsibilities have sufficient expertise in organic production or handling techniques to successfully perform the duties assigned. Sufficient expertise must include knowledge of certification to USDA organic standards and evidence of education, training, or professional experience in the fields of agriculture, science, or organic production and handling that relates to assigned duties.
( 6 ) Conduct an annual performance evaluation of all persons who conduct inspections, certification review, or implement measures to correct any deficiencies in certification services. ( i ) Witness inspections—certifying agents must ensure that each inspector is evaluated while performing an inspection at least once every three years, or more frequently if warranted. Inspectors with less than three years of inspection experience must undergo a witness inspection annually. Witness inspections must be performed by certifying agent personnel who are qualified to evaluate inspectors.
( ii ) Certifying agents must maintain documented policies, procedures, and records for annual performance evaluations and witness inspections.
( 7 ) Have an annual program review of its certification activities conducted by the certifying agent's staff, an outside auditor, or a consultant who has expertise to conduct such reviews and implement measures to correct any noncompliances with the Act and the regulations in this part that are identified in the evaluation;
( 8 ) Provide sufficient information to persons seeking certification to enable them to comply with the applicable requirements of the Act and the regulations in this part;
( 9 ) Maintain all records pursuant to § 205.510(b) and make all such records available for inspection and copying during normal business hours by authorized representatives of the Secretary and the applicable State organic program's governing State official;
( 10 ) Maintain strict confidentiality with respect to its clients under the applicable organic certification program and not disclose to third parties (except for the Secretary or the applicable State organic program's governing State official or their authorized representatives) any business-related information concerning any client obtained while implementing the regulations in this part, except: ( i ) For information that must be made available to any member of the public, as provided for in § 205.504(b)(5);
( ii ) For enforcement purposes, certifying agents must exchange any compliance-related information that is credibly needed to certify, decertify, or investigate an operation, including for the purpose of verifying supply chain traceability and audit trail documentation; and
( iii ) If a certified operation's proprietary business information is compliance-related and thus credibly needed to certify, decertify, or investigate that operation, certifying agents may exchange that information for the purposes of enforcing the Act, but the information in question still retains its proprietary character even after it is exchanged and all of the certifying agents that are involved in the exchange still have a duty to preserve the confidentiality of that information after the exchange.
( 11 ) Prevent conflicts of interest by: ( i ) Not certifying a production or handling operation if the certifying agent or a responsibly connected party of such certifying agent has or has held a commercial interest in the production or handling operation, including an immediate family interest or the provision of consulting services, within the 12-month period prior to the application for certification;
( ii ) Excluding any person, including contractors, with conflicts of interest from work, discussions, and decisions in all stages of the certification process and the monitoring of certified production or handling operations for all entities in which such person has or has held a commercial interest, including an immediate family interest or the provision of consulting services, within the 12-month period prior to the application for certification;
( iii ) Not permitting any employee, inspector, contractor, or other personnel to accept payment, gifts, or favors of any kind, other than prescribed fees, from any business inspected: *Except,* That, a certifying agent that is a not-for-profit organization with an Internal Revenue Code tax exemption or, in the case of a foreign certifying agent, a comparable recognition of not-for-profit status from its government, may accept voluntary labor from certified operations;
( iv ) Not giving advice or providing consultancy services, to certification applicants or certified operations, for overcoming identified barriers to certification;
( v ) Requiring all persons who review applications for certification, perform on-site inspections, review certification documents, evaluate qualifications for certification, make recommendations concerning certification, or make certification decisions and all parties responsibly connected to the certifying agent to complete an annual conflict of interest disclosure report; and
( vi ) Ensuring that the decision to certify an operation is made by a person different from those who conducted the review of documents and on-site inspection.
( 12 ) ( i ) Reconsider a certified operation's application for certification and, if necessary, perform a new on-site inspection when it is determined, within 12 months of certifying the operation, that any person participating in the certification process and covered under § 205.501(a)(11)(ii) has or had a conflict of interest involving the applicant. All costs associated with a reconsideration of application, including onsite inspection costs, shall be borne by the certifying agent.
( ii ) Refer a certified operation to a different accredited certifying agent for recertification and reimburse the operation for the cost of the recertification when it is determined that any person covered under § 205.501(a)(11)(i) at the time of certification of the applicant had a conflict of interest involving the applicant.
( 13 ) Accept the certification decisions made by another certifying agent accredited or accepted by USDA pursuant to § 205.500. Certifying agents must provide information to other certifying agents to ensure organic integrity or to enforce organic regulations, including to verify supply chain integrity, authenticate the organic status of certified products, and conduct investigations;
( 14 ) Refrain from making false or misleading claims about its accreditation status, the USDA accreditation program for certifying agents, or the nature or qualities of products labeled as organically produced;
( 15 ) Maintain current and accurate data in the Organic Integrity Database for each operation which it certifies;
( 16 ) Charge applicants for certification and certified production and handling operations only those fees and charges for certification activities that it has filed with the Administrator;
( 17 ) Pay and submit fees to AMS in accordance with § 205.640;
( 18 ) Provide the inspector, prior to each on-site inspection, with previous on-site inspection reports and notify the inspector of its decision regarding certification of the production or handling operation site inspected by the inspector and of any requirements for the correction of minor noncompliances;
( 19 ) Accept all production or handling applications that fall within its area(s) of accreditation and certify all qualified applicants, to the extent of its administrative capacity to do so without regard to size or membership in any association or group; and
( 20 ) Demonstrate its ability to comply with a State's organic program to certify organic production or handling operations within the State.
( 21 ) Conduct risk-based supply chain traceability audits as described in the criteria and procedures for supply chain audits, per § 205.504(b)(7), and share audit findings with other certifying agents as needed to determine compliance, per paragraph (a)(13) of this section.
( 22 ) Notify AMS not later than 90 calendar days after certification activities begin in a new certification office. The notification must include the countries where the certification activities are being provided, the nature of the certification activities, and the qualifications of the personnel providing the certification activities.
( 23 ) Comply with, implement, and carry out any other terms and conditions determined by the Administrator to be necessary.
( b ) A private or governmental entity accredited as a certifying agent under this subpart may establish a seal, logo, or other identifying mark to be used by production and handling operations certified by the certifying agent to indicate affiliation with the certifying agent: *Provided,* That, the certifying agent: ( 1 ) Does not require use of its seal, logo, or other identifying mark on any product sold, labeled, or represented as organically produced as a condition of certification and
( 2 ) Does not require compliance with any production or handling practices other than those provided for in the Act and the regulations in this part as a condition of use of its identifying mark: *Provided,* That, certifying agents certifying production or handling operations within a State with more restrictive requirements, approved by the Secretary, shall require compliance with such requirements as a condition of use of their identifying mark by such operations.
( c ) A private entity accredited as a certifying agent must: ( 1 ) Hold the Secretary harmless for any failure on the part of the certifying agent to carry out the provisions of the Act and the regulations in this part;
( 2 ) Furnish reasonable security, in an amount and according to such terms as the Administrator may by regulation prescribe, for the purpose of protecting the rights of production and handling operations certified by such certifying agent under the Act and the regulations in this part; and
( 3 ) Transfer to the Administrator and make available to any applicable State organic program's governing State official all records or copies of records concerning the person's certification activities in the event that the certifying agent dissolves or loses its accreditation; *Provided,* That, such transfer shall not apply to a merger, sale, or other transfer of ownership of a certifying agent.
( d ) No private or governmental entity accredited as a certifying agent under this subpart shall exclude from participation in or deny the benefits of the National Organic Program to any person due to discrimination because of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, or marital or family status.
[65 FR 80637, Dec. 21, 2000, as amended at 88 FR 3624, Jan. 19, 2023]