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THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION,Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007note, and in particular Articles 48(3) and 57(2) thereof,Whereas:
(1)Annex I to Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325note sets out the list of third countries whose systems of production and control measures for organic production of agricultural products are recognised as equivalent to those laid down in Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007note.
(2)India has informed the Commission that its competent authority suspended the control body ‘TQ Cert Services Private Limited’ and therefore that control body should be removed from the list of control bodies recognised by India.
(3)Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 sets out the list of control authorities and control bodies recognised for the purpose of equivalence and competent to carry out controls and issue certificates in third countries. In the light of new information and requests received by the Commission since the adoption of Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325, certain changes should be made to that list.
(4)Notifications of cases of non-compliance have been made in the Organic Farming Information System (OFIS) of ‘Control Union Certifications’ (BIO-149), ‘Ecocert SA’ (BIO-154), ‘Lacon GmbH’ (BIO-134) and ‘OneCert International PVT Ltd’ (BIO-152). Those notifications concern the contamination of a large number of consignments of products, produced in India and certified as organic by those control bodies. The contaminations were with products and substances not allowed in organic production and/or conventional production in the Union, at levels above and often far above the Maximum Residue Levels as set in Regulation (EC) No 396/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Councilnote. Those contaminations include, but are not limited to, contaminations with ethylene oxide, which is carcinogenic, mutagenic, and toxic for reproduction.
(5)Moreover, those control bodies have failed to demonstrate that organic products imported under their control have been produced in accordance with production rules and subject to control arrangements equivalent to those laid down in Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 and in Commission Regulations (EC) No 889/2008note and (EC) No 1235/2008note.
(6)In addition, those control bodies have failed to take corrective measures in response to the irregularities and infringements observed.
(7)For each of those reasons, and in accordance with Article 4(1), points (d)(iv), (d)(v) and (d)(vii) of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1342note, the control bodies ‘Control Union Certifications’, ‘Ecocert SA’, ‘Lacon GmbH’ and ‘OneCert International PVT Ltd’ should be withdrawn from the list of control authorities and control bodies recognised for India for the purpose of equivalence under Article 33(3) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.
(8)‘A CERT European Organization for Certification S.A.’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address.
(9)The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘BioGro New Zealand Limited’ to withdraw its recognition for all third countries for which it is recognised in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325.
(10)‘Bureau Veritas Certification France SAS’ has notified the Commission regarding the change of its internet address.
(11)The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Ecocert SA’ to change its name. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is justified to replace the name of that control body by ‘Ecocert SAS’.
(12)The accreditation body IOAS has informed the Commission about the withdrawal of its accreditation relating to the control body ‘FairCert Certification Services Pvt Ltd’. The Commission has also invited the control body to provide a valid accreditation certificate and to take appropriate and timely remedial action. However, ‘FairCert Certification Services Pvt Ltd’ failed to reply satisfactorily within the deadline set for the purpose. Finally, ‘FairCert Certification Services Pvt Ltd’ did not communicate to the Commission all of the information related to its technical dossier. For each of those three reasons, and in accordance with Article 4(1), point (d)(iii), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1342, ‘FairCert Certification Services Pvt Ltd’ should be withdrawn from the list of control authorities and control bodies set out in Annex II to Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 for all third countries.
(13)‘Kiwa Sativa’ has notified the Commission of the change of its internet address.
(14)The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Lacon GmbH’ to withdraw its recognition for all third countries for which it is recognised in Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325.
(15)The Commission has received and examined a request by ‘LETIS S.A.’ to withdraw its recognition for Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Morocco, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and Uzbekistan.
(16)The accreditation body IOAS has informed the Commission about the withdrawal of its accreditation relating to ‘LETIS S.A.’ in Turkey. The Commission has also invited the control body to provide a valid accreditation certificate concerning Turkey and to take appropriate and timely remedial action. However, ‘LETIS S.A.’ failed to reply satisfactorily within the deadline set for the purpose. For each of those two reasons, and in accordance with Article 4(1), point (d)(iii), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1342, it is justified to withdraw the recognition of ‘LETIS S.A.’ for Turkey.
(17)‘OneCert International PVT Ltd’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address and internet address.
(18)The Commission has received a request from ‘Oregon Tilth’ to withdraw its recognition for Panama.
(19)The Commission has received a request from ‘Organic Standard’ to withdraw its recognition for Russia.
(20)The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Soil Association Certification Limited’ to voluntarily cease its activities for all third countries for which it is recognised in accordance with Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325.
(21)‘Tse-Xin Organic Certification Corporation’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address.
(22)Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 should therefore be amended accordingly.
(23)The measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the Organic Production Committee,
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:
Article 1#
Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 is amended as follows:
(1)Annex I is amended in accordance with Annex I to this Regulation;
(2)Annex II is amended in accordance with Annex II to this Regulation.
Article 2#
This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.
Annex I
In Annex I to Regulation (EU) 2021/2325, in point 5 of the entry for India, the row for code number IN-ORG-006 is deleted.
Annex II
(1)in the entry for ‘A CERT European Organization for Certification S.A.’, point 1 is replaced by the following:
1.Address: 52, 19is Maiou Street, 57001 Thessaloniki, Greece’;
(2)the entry for ‘BioGro New Zealand Limited’ is deleted;
(3)in the entry for ‘Bureau Veritas Certification France SAS’, point 2 is replaced by the following:
2.Internet address: https://www.bureauveritas.fr/besoin/agriculture-biologique-certification-bio’;
(4)in the table in point 3 of the entry for ‘Control Union Certifications’, the row for India is deleted;
(5)the entry for ‘Ecocert SA’ is amended as follows:
(a)the name ‘Ecocert SA’ is replaced by ‘Ecocert SAS’;
(b)in the table in point 3, the row for India is deleted;
(6)the entry for ‘FairCert Certification Services Pvt Ltd’ is deleted;
(7)in the entry for ‘Kiwa Sativa’, point 2 is replaced by the following:
2.Internet address: www.kiwa.com/pt’;
(8)the entry for ‘Lacon GmbH’ is deleted;
(9)in the entry for ‘LETIS S.A.’, point 3 is replaced by the following:
3.Code numbers, third countries and product categories concerned:Code number | Third country | Category of productsA | B | C | D | E | FAR-BIO-135 | Argentina | — | — | x | x | — | —BO-BIO-135 | Bolivia | x | — | — | x | — | —BR-BIO-135 | Brazil | x | — | x | x | — | —BZ-BIO-135 | Belize | x | — | x | x | — | —CO-BIO-135 | Colombia | x | — | x | x | — | —CR-BIO-135 | Costa Rica | — | — | x | — | — | —DO-BIO-135 | Dominican Republic | x | — | x | x | — | —EC-BIO-135 | Ecuador | x | — | — | x | — | —GT-BIO-135 | Guatemala | x | — | x | x | — | —HN-BIO-135 | Honduras | x | — | x | x | — | —KY-BIO-135 | Cayman Islands | x | — | — | x | — | —MX-BIO-135 | Mexico | x | — | — | — | — | —PA-BIO-135 | Panama | x | — | x | x | — | —PE-BIO-135 | Peru | x | — | x | — | — | —PY-BIO-135 | Paraguay | x | — | — | x | — | —SV-BIO-135 | El Salvador | x | — | x | x | — | —UY-BIO-135 | Uruguay | x | — | — | — | — | —
(10)the entry for ‘OneCert International PVT Ltd’ is amended as follows:
(a)points 1 and 2 are replaced by the following:
1.Address: KA-23B, Near Greenphield Public School, Shri Ram Colony, Ramnagar Ext., Sodala, Jaipur, 302019, Rajasthan, India
2.Internet address: www.onecertinternational.com’;
(b)in the table in point 3, the row for India is deleted;
(11)in the table in point 3 of the entry for ‘Oregon Tilth’, the row for Panama is deleted;
(12)in the table in point 3 of the entry for ‘Organic Standard’, the row for Russia is deleted;
(13)the entry for ‘Soil Association Certification Limited’ is deleted;
(14)in the entry for ‘Tse-Xin Organic Certification Corporation.’, point 1 is replaced by the following:
1.Address: Xizhi District, City: 221416 New Taipei City, 26 F, No 95, Sec. 1, Xintai 5th Rd.’.
Annex II to Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 is amended as follows:
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