Reliable organic products from Southeast Europe!

The second international training for assessors of accreditation bodies in the region of Southeast Europe took place in Belgrade in the period between 27^th and 29^th April 2015. Its aim was to achieve an effective surveillance of organic control bodies operating in the region, and to be recognised by the European Commission to perform certification of organic products in line with the EU legislation and to be put on the Equivalence List of CBs Recognised by the EC (Annex 4, EC Regulation 1235/2008).

The training was organised by Accreditation Body of Serbia (ATS) and was supported by PTB project entitled “Promotion of Regional Cooperation in South Eastern Europe in the Field of Quality Infrastructure”.

The Republic of Serbia received assistance in the previous period from the German Organisation for International Cooperation (GIZ) to build an efficient system in the field of organic production. In 2013, ATS granted the firs accreditation in this field to the Organic Control System (OCS) that was recognized by the European Commission, whereby organic products from Serbia could be freely exported to and placed on the EU market.

The representatives of our respective ministry and organic inspectors of the control bodies were trained in the previous phase in the context of the IRM project (www.irm-organic.eu).

Jutta Krawinkel, GfRS expert from Germany, explained that the establishment of local structures ensured the existence of capacities of the national accreditation body, competent authority (respective ministry) and organic inspectors of the control bodies as that contributed to a credible organic production and lowers costs of accreditation for the control bodies.

In addition to Jutta Krawinkel, the ATS experts and assessors gave lectures at the seminar, whereas the seminar delegates participated in a CB simulation assessment.