Organic Certification

Pro-Cert is accredited by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to provide third-party certification to the National Organic Program (NOP) and its equivalency arrangements.

NOP certification is required by any US resident who wishes to produce, process, package or label a product and put it up for sale with an organic claim, or, alternatively, for Canadian residents who wish to produce, process, package and label an organic product not covered under the COR scope.

Products that can be certified under the NOP are:

• Agricultural Products
  • Animals and/or plants or an animal or plant product intended for human consumption
  • Products intended for human consumption and wholly or partly derived from animals and/or plants
• Feed
  • Animal and/or plants intended to feed livestock
  • Products derived from animals and/or plants and intended to feed livestock
• Seed
  • Any plant part used to grow plants for the purpose of human or livestock consumption
• Pet Food
• Cosmetics and Textiles
• Natural Health Products

The Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) is a program established by the Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Operators certified by registered Japanese or overseas certifying bodies are able to attach the organic JAS logo to products (plants or processed foods of plant origin) that were produced or manufactured in accordance with relevant organic JAS Standards.

Canadian and US exporters may apply the JAS logo to their plants or plant-based processed products in one of two ways:

1. Canadian and US exporters who have a contract with a JAS-certified importer may apply the JAS logo to their products directly for sale in either Japan or Canada/US. To view the list of JAS-certified importers, see Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) – Organic Foods.

2. Canadian and US exporters who do not have a contract with a JAS-certified importer may not apply the JAS logo to their products prior to export. A JAS-certified importer must import the product, and that importer must apply the JAS logo to the product prior to sale within Japan.

Canadian and US organic products exported to Japan under the JCOEA must be accompanied by a valid organic certificate issued by an accredited Certification Body.

Currently there is not an existing equivalency arrangement between Canada and Korea.  In order to sell COR certified products in the Korean market, Korean certification must be obtained.  Pro-Cert works closely with a partner company to provide this service to any clients who wish to enter this market.

A “two-way” import-export arrangement does exist between the US and Korea for those wishing to sell NOP certified products in the Korean market.  All organic products produced and/or processed within the US or Korea are included in the arrangement so long as they fall within the scope of the importing countries organic program. Final processing of the products must occur in the US or Korea respectively.