◊ By Pure & Eco India
A recent newspaper report says that the certification agency, Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt Ltd, has been barred from issuing fresh certifications.
This is not entirely true.
Although the subcommittee has sanctioned Aditi Organic not to register any new Processors or Traders, it can still register Crop Production, Growers’ Groups, Wild Collection, Livestock, and Apiculture operators.
Aditi Organic’s access to TRACENET remains undisturbed and it is able to grant Transaction Certificates to existing clients.
The sanction imposed will not jeopardise the NPOP certification and export outside of India.
No operators holding COS/COR certification are affected by this and they can export COR-certified products to Canada and USA without any problems (with the Canada-US equivalency).
Further, in October 2021, the National Accreditation Body (NAB) decided to renew the accreditation of Aditi Organic for a period of 3 years under NPOP.
REGARDING ALLEGED ETO DETECTION IN ADITI ORGANIC’S OPERATORS’ CONSIGNMENTS
A few newspaper reports included Aditi Organic in the list of certification bodies, whose operators’ consignments were found to be contaminated with ETO (Ethylene Oxide)—an allegation Aditi Organic is refuting aggressively.
“Aditi Organic’s name has been erroneously brought into the EU raised issues. We will be addressing the issue legally,” informs Dr Narayana Upadhyaya, MD, Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt Ltd.
Aditi Organic has submitted in writing to APEDA and the concerned publisher of the article to submit proof or any evidence to indicate that any one of Aditi’s operators exported products contaminated with ETO.
Aditi Organic has presented the following factors in its defence:
- With respect to ETO detection indicated by the publisher/APEDA, none of the operator/s certified by Aditi has directly exported their products. All the shipments in question were sent to domestic buyers, which were in turn handled by buyers certified by another Certification Body. Aditi had no control on the products once they leave the certified premises of the operator/s.
- We have investigated the operator/s thoroughly and did not find any usage or occurrence of ETO fumigation at any stage of handling of those certified products.
- We have tested the available counter samples from the operator/s and have not found any traces of ETO contamination.
- Since the issue is more than a year old from the date of issuance of domestic TCs, we could not test for ETO at that time as this contamination is a newly found issue reported by EU and only a few labs in India have the required accreditation to test this chemical compound in food items.
- We have raised the issue about how a volatile substance can be found in such a high quantity after one year of export from Indian shores. We have no control on the organic certified product once it leaves from our operators’ certified premises. We have submitted the complete tracking and traceability of the concerned products to APEDA starting from back TCs to final dispatch, including copies of the invoice, packing list, transportation details, actual final packed product with approved label for each case.
- We have not been given the tracking and traceability of the concerned products by the EU authority nor has APEDA shared the rapid alert reports in those concerned cases. We have shared all available facts and figures with APEDA in those cases, including our investigation reports.
“We would also like to bring to your kind attention that there is a news clip floating in the market that has presented only one side of the story. We absolutely condemn such misrepresentation of information and are in touch with the media house as well to present the whole story and not just parts of it. Aditi Organic stands committed in letter and spirit towards Organic integrity,” says Upadhyaya.
For further information, contact:
Dr Narayana Upadhyaya
Aditi Organic Certifications Pvt. Ltd.
Tel.: 0091-80-23328134/5/6, Extn.: 133
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website: www.aditicert.net
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