ANNEXURE XI

MINIMUM INSPECTION REQUIREMENTS AND PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES

Interpreted and applied to the inspection scheme referred to in Section 12 and 13 of the Ecocert-Afrisco standards for organic agriculture

D.        Imports of plants, plant products, livestock, livestock products and foodstuffs composed of plant products and/or livestock products from third countries.

Products imported by operators certified to these standards shall be imported from a third country in appropriate packaging or containers, closed in a manner preventing substitution of the content and provided with identification of the exporter and with any other marks and numbers serving to identify the lot with the certificate of inspection for import from third countries.

On receipt of an organic product imported from a third country, the importer shall check the closing of the packaging or container and the correspondence of the identification of the consignment with its organic certificate. The result of this verification shall be written down and made available to Ecocert-Afrisco.

D.1      Imported organic products shall be accepted by Ecocert-Afrisco as valid provided that:

1. An organic certificate has first been obtained and approved by Ecocert-Afrisco as:
1. having been provided by an accredited certifier that meets Ecocert-Afrisco’s criteria for equivalence
2. within the appropriate expiry date of the certificate.

1. Packaging, labels, lot / batch number, waybill, and properly marked invoice clearly link the specific import to the organic certificate previously obtained, preferably with a transaction certificate also provided by the exporter’s certifier.   Such documents should be kept until the next organic inspection (or may be forwarded earlier to Ecocert-Afrisco if so requested) and indicate:

1. the name and address of the exporter and importer
2. the contents of the package, including that they are certified organic
3. the lot / batch number
4. the name of the certifier
5. the weight of the package

D.2      Importers and first consignees handling also products not from organic production

When imported products are stored in storage facilities where also other agricultural products or foodstuffs are stored:

1. the organic products must be kept separate from the other agricultural products and/or foodstuffs,

1. every measure must be taken to ensure identification of consignments and to avoid mixtures or exchanges with products not obtained in accordance with the rules laid down in this Regulation.

D.3      Inspection visits
Ecocert-Afrisco shall inspect the stock and financial records of the importer, including the documents associated with each import, and the organic certificates of the exporter.