Continuing Certification
The following requirements are not posted in their entirety, however they do distill what is required for annual continuation of certification. Visit the NOP website for the full wording of § 205.406. Below are some clarifications on annual fees and paperwork for continuing your certification. Remember, you will also need to show proof of previous non-compliances and have an annual inspection.
§ 205.406 Continuation of Certification
(a) To continue certification, a certified operation must annually pay the certification fees and submit the following information, as applicable, to the certifying agent:
- (1) An updated organic production or handling system plan...
- (2) Any additions to or deletions from the information required...
- (3) An update on the correction of minor noncompliances previously identified by the certifying agent as requiring correction for continued certification; and
- (4) Other information as deemed necessary by the certifying agent to determine compliance with the Act and the regulations in this part.
FEES:
Annual Fees After the First Year - Producers:
You will receive a letter in December informing you of your next year's fees, which will be invoiced in January. These fees are based off what you did the previous year (i.e. your fee letter for 2010 will be sent December of 2009, based on your acreage, livestock numbers, etc in 2009).
Annual Fees After the First Year - Non-Growers (excluding Contact Service Operations):
You will be invoiced annually according to the month in which you sent in your application. If you applied in August of 2007, each year at the beginning of August you will receive your invoice to cover services provided for the next 12 months. This fee is based on what you did in the previous 12 months (i.e. amount of product produced/handled, number of products, etc). Note: If you have been with ICS for several years, you may be on the same billing cycle as producers and contract service operations.
Annual Fees After the First Year - Contract Service Operations:
Contract Service Operations are on the same billing cycle as producers. You will receive your fee letter in December, based on the services you received that year.
PRODUCTION PLAN:
All clients must annually update their production plan. In general, ICS sends out the previous year's plan to each client and all you need to do is update any changes you've made to your operation. From time to time we find we need to redo some or all of our modules. In these cases, you will be sent the new modules to complete in full. These changes are generally rare and only done when a) changes to the regulations require a change to paperwork/questions; or b) when we overhaul the entire set for efficiency purposes (such as in 2009).
Production Plan Updates for Producers, Contract Services and some Non-Growers:
Your production plan will be sent to you in December or January to be updated. Updated production plans are due back to ICS in February. Please watch your mail in December/January and open the packet sent. The cover letter will have the deadline as well as other instructions.
Production Plan Updates for Non-Growers:
Your production plan will be sent to you approximately 6 months before your certificate expires for you to update and return to ICS.
Annual Fees After the First Year - Producers:
You will receive a letter in December informing you of your next year's fees, which will be invoiced in January. These fees are based off what you did the previous year (i.e. your fee letter for 2010 will be sent December of 2009, based on your acreage, livestock numbers, etc in 2009).
Annual Fees After the First Year - Non-Growers (excluding Contact Service Operations):
You will be invoiced annually according to the month in which you sent in your application. If you applied in August of 2007, each year at the beginning of August you will receive your invoice to cover services provided for the next 12 months. This fee is based on what you did in the previous 12 months (i.e. amount of product produced/handled, number of products, etc). Note: If you have been with ICS for several years, you may be on the same billing cycle as producers and contract service operations.
Annual Fees After the First Year - Contract Service Operations:
Contract Service Operations are on the same billing cycle as producers. You will receive your fee letter in December, based on the services you received that year.
PRODUCTION PLAN:
All clients must annually update their production plan. In general, ICS sends out the previous year's plan to each client and all you need to do is update any changes you've made to your operation. From time to time we find we need to redo some or all of our modules. In these cases, you will be sent the new modules to complete in full. These changes are generally rare and only done when a) changes to the regulations require a change to paperwork/questions; or b) when we overhaul the entire set for efficiency purposes (such as in 2009).
Production Plan Updates for Producers, Contract Services and some Non-Growers:
Your production plan will be sent to you in December or January to be updated. Updated production plans are due back to ICS in February. Please watch your mail in December/January and open the packet sent. The cover letter will have the deadline as well as other instructions.
Production Plan Updates for Non-Growers:
Your production plan will be sent to you approximately 6 months before your certificate expires for you to update and return to ICS.
International Certification Services, Inc.
301 5th Ave SE Medina, ND 58467 United States
Tel: 701-486-3578 * Fax: 701-486-3580 * email: info@ics-intl.com
