Organic Certification

Organic Standards are the only legally-enforced farm accreditation standards in the UK and Europe.

Produce can only be labelled as organic when the business is fully compliant with the legal organic standards. Using the organic label opens many doors to new markets and ethically-minded customers. Demonstrating your commitment to the organic standards shows dedication to quality products, attention to detail and your environmental conscience.

Rigour – all Organic standards must meet the UK regulation for Organic production and Processing. Defra controls the implementation of the Regulations, and each Organic Certification Body is independently audited by UKAS every year. SOPA contracts the certification of our Organic standards to OF&G (Scotland) who are responsible for compliance. This gives a degree of separation and independence. While SOPA owns our Organic Standards, OF&G (Scotland) implement them.
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Robust – each Organic business must be inspected or audited annually. This can take up to a full day depending on the scope and scale of the business. Our auditors and inspectors are specially trained in their scopes. The Inspection Report is checked and signed off by a minimum of two Certification Officers. Overarching this process is the independent SOPA Technical Advisory Committee (TAC), who meet regularly to audit the certification process, check that inspections are being conducted properly and make decisions on full compliance to the SOPA Organic Standards. TAC Members are independent experts from the food and farming sector.
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Consequences of fraud – it is against the law to use the word Organic on labels or product descriptions, if there is no Organic certification in place. Deliberate mislabelling or a flagrant disregard of the Organic standards is discovered, then the matter is referred to UK Trading Standards Officers and Defra.

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PO Box Golspie, KW106AA
Email: info@sopa.org.uk Tel: 0300 772 9795
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Scottish Organic Producers Association, Registered Office is c/o Drummond Laurie, Algo Business Centre, Glenearn Rd, Perth, PH2 8BX.
‍Scottish Organic Producers Association is a Co-operative registered under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014, Registration Number SP02278R. Organic Certification GB-ORG-17

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