19th Organic World Congress - 9-11 November 2017 - New Delhi, India
Workshop, organized by Organic Services, Gerald A. Herrmann, November 10, 2017, 12-1:30 pm
Let's talk about integrity software for grower groups and small, local certifiers. Face the challenges of data management and documentation of (internal) audit and certification processes and discuss solutions.
Grower groups are organized smallholder producers. By banding together, smallholder farmers are able to increase their economic power, providing evidence of the old adage that “together, we are stronger”. In organizing, however, comes greater complexity. Implementing an Internal Control System (ICS) to fulfil organic or any another certification market standards, such as Fair Trade, UTZ or GLOBALG.A.P. and RSPO is a challenge. Data management and the documentation needed to fulfil compliance requirements can easily become overwhelming, especially as the number of members grows and when groups are certified to more than one standard, each of which has unique requirements.
Same applies to small, local certifiers who shall be able to perform equal to their globally active competitors. Meeting audit and reporting demands applied by accreditors can be a challenge. Therefore, CBs – large and small – need tools to professionally manage data and the documentation of their audit/ certification process from start to end in a transparent and efficient manner.
Topics of the workshop:
- The workshop aims to bring together representatives of smallholder groups, certifiers, traders as well as representatives of regulatory bodies.
- Workshop participants are invited to discuss key challenges of implementing an ICS in Grower Groups as well as the problems small, local certifiers are facing.
- Participants are invited to learn about two unique integrity tools tailormade for meeting the challenges:
Please see an announcement with all information here.