Turkish control organization ETKO loses EU authorization

With the Implementing Regulation 931/2015 the EU Commission removed the Turkish Control Organization ETKO from “The list of recognized control bodies for the purpose of equivalence”. The Commission justified this unprecedented action with “serious deficiencies” and the “systematic malfunctioning of the control measures applied”. At the same time, the Commission raised the standards required of controls in several Eastern European and Central Asian countries. It is unclear what consequences these decisions have for supplies of cereals and seed that were certified by ETKO and sent to the EU but have not yet been processed or consumed.

In the autumn of 2014 two large consignments of organic sunflower seeds that were contaminated with pesticide were sent by Ukraine to Germany and the Netherlands. The Ukrainian supplier had been certified by ETKO. When other cases surfaced and with ETKO dragging its feet, the IFOAM accreditation organization IOAS had an audit carried out. The outcome was that at the beginning of May accreditation was finally withdrawn from ETKO. This meant that the basis for EU authorization was rescinded.

Drastic justification for exclusion
In the statement of reasons (recital 25), the EU Commission explains that “serious deficiencies” and “a substantial number of non-conformities” were documented  “which all together indicated a systematic malfunctioning of the control measures applied”. The statement goes on to say that ETKO was unable to take corrective measures in respect to the deficiencies and in response to the serious infringements reported. “In such circumstances the risk exists for the consumer to be misled about the true nature of the products certified by ETKO.” Consequently, ETKO was withdrawn from the list. Up to that point, the Turkish control organization had been authorized by the EU to issue certification in Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Russia, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.

The regulation comes into force on the twentieth day after its publication – on 8 July 2015. Joan Onofre, the head of the organic farming department in the EU Commission, wrote that it was obvious that products in the storage facilities of ETKO-certified companies had to be carefully validated before export to the EU could be considered. He said that this was why the EU wrote to recognized control organizations stating what they had to pay attention to when taking over ETKO customers. ETKO has to hand over all relevant control documentation. The new control organizations have to ensure that all recorded infringements of the rules by the companies they are taking over are addressed.

More rigorous control conditions for nine states
In the EU document the Commission questions the organic quality and controls not only in Ukraine but also in the neighbouring countries. It refers specifically to Azerbaijan, White Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kirghistan, Moldavia, Transnistria, Tadchikistan and Uzbekistan. The control bodies in all these countries have been instructed to carry out spot-checks of enterprises twice a year, one of which must to be without prior notice and has to include at least one sample taken direct from the fields. In addition, samples from each consignment have to be tested. The document also states: “The control organizations should pay very close attention to checking the quantity flows and the traceability systems set up by the companies.” Control organizations are also told to thoroughly examine the accounts of every firm. The Commission expects a detailed report from the control organizations by 1 September 2015.

German federal authorities demand “high-risk classification”
If in the opinion of the Commission the products in the silos of former ETKO customers have to be carefully checked this could also apply to consignments that are already in the EU but have not yet been processed. The German Federal Office for Agriculture and Food stated: “When Regulation 931/2015 comes into force it will be finally generally known that in the case of products certified by the control organization ETKO and not yet sold there were deficiencies in the requirements for accreditation. Thus goods certified by ETKO have to be given a high-risk classification.” Federal state authorities and control bodies take responsibility for ensuring that this is carried out.

IOAS withdrew ETKO’s accreditation on 23 April 2015. From this point in time the control organization was no longer authorized to issue import certificates. The certificates it had issued until then are still officially valid but only with the proviso of high-risk classification. What this means for importers, processors and their control bodies and also for authorities in the federal states is still an open question. The possibilities range from “take cognizance and file it” to “block the consignment as suspicious and scrutinize the traceability trail back to the Ukrainian field or the Turkish raisin vineyard”. But, with ETKO no longer responsible, that could be difficult and the new control bodies of previous ETKO customers are unlikely to bother with goods that have long since been sold.