3. Definitions

For the purposes of this document, the following definitions (with their French equivalents) apply:

Accreditation
(Accréditation)

Initial and ongoing formal recognition of certifying body by the Board concerned by an agri-food designation.

Accredited certifying body
(Organisme de certification accrédité)

Certifying body having been evaluated and officially judged as being in compliance with procedures, requirements and criteria as established by the Board, so that it might operate a certification program in Québec.

Approved certifying body
(Organisme de certification agréé)

Certifying body to which the Board has granted accreditation and/or compliance recognition, and that may certify products for a particular designation originating from specific territories.

Board
(Conseil)

Decision making body of the Reserved Desigantions and Added-Value Claim Board.

CARTV

Initials of the Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants.

Certification
(Certification)

Procedure used by an independent third party to provide a written guarantee that an agri-food product has met prescribed requirements, after an evaluation has affirmed that these requirements for the production and preparation, including operations that lead to modifying the product's initial labelling, have been assessed relative to their compliance with prescribed standards.

Certification mark
(Marque de certification)

Symbol attesting that a product has undergone certification control and obligatorily showing the certifying body's name, but that may optionally include the certifying program's logo.

Certification Program
(Programme de certification)

Application of a certification system intended to evaluate a product's production system against prescribed standards covering the product's processing, handling and marketing.

Certifying body
(Organisme de certification)

Impartial body acting as a third party in the operation of a product certification system and meeting criteria for impartiality, effectiveness and competence, in compliance with requirements specified in the ISO/IEC Guide 65 : 1996.

Designation
(Appellation)

Designation of a product based on its specific character, production method and/or geographic region.

Manager

(Directeur)

Manager responsible for the administration of the Certifying Body Approval Program.

Recognized-compliant certifying body
(Organisme de certification reconnu conforme)

Body whose certification program has been evaluated and officially judged as compliant according to procedures, requirements and criteria established by the CARTV, thus allowing the body to certify products originating from outside of Québec so that they could be introduced and marketed on Québec territory.

Reserved Designation and Added-Value Claim Board
(Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants)

Control authority having jurisdiction over the compliance of products targeted by designations reserved by Québec's Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Foodstuffs, relative to standards prescribed for these designations.