5. Assessment of the Standards Committee (SC) Concerned

5.1 Designation eligibility

SC members shall review the file and do an analysis based on the regulatory requirements for the designation concerned, after which they decide if the designation is eligible.

For applications to transfer to PGI designations, they shall make sure that the specification manual is consistent with the PGI issued (between the former certification without a PGI and the PGI file).

If applicable, the Committee may send requests for additional information and a list of questions to the applicant organization.

If the file is rejected, the organization applying for recognition shall be informed of the reasons for its refusal and of an opportunity to file a new designation application at a later date.

5.2 Selection of the audit team

When the file is considered eligible, the SC Chair, in consultation with members, shall appoint an audit team made up of at least two individuals, including an expert in the field of the designation applied for and a reporter selected from the committee members. They must have no direct or indirect interest in the file and, for any regional designation applications, no direct or indirect interest in the area concerned.

The audit team shall review all applications for quality designations (DO, PGI, attestation of specificity, production method) and applications to modify specification manuals.

The audit team’s role is to:

• Thoroughly review the application and report to the SC;
• Present concrete facts about the file to the SC;
• Issue a proposed notice, which must be ratified by Committee members in order to be a valid recommendation.