5. Board’s Responsibilities

5.1 The Board shall decide whether to adopt the accreditation reference framework for certifiers, comprised of the standards and criteria that certifiers must apply once they are approved.

5.2 The Board is responsible for adopting and updating requirements pertaining to the certification of the agricultural and food products concerning this designation type.

5.3 In order to carry out its mandate, the Board shall establish a permanent Standards Committee that, based on the framework for establishing reference manuals, shall be mandated to propose a reference standards manual (comprising standards for product certification and accreditation criteria for certifiers) that must be consistent with standards and criteria prescribed by the Regulations Respecting Reserved Designations.

5.4 The Board shall identify new needs in terms of requirements and then shall require the concerned Standards Committee section to develop draft criteria or standards. Before registering the request with the Standards Committee, the Board must analyze the draft's advisability and ensure the technical and economic feasibility of required standardization efforts. This will be based on a consideration of two issues:

Will a compliance evaluation based on a criterion or standard provide assurance that product suppliers and consumers will receive better protection?
Is the expertise needed to develop standards or criteria available?

5.5 In order to adopt new requirements or amendments to these standards, the Board must above all else ensure compliance with the rules contained in these regulations. When developing a submitted proposal, if it is determined that certain rules or procedures have not been properly observed or carried out, it may then send the draft standards back to the concerned Standards Committee section for further study and obtain a revised document.

5.6 The Board’s decisions on the concerned designation type shall serve to establish internal jurisprudence. When the Board has made a decision on a question or issue, this decision becomes a precedent that may then be invoked by committees when they make their recommendations on any issues pertaining to standards.

5.7 The Board shall ensure that the reference framework it has adopted will undergo a periodic re-examination. The accreditation criteria, as well as the overall standards applying to each designation, shall be re-examined on a periodic basis, at the very least every five years.