Approval of Certification Bodies

Nowadays, with the emergence of a plethora of new products on the market, buyers interested in products bearing reserved designations need a protection system capable of effectively guarding against fraud and imitation, while also guaranteeing the claims of quality made to consumers. Essentially it is through certification that this system is able to control the integrity and quality of these products.

The certification of agricultural and food products bearing reserved designations is carried out by certifying bodies. To ensure that these bodies comply with the Act Respecting Reserved Designations and Added-Value Claims and that they carry out their certification activities in an impartial and competent manner, they must be accredited by the Conseil des appellations réservées et des termes valorisants (CARTV). The program under which certifiers receive approval consists of two components: accreditation of certifying bodies and recognition of agencies certifying products originating from outside of Quebec.

Accreditation of certifying bodies

The accreditation of certifying bodies primarily targets those organizations providing certification services in Québec for products bearing reserved designations recognized by the Québec’s Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. Accreditation may also be granted to agencies from other parts of the world which certify products destined for Canada, according to a scope of reference regulated by the Canadian government.

The CARTV has entrusted the Committee on Acreditation for Evaluation of Quality for assessing the competence of certifying bodies applying for initial accreditation and supervising the bodies that have obtained accreditation.

Accreditation services provided by the CAEQ in various fields of certification are recognized by competent authorities responsible for the fields involved in each scope of reference. The CAEQ is compliant with requirements set out by the international standard ISO/IEC 17011:2004. The accreditation criteria according with it assesses the certifying bodies, contain all the requirements set out by the international standard ISO/IEC Guide 65: 1996.

Recognition of agencies certifying products originating from outside of Quebec

Granting recognition to agencies certifying products from outside of Quebec allows them to certify products bearing a reserved designation recognized by the Québec government and offered for sale on Québec territory (for example the organic designation). This recognition is granted to agencies that have been accredited by an officially recognized organization, within the scope of reference corresponding to the reserved designation’s particular scope, and in accordance with the international standards applied by the CARTV to accredit certification bodies.

The CARTV has entrusted the CAEQ for evaluating initial recognition application from bodies certifying products coming from outside Quebec and overseeing those bodies that have obtained recognition from the CARTV.