Food quality certification schemes

KEY POINTS

While some certification schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs cover compliance with compulsory standards, these guidelines specifically concern voluntary certification schemes. These are designed to assure quality levels in areas such as taste, colour or smell as well as, for instance, environmental, animal welfare or ‘fair trade’ factors.

The guidelines are designed to make such voluntary certification schemes more effective by:

• highlighting best practice;
• making scheme requirements clearer;
• increasing market opportunities and reducing costs for farmers and producers;
• protecting liability and reputation for product and label claims for wholesalers and retailers;
• providing reliable and trustworthy information on products for consumers; and
• ensuring compliance with EU internal market rules, particularly in relation to anticompetitive behaviour.

The guidelines advise that schemes, though they may be developed by groups of experts, should be structured to encourage the participation of all stakeholders, i.e. producers, farmers, public authorities, interest groups and customers.

The schemes should have the following characteristics:

• certification should be carried out by an independent body;
• regular inspections of scheme participants should take place, with clear criteria and checklists;
• thresholds for sanctions should be established, with clear procedures for dealing with non-compliance;
• feedback mechanisms should be in place, with continuing participation in future development.

The guidelines recommend that food labels should not mislead or make false claims about a product in relation to:

• the nature, identity, properties, composition, quantity, durability, origin, method of manufacture or production;
• properties which they do not possess, or special characteristics when in fact all similar foodstuffs possess such characteristics;
• advertising or promotion in a way that would discredit the safety of other products on the market or the effectiveness of official controls.