IOAS (International Organic Accreditation Service) has suspended accreditation of Control Union (CU) India from testing and sampling of Indian organic textile products on charges of irregularities committed in its certification process. 

CU India is an arm of one of the largest certifiers of organic cotton Control Union Nederland BV, which is based in Rotterdam. 

In a notification issued on March 5, IOAS said the action had been taken covering all aspects under ISO/IEC 17065, which covers organisations that perform testing, sampling and calibration for reliable results.

The suspension also applies under all scopes of General Organic Textile Standards (GOTS), Textile Exchange. 

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APEDA decision indicated

IOAS has also recommended CU India be suspended under the Canadian Organic Regime under all categories and grower group certification. The suspension came after CU India’s “unsuccessful appeal”  to not take action against it, IOAS said. 

CU India has been asked to take corrective action if the suspension has to be lifted. “While the suspensions are in effect, they (CU India) are not permitted to accept new applications, no certificates may be issued to new applications that are in progress, and no extensions of scope may be issued to existing operators,” IOAS said.

The organic accreditation body’s decision vindicates the decision by the Agricultural and Processed Food Products Export Development Authority (APEDA), which banned CU India from registering any new processor or exporter for certification of organic products in October 2021.

APEDA, which is the competent authority to supervise organic certification, found organic consignments cleared by CU had received nine EU notifications, particularly for shipments by two exporters. 

Plea to PM

APEDA said though the agency found the measures for sourcing by the exporters insufficient, it failed to report this in the annual inspections.

The development comes on the heels of a Chennai-based service organisation, Sri Sri Sri Vivekananda Trust, writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking the notification of the “Indian Standard for Organic Textiles” to protect Indian organic cotton and the textiles industry. 

Following this, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare said the Centre plans to come out with a new certification system for organic textiles, particularly cotton and its derivatives. A committee has now been set up to look into setting up the new system.

Irregularities

Various irregularities have been alleged in organic cotton farming, with many farmers being unaware that they are part of a group that has been registered for organic cotton farming.  

Inspections carried out by APEDA showed that farmers were not following the norms required for growing organic cotton. In particular, it penalised three certification bodies in July 2022. The measures included termination of the services of Bhummatha Organic Certification Bureau. 

In April last year, CU India wrote to its clients that it was temporarily withdrawing from India from certifying Indian cotton. 

However, trade sources said CU has set up an office in Bangladesh and has shifted its clients to Dutch accreditation.

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