In cases where operators change their control body for various reasons, both the operator and the control body have responsibilities to fulfill. Below, the issues related to changing the control  body will be addressed on the basis of regulations under different scenarios.

Regulation on the Principles and Implementation of Organic Farming, published in the Official Gazette No. 27676, Article 41 – Working principles of authorized bodies (1)

ı-Authorized bodies shall keep all documents related to the organic farming activities of operators who leave, for a period of five years, within the framework of the provisions of the Regulation on State Archive Services published in the Official Gazette dated 16/5/1988 and numbered 19816.

i-The status of the activity of the operator leaving the control system, the approved producer list, production and product information, parcel information, certificate information, nonconformities and corrective actions, and the approved stock report, if any, of the relevant year, shall be notified by the previous authorized body to the new authorized body with which the operator has signed a contract.

j-The new authorized body with which the operator has signed a contract shall check that the nonconformities stated in the reports of the previous authorized body whose contract has been terminated have been corrected or are in the process of being corrected by the operator.

Article 42 – Responsibilities of the operator and sanctions to be applied (1) The operator and/or intermediary, trader, storage, processing, and similar subcontracted service providers, in case they change the authorized body with which they have signed a contract, accept that the status of the activity, the approved producer list, production and product information, parcel information, certificate information, nonconformities and corrective actions, and the approved stock report, if any, of the relevant year, will be provided by the previous authorized body to the new authorized body with which the operator has signed a contract. The operator who will withdraw from organic farming activities agrees to notify the authorized body without delay and to accept that the control file will be kept by the authorized body for at least five years.

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/1698 of 13 July 2021 supplementing Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council with procedural requirements for the recognition of control authorities and control bodies that are competent to carry out controls on operators and groups of operators certified organic and on organic products in third countries and with rules on their supervision and the controls and other actions to be performed by those control authorities and control bodies

According to Article 10 (1)(d), operators and operator groups undertake to accept that, if they change their control and certification body or their subcontracted enterprises, the relevant control file will be shared with the other control and certification body. Based on this Regulation article and (EU) 2021/1698 Article 10 (3), the new control body shall request the following information and documents from the previous control  body at the application stage of the operator or operator group:

•  the status and validity of certification, including cases of scope reduction, suspension and withdrawal,

• reports of inspection carried out in the preceding 3 years,

• the list of non-compliances and the measures put in place to address
  them, and the fact that all non-compliances were addressed,

• derogations granted or requests for derogation being processed by the previous control authority or control bod,

• information relating to any ongoing dispute relevant for the certification of the operators or groups of operator.

If the previous control and certification body does not transmit the information with the new control  body, or if there are doubts concerning the information transmitted, the new control body shall not certify the operator or operator groups until its doubts are eliminated through other control means.

According to (EU) 2021/1698 Article 21, the previous control body is obliged to transmit the control file, including written records of the operators, to the new control body within a maximum of 30 calendar days from the date of the request.

United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) – National Organic Program (NOP) has addressed this issue in more detail and, in addition to the explanations made within the Regulation, has explained in detail the responsibilities of certified operators who change their control and certification body in the NOP 2604 guidance document.

According to § 205.401-c; the application of the operator must include The name(s) of any organic certifying agent(s) to which application has previously been made; the year(s) of application; the outcome of the application(s) submission, including, when available, a copy of any notification of noncompliance or denial of certification issued to the applicant for certification; and a description of the actions taken by the applicant to correct the noncompliances noted in the notification of noncompliance, including evidence of such correction.

According to § 205.501 (a)(13); the new control body must accept the certification decisions made by another control body accredited or accepted by USDA. Control bodies must provide information to other control bodies to ensure organic integrity or to enforce organic regulations, including to verify supply chain integrity, authenticate the organic status of certified products, and conduct investigation.

The responsibilities of certified operators changing their control body are explained in detail in the NOP 2604 guidance document; responsibilities are determined according to different situations: -In the case of voluntary change of the control body by the operator and in case of change due to loss of accreditation of the controlbody, the responsibilities of both the operator and the control  body are explained step by step. Accordingly, some important issues are:

• Certification and certificates issued to certified operations are not transferrable to new owners in cases of mergers, acquisitions, or other transfers of ownership of the certified operation. When there is a change in ownership of a certified operation, the certified operation must apply for and receive new certification from a control body prior to selling, labeling, or representing products as organic.

• If the prior certifying agent issues a notice of suspension or revocation for any noncompliance to the USDA organic regulations, the certified operation must immediately cease the sale, labeling, and representation of products as organic. Reinstatement of suspended operations is granted by the USDA pursuant to § 205.662(f)(1).

• Certified operations that change control body voluntarily and have labels which identify their prior control body on products they produce or handle, may not use up existing supplies of labels. New labels must be used immediately identifying the new control body. However, when a control body is no longer accredited, the new control body may choose to allow the use of existing label stocks identifying the previous control body.

• Operations certified by a control body that goes out of business or loses its accreditation for any reason must apply for certification with another control body within 60 days of the date of surrender, suspension, or revocation of accreditation of their control body.

• If a certified operation does not find a new control body within 60 days, the USDA may initiate proposed adverse actions for failure to maintain certification under the USDA organic regulations.