The IOAS (formerly, International Organic Accreditation Service) has suspended the 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.
What the Suspension Order Says:
- On March 3, 2023, IOAS suspended the accreditation of CU India for ISO/IEC 17065 (all scopes), GOTS (all scopes) and Textile Exchange (all scopes) and recommended suspension under COR (Canada Organic Regime) for CAN/CGSB-32.312 (all categories) and grower group certification, following an unsuccessful appeal.
- CU India has been invited to take corrective actions to enable the suspensions to be lifted. While the suspensions are in effect, they 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.
- Any operations, certification bodies and authorities that rely on this accreditation are asked to take note.
The Backdrop:
- In April 2022, Control Union Certifications India wrote to its clients in India to say it was delisting cotton from its certification programmes, and that they would need to find other certification avenues by 15 May.
- In October 2022, the IOAS withdrew Biocert International's IFOAM and ISO/IEC 17065 accreditations and the recommendation for accreditations for COR (Canada Organic Regime) and European Union accreditation.
