Supervision model Skal Biocontrol

Skal Biocontrol Foundation

To carry out its supervision, Skal divides organic operators into supervision arrangements. The supervision arrangement determines how often the operator is inspected and what rate an operator pays. The allocation of operators to the supervision arrangements high, normal and low is done on the basis of the Skal supervision model.

Last change on 3rd of June 2024, at 11:45 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

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General information

Theme

• Organisation and business operations
• Nature and Environment
• International

Begin date

2021-01

Contact information

[e-mail]

Link to publication website

https://www.skal.nl/toezichtarrangementen

Responsible use

Goal and impact

Supervisory arrangements

From 2021, Skal will operate on the basis of five supervisory arrangements:

1. High-risk companies

2. Normal risk companies

3. Low-risk companies

4. Sales to consumers and

5. Non-notified businesses.

The supervision arrangement determines, among other things, the frequency of inspections and pricing.

The classification of operators over the supervisory arrangements High, Normal and Low is based on the calculation of a risk profile by the Skal supervisory model. Sales to consumers are not included in the supervision model, these operators fall under their own Supervision Arrangement and are therefore not classified in Low, Normal or High.

Supervisory Arrangement High

The implementing regulation (Reg. (EU) 2021/279, Article 7(b)) stipulates that at least 10% of operators must receive an additional/second physical inspection per year. The associated costs are for the operator. On the basis of the supervision model, Skal determines the risk profile per operator and which 10% of the operators fall under High Supervision. This is redefined annually.

Supervision category Normal

Most operators fall under the Normal Supervision Arrangement. These companies are inspected annually by Skal. In addition to this full inspection, Skal may carry out unannounced inspections or take a sample of a parcel or product.

Supervision arrangement Low

Companies in the Supervision Arrangement Low are inspected once every two years. Companies that meet the criteria below are assigned to the Supervision Arrangement Low:

a. Turnover is less than €1,000,000

b. The company is fully organic.

c. No critical and/or serious deviations have been identified over the past 3 years.

d. The company has been registered with Skal for more than 5 years

Skal supervisory model

The Skal supervision model and the calculation of the risk profile is based on the parameters mentioned in the Organic Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2018/848, Article 38(2) and (3)).

In the Skal supervision model, a certain number of points (based on risk) are assigned for the components below:

a. Organic turnover

b. Types of biological activities

c. Biological and non-biological activities

d. Number and type of deviations detected in the last 2 years (for High) or 3 years (for Low)

e. Registration duration at Skal Biocontrol

f. Number of organic products on the certificate

g. Exemptions received

Considerations

The way Skal has designed the supervision model for the High, Normal and Low categories is based on the requirements of OCR 2017/625 and the European Organic Regulation (EU) 2018/848. The risk factors used by Skal in the supervision model are prescribed in Regulation (EU) 2018/848, Article 38(2) for the risk model. The weighting of the criteria is determined by Skal.

Human intervention

The risk profiles are calculated by the supervisory model on 1 October of the current year.

Then the results are first randomly checked by Skal staff. Are the rules of the model properly applied. Skal applies the rule that companies can only change one level per year, i.e. an operator cannot change from the supervisory status Low to High the following year.

Around 1 December of the current year, the classification into High, Normal and Low for the coming year is communicated to the operators by e-mail.

Operators classified in supervisory arrangement High are hereby sent the calculated scores.

If an operator does not agree with this score or classification, the operator can object within 6 weeks.

Risk management

The supervision arrangements are implemented by 2021. Based on feedback from stakeholders, the supervision model is further optimised annually. Randomness and discrimination are prevented by working with equal values for all operators and communicating this transparently. The 'supervision model' algorithm is only filled with data known to the operator.

The responsibility for ensuring that the correct data are registered with Skal lies with the operator. A lot of data obtained and recorded during a Skal inspection is used in the supervision model.

Operators are informed annually about the structure of the supervision model and how operators can check and adjust their data. Based on the calculated supervision model, the risk classification for the coming year is determined again.

Legal basis

Regulation (EU) 2018/848

Article 38 Additional rules on official controls and actions to be taken by competent authorities

2. Official controls carried out in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 .... shall....be carried out on the basis of the likelihood of non-compliance within the meaning of Article 3(57) of this Regulation, ... in particular with the following elements:

(a) the type, size and structure of operators and groups of operators;

(b) how long operators and groups of operators have been engaged in organic production, preparation and distribution;

(c) the results of controls carried out in accordance with this Article;

(d) the time relevant to the activities carried out;

(e) the categories of products;

(f) the type, quantity and value of products and their development over time;

(g) the possibility of mixing of products or contamination with unauthorised products or substances;

(h) the application of derogations or exceptions to the rules by operators and groups of operators;

(i) the critical points for non-compliance and the likelihood of non-compliance at each stage of production, preparation and distribution;

(j) outsourced activities.

3. In any case, all operators and groups of operators, with the exception of those referred to in Article 34(2) and Article 35(8), shall be subject to a compliance check at least once a year.

4. Official checks carried out in accordance with Article 9 of Regulation (EU) 2017/625 for the purpose of checking compliance with this Regulation shall:

(b) ensure that a minimum percentage of additional checks, in addition to those referred to in paragraph 3 of this Article, are carried out;

Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/279

Article 7 Minimum rates of checks and sampling

The following rules on minimum rates shall apply to the official controls referred to in Article 38(4) of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 to be carried out by each competent authority or, as appropriate, each control authority or control body according to the risk of non-compliance:

(b) at least 10% additional checks each year in addition to those referred to in Article 38(3) of Regulation (EU) 2018/848;

Operations

Data

For each operator, the Monitoring Model uses the data recorded by operators at Skal and recorded/verified during inspections. These are:

a. Organic turnover

Organic turnover is divided into the following categories:

- € 0 - € 50.000

- € 50.000 - € 250.000

- € 250.000 - € 1.000.000

- € 1.000.000 - € 5.000.000

- € 5.0000.000 - € 15.000.000

- more than € 15,000,000

b. Types of biological activities

This is based on the activities the company has registered with Skal. Activities can only be registered if they have been registered after notification through a successfully completed admission examination.

Activities are grouped into the following general groups:

- Agriculture

- Aquaculture

- Preparation

- Trade

- Imports

- Other

c. Organic and non-organic activities

An inspection establishes whether the operator carries out both organic and non-organic activities at the certified site.

d. Number and type of non-conformities identified over the past 2 or 3 years

All deviations identified during inspections over the past years are counted in the supervision model. For classification in Supervisory Grade High, the past 2 years are considered. For the Supervisory Grade Low, deviations from the past 3 years are included.

Different deviations can be found during inspections.

- Slight deviation (Non compliance-C)

- Serious deviation (Non compliance-B)

- Critical deviation (Non compliance-A)

e. Registration duration at Skal Biocontrole

This is counted from the date of registration with Skal.

f. Number of organic products on the organic certificate

This is determined on the basis of the number of product specifications the operator has registered with Skal

g. Exemptions received

Temporary exemptions can be applied for certain organic criteria. The operator itself applies for these exemptions to Skal and Skal records the number of exemptions issued per operator.

External provider

The supervision model was developed internally (within Skal).