Private certification

If people understood that no omniscient, benevolent agent protected them from potential harm, they might be more cautious about their decisions to use chemicals. In turn, companies would provide more information about their products to reassure customers. And private certification companies would develop reputations for the integrity of their claims about health effects. 

In terms of criteria for the approval of private certification bodies, the EU regulation requires compliance to Annex 3 of the regulation in addition to ISO/IEC Guide 65. Annex 3 contains requirements not included in ISO Guide 65 such as parallel production. This format is similar to the IFOAM system with specific accreditation criteria that are not covered in the ISO guide. The USA and Japan have each developed distinct requirements. Beyond this, some countries such as India and Australia (in draft requirements) have chosen to base their criteria on IFOAMs (Commins 2003). 

Digital certificates can be obtained from either a public or a private Certificate Authority. It must be an X.509 version 3 certificate, and all data fields in the Issuer and Subject fields must be completed. See Appendix A, Digital Certificates for more information on digital certificates. 

Establish a set of standards and certification and accreditation guidelines supported by the United States organic industry and community, including existing public and private certification agencies. 

Contrasted with Germany and the UK, the situation in Denmark is relatively simple. In this case the control body, a government agency, is the only organisation permitted to certify. There are, consequently, no private certification bodies. 

While the current livestock standards may vary from control body to control body and even between the private certification bodies within a member state, the main issues remain the same. 

Labels of private certification bodies for organic products... 

Semi-public and private certification bodies may apply to the CEN and CENELEC for the authority to act as a so-called Notified Body with respect to checking data acquisition, file completeness, and compliance with Technical-Committee standards. For class-in devices, the Notified Body may impose on manufacturers the duty to ensure clinical patient follow-up and periodical updates on user experience with a specific device. 

Certification can be used by suppliers as a means of production control as well as a contribution to a better operation of the design and manufacturing process. Certification to ISO 9000 standards has been the fastest growing certification practice of all times, and is increasingly seen as a ticket for entry into important markets. Distinct from mandatory systems, the success of private certification is caused by the voluntary participation of the parties involved. 

Graaf de V. (1996) Private Certification in a Governance Context, Eburon Publishers, Delft. 

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