Soil Association

The Soil Association Certification validates adherence to stringent organic food production standards, focusing on industries such as agriculture and food production. It emphasizes surpassing European laws in areas like animal welfare, human health protection, and environmental conservation. In the supply chain, all stages must hold organic certification, and the Soil Association works to maintain high standards even in complex international supply chains, sometimes allowing the use of ingredients certified to other organic standards to ensure diverse product availability.

Key Features

• Certification at the product level, ensuring detailed scrutiny of production processes and ingredients.
• Emphasis on animal welfare, prohibiting routine mutilations and animal testing for the certified product or brand.
• Focus on environmental conservation, minimizing the use of non-renewable resources and maximizing recycling.
• Adherence to principles ensuring high-quality food production without harming the environment, human, plant, or animal health and welfare.

Trustworthiness

Entities seeking this certification undergo rigorous and regular inspections and evaluations, with specific obligations to comply with the standards. Any non-compliance may lead to sanctions, including suspension or withdrawal of the license. Entities are required to communicate any changes in activity to the certification body, and additional inspections may be conducted based on risk assessment or complaints. Samples will be taken if there is a risk that organic standards have not been complied with or to verify that sufficient measures are in place to prevent contamination of organic products.

Duration and Renewal

The certification mandates annual physical inspections of the organic certified activities, ensuring continued adherence to the standards. The Soil Association certification is valid for one year, after which it must be renewed.

Impact and Significance

The certification has significant benefits in promoting animal welfare and environmental conservation. It emphasizes regular exercise and access to open-air areas for animals and focuses on maintaining long-term soil fertility and preventing the need for external inputs. It also fosters innovation, allowing entities to explore innovative ways of delivering the same outcomes of the higher standards through approved research projects.