The Importance of Product Certification
Today , many products require testing for conformance with specifications or compliance with safety or other regulations before they are put in the market . Even simple products may require supporting technical documentation that includes test data . It isn ‟ t always practical for these activities to be carried out by suppliers and customers , and so often specialized third parties get involved . In addition , national legislation may require such testing to be carried out by independent bodies , particularly when the products have health or environmental implications . In fact , conformity assessment has become an important component of world trade and it ‟ s often carried out by specialist organizations , such as inspection and certification bodies and testing laboratories .
Objectives of Product Certification :
1 . to address the needs of consumers , users and , more generally , all interested parties by giving confidence regarding fulfilment of specified requirements . 2 . to allow suppliers to demonstrate to the market that their products have been attested to fulfil specified requirements by an impartial third party body .
3 . toprovide confidence for those with have an interest in fulfilment of requirements , and sufficient value so that suppliers can effectively market products .
Schemes of Product Certification
Certification schemes for agricultural and food products provide assurance ( through a certification mechanism ) that certain characteristics or attributes of the product or its production method or system , laid down in specifications , have been observed . They cover a wide range of different initiatives that work at different stages of the food supply chain ( pre- or post-farm gate ; covering all or part of the food supply chain ; affecting all sectors or just one market segment , etc ). They can operate at the business-to-business ( B2B ) level where the supermarket or processing business is the intended final recipient of the information , or at a business-to-consumer ( B2C ) level . They can use logos although many , especially the B2B schemes , don ‟ t do it .
The development of certification schemes is driven mainly by factors such as social demands for certain characteristics of the product or its production process on one hand ( mostly for B2C schemes ), and operators ' desire to ensure that their suppliers meet specified requirements , on the other hand ( mostly for B2B schemes ). In the area of food safety , Regulation ( EC ) N . 178 / 2002 ( laying down general principles and requirements of food law ) puts the primary responsibility for ensuring that food and feed satisfying the requirements of food law and verifying that such requirements are met , on the level of food and feed business operators . Large players in the food supply chain often rely on certification schemes in order to satisfy themselves that a product meets the requirements and to protect their reputation and liability in the event of a food safety incident .
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