Two leading companies in conventional and organic certification are joining forces to create combined certification and assurance services to the UK.
CMi and Soil Association Certification last week announced that they are to form an alliance.
This will enable the UK’s largest organic produce certifier for international organic producers and processors much greater access to the Soil Association symbol in key countries such as Spain, Italy, South America and Africa.
The partnership will allow organic product integrity audits to be carried out on a more frequent basis by CMi’s local auditors, who benefit from knowledge of local production practices, culture and language.
Soil Association certification managing director David Peace said: “We are delighted to be working with CMi to develop SA Certification’s international profile. First and foremost, it will enable us to take our organic integrity work to a new level.”
The combined venture will help put to rest any doubts in the standards of organic produce grown overseas, he added. “This new initiative reinforces the Soil Association’s existing process and ensures the public can have total confidence that our organic produce is what it says it is,” Peace said.
The combination of services will mean growers and packers both in the UK and overseas will benefit from CMi’s ‘one-stop shop’ approach.
Producers will be offered combined assessments so that audits can be completed in a sole visit, even where several enterprises exist.
CMi certification managing director David Richardson said: “This collaboration makes excellent business sense for everyone and addresses the issues surrounding duplication of services which we continuously strive to reduce.”
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