ICS (Internal Control System) Certification/ Grower group certification
The farmers who practice and are involved in organic farming as per the National Standards of Organic Production (NPOP) are organized into groups and this group certification is based on the concept of an internal control system. The farmers in the group must apply similar production systems, the farms should be in geographical proximity and the ICS should be registered as a legal entity. VCERT has documented and implemented an inspection system for group certification for certifying operations with multiple products for grower group certification. The term “person” is defined as an individual, partnership, corporation, association, cooperative, or other entity. The farmers have a land holding of 4 hectors or above 4 hectors shall be inspected and reported separately in addition to the farms selected randomly for sample inspection and the same is followed by VCERT for grower group inspections. The total area of such farms must be less than 50% of the group’s total area. The grower group must have a minimum of 25 farmers and a maximum of 500 farmers. Grower groups must establish and implement an internal control system (quality system), with supervision and documentation of production practices and inputs used at each producer’s operation to ensure compliance with the standard.