§205.504. Evidence of expertise and ability. — Inbound Citations

(a) A private or governmental entity seeking accreditation as a certifying agent under this subpart must submit an application for accreditation which contains the applicable information and documents set forth in §§ 205.503 through 205.505 and the fees required in § 205.640 to: Program Manager, USDA-AMS-NOP, 1400 Independence Ave. SW., Room 2648 So. Bldg., Ag Stop 0268, Washington, DC 20250-0268.

(1) The accreditation applicant has submitted the information required by §§ 205.503 through 205.505;

(a) If the Program Manager has reason to believe, based on a review of the information specified in §§ 205.503 through 205.505 or after a site evaluation as specified in § 205.508, that an applicant for accreditation is not able to comply or is not in compliance with the requirements of the Act and the regulations in this part, the Program Manager shall provide a written notification of noncompliance to the applicant. Such notification shall provide:

(1) A description of each noncompliance;

(2) The facts upon which the notification of noncompliance is based; and

(3) The date by which the applicant must rebut or correct each noncompliance and submit supporting documentation of each such correction when correction is possible.

(1) A complete and accurate update of information submitted pursuant to §§ 205.503 and 205.504;

(10) Maintain strict confidentiality with respect to its clients under the applicable organic certification program and not disclose to third parties (except for the Secretary or the applicable State organic program's governing State official or their authorized representatives) any business-related information concerning any client obtained while implementing the regulations in this part, except:

(i) For information that must be made available to any member of the public, as provided for in § 205.504(b)(5);

(ii) For enforcement purposes, certifying agents must exchange any compliance-related information that is credibly needed to certify, decertify, or investigate an operation, including for the purpose of verifying supply chain traceability and audit trail documentation; and

(iii) If a certified operation's proprietary business information is compliance-related and thus credibly needed to certify, decertify, or investigate that operation, certifying agents may exchange that information for the purposes of enforcing the Act, but the information in question still retains its proprietary character even after it is exchanged and all of the certifying agents that are involved in the exchange still have a duty to preserve the confidentiality of that information after the exchange.

(21) Conduct risk-based supply chain traceability audits as described in the criteria and procedures for supply chain audits, per § 205.504(b)(7), and share audit findings with other certifying agents as needed to determine compliance, per paragraph (a)(13) of this section.

(a) A certifying agent must submit with its administrative policies and procedures: decision criteria for acceptance of mediation, and a process for identifying personnel conducting mediation and setting up mediation sessions per § 205.504(b)(8).