Organic Content Standard (OCS) Certification | OCS 100 Standard

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Organic Content Standard (OCS) provides certificate to any non-food product that contains organic material 5-100 percent. It examines the presence and amount of organic material in a very final product and checks the other certification for the raw materials.

 It provides the assurance of organic content that claims by the seller or manufacturer. It provides a strong chain of custody system from the source of the organic raw material to the final product through certification. It depends on third party accreditation for transparent, consistent and comprehensive independent evaluation and verification of organic material claims on products.

The OCS label can be used only for the company who ensures the products actually contain organic material. This standard does not cover the certification of the raw material itself, which is verified independently of the production process certification. It also does not address processing inputs like chemicals, environmental aspects like energy or water usage, social issues, safety issues or any legal compliance. 

OCS certification is powered by Textile Exchange which is an international member supported non profit organization that was established in 2003 under the original name Organic Exchange. Later on 2010 it became Textile Exchange with the mission to inspire and equip people to accelerate sustainable practices in the textile value chain.

Principles of The OCS Certification:

• The OCS provides third - party verification of organic material content in a product and options for corresponding consumer facing claims. It addresses the flow of product within and between companies, raw material verification, post harvest processing, manufacturing, packaging and labeling, storage, handling and shipping through the seller in the last business to business transaction.

• The OCS requires all organizations to be certified beginning with post harvest processing sites. (The raw material farming company shall not be certified to both Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and OCS. If a farm is certified to OCS and wants to be certified to GOTS, it shall contact its responsible CB to terminate its OCS Scope Certificate prior tot he GOTS scope Certificate Issuance)

• Raw materials or fibers producing companies have to be certified by an accredited certification body to comply with the USDA National Organic Program (NOP), Regulation (EC) 834/2007 or IFOAM family.( Testing for the presence of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) in the organic material shall be carried out by the certification body(CB) based on a risk assessment.)

• The OCS allows "in-conversion" organic material as inputs if the applicable farming standard permit such certification.

• All Organic materials entering the supply chain shall have a Transaction Certificate (TX) issued by the Certification Body.

• The OCS may be used any product that contains non-food organic material (Any products being sold in the United States and making a reference to "Organic" on the label shall have the organic materials certified to the USDA NOP standard(As per USDA Policy).

• The OCS Applies to products that contain 5% to 100% Organic material.

• Buyers of the OCS product are responsible to set any requirement on the specific organic standards to which the input material should be certified.

A certificate of OCS look like below-
 

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