The Global Certification Society (GCS) registered in 2012 under The Himachal Pradesh Societies Registration Act, 2006 is an accredited Organic Certification Body by the National Accreditation Body (NAB) for certification of organic Crop Production under NPOP (National Programme for Organic Production) and PGS (Participatory Guarantee System).
With a vision to be the most trusted partner for organic certification, Global Certification Society is a registered society of the professionals who have rendered valuable services in the Agriculture and Allied fields. The organisation’s core consists of retired officers, professors, and scientists from the agricultural banking, horticulture, animal husbandry, state agricultural universities, and state departments of agriculture. Service over profit was the driving force behind the association’s founding at GCS. GCS collects fees from clients in order to maintain itself, but another reason for its incorporation was to offer farmers easy certification services for a low or affordable price. “We have well defined policies and procedures finely tuned with NPOP and PGS Standards, by virtue of which we provide hassle free and efficient certification services to the producers,” CEO, Vikash Choudhary shares.
The global market and India
According to the World of Organic Agriculture 2018 study, India is home to 30% of the world’s organic producers, yet it only makes up 2.59 percent (1.5 million hectares) of the 57.8 million hectares of total organic agricultural space. At the same time, most organic farmers are struggling due to poor policy measures, rising input costs and limited market, says a study by the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). GCS lists a few things to be an esteemed international association/ certification body.
- We can pursue accreditation with a number of global oversight bodies.
- We can connect with numerous accreditation organisations worldwide.
iii. We can keep looking for new accreditations to make our certification and training programmes accessible and applicable in as many nations as we can.
- Our work’s quality is recognised by a wide range of people, including our current trading partners and potential future trading partners.
- We can confidently keep pursuing new trade alliances.
However, in light of the European Union’s blacklisting of five Indian organic certification agencies and concerns expressed regarding the nation’s procedures, India’s organic exports may not increase unless the government adopts strict measures to ensure quality. Vikash comments and concludes saying, “The biggest challenge in organic products marketing is assured product integrity. The problem with regard to organic certification is that loopholes in the system are taken advantage of by unscrupulous elements.”
