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Boxem has an extensive background in organic agriculture and after retiring from the European Union (EU) Commission in June 2019 continues to have a keen interest in organic agriculture and in emerging agro-ecology in food, environmental, and societal policies, according to a press release by IOAS.
US-based International Organisation for Accreditation Services (IOAS) celebrated its 25th anniversary in Croatia, where the annual training, board, and committee meetings were also conducted. It was the first in-person meeting for the organisation’s members since pre-2020. IOAS has also appointed Herman Van Boxem from Belgium to its board.
The organisation expressed its gratitude to Rikke Lundsgaard, who is stepping down from the IOAS board after many years. IOAS also bid farewell to its business director Iris Rendon who has chosen to move on to new opportunities at the end of the year.
Jim Riddle, who worked to help create the IOAS by serving as one of the first IOAS board members, reflected on the early years of the company’s journey: “I joined the IFOAM Accreditation Programme Board (IAPB) in 1996 after having served as the founding president of the International Organic Inspectors Association since 1991 and delivering organic inspector training courses around the world. During my time on the IFOAM board, we worked on bylaws and articles of incorporation for the new entity, IOAS. We spent a lot of time developing the accreditation criteria, and working out our relationship with IFOAM, since it would now exist as a separate legal company.
“Although IOAS had only one employee Ken Commins when it started out, today the company has a staff of 24 and continues to grow. In addition to the accreditation criteria and the establishment of IOAS as a reputable international accreditation body, there are a few other impacts that I would like to mention.
“IOAS was the first international organisation to establish criteria for the organic certification for grower groups, based on implementation of functional internal control systems. This brought consistency and credibility to grower groups and has allowed thousands of smallholders’ access to the organic marketplace.
“IOAS, along with Otto Schmidt from IFOAM, had a very strong influence on the content and adoption of the Codex International Organic Guidelines. IOAS was looked upon for guidance on certification systems as well as on the content of standards by Codex delegates.
“Inadvertently, IOAS is responsible for development of the IFOAM/IOIA International Organic Inspection Manual. During our board discussions, it became apparent that uniform and comprehensive training tools were needed for organic inspectors. Sampsa Heinonen, an IOAS board member from Finland, secured funding from the Finnish ministry of the environment for writing and publishing the manual, which was released in 2000.
“In January 2001 after being appointed to the USDA National Organic Standards Board, I ended my time on the IOAS board.”
Riddle’s wife Joyce now serves on the IOAS accreditation committee.
IOAS recently asked its clients to complete a short survey regarding feedback on the services the company provides. The accreditation service provider is already working on a number of actions including NC reports issued at exit meetings, more staff appointments to improve response time, and greater specialisation of assessors with the use of technical experts as well for geographical and cultural expansion. A web portal for NC handling is also set to be introduced.
Over the last few years, IOAS has also been amending its fee schedule, partly in response to changes resulting from the COVID pandemic but also to make the fee schedule simpler. This is linked to the ability to pay and paying more for work done directly instead of under a generic annual fee. With many schemes demanding more, the company has had to add time to assessments and differentiate between schemes.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (NB)
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