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Who we are

We are a nonprofit organization that assesses the competence of bodies that certify agricultural, aquacultural and food products subject to government regulations. We specialize in organic agriculture and in the reserved designations and added-value claims that apply in Québec. Throughout the world, we support continuous improvement of the quality of certification processes.

Our objective

To guarantee the genuineness of certified products in order to maintain consumer trust. This is an essential aspect of establishing sustainable and resilient food systems!

Our origins

We provide the accreditation services of the Conseil des Appellations Réservées et des Termes Valorisants (CARTV), a public authority created by the Québec government in 2006. Since we are a technical unit of the organization, our team is made up of members of CARTV staff. Other experts join us to issue recommendations on accreditation decisions.

Our mandate

Since accreditation consists in recognizing the competence of bodies to issue certification, our role is to:

  • assess the competence of certification bodies
  • exercise oversight of certification bodies that have obtained accreditation

Using verification and auditing tools, we make recommendations to the competent authorities regarding the attribution, maintenance, renewal or withdrawal of accreditation.

International standards that we adhere to

We assess certification bodies by means of a procedure that meets the requirements of ISO/IEC 17011, which applies to accreditation bodies such as us.

The requirements on which we base our assessment of a certification body’s competence are those stipulated in the laws and regulations that govern our activities. At a minimum, these requirements must meet those set out in ISO/IEC 17065 for product certification. Our auditors work in accordance with the guidelines of ISO/IEC 19011.


Work with us and experience quality on a human-scale.

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Do you have any questions?

Would you like to know more about our services or learn more about the accreditation process? Don't hesitate to ask us your questions.