Bio Suisse (Gemma) – Switzerland certifies agricultural and livestock products, processed products for human consumption and promotes the export of organic products to Switzerland.
What to certify
Bio-Suisse is a non-profit organisation representing the interests of Swiss producers and licensees of the ‘Gemma’ trademark.
For many years, Bio Suisse has been developing specific guidelines for organic products marketed on the Swiss market and has registered the ‘Gemma/Bio-Suisse’ mark that distinguishes its products.
The Bio-Suisse directives are stricter than the minimum legal requirements provided for the European and Swiss standards for organic production.
To be able to export Bio-Suisse products to Switzerland, it is essential to cooperate with a potential Swiss importer, as only this can become the licensee of Bio Suisse and mark products with the ‘Gemma’ trademark.
Coop Swiss and other major Swiss distribution chains identify organic products under the ‘Gemma’ label and only purchase products that comply with the Bio-Suisse guidelines.
To promote the dissemination of the standard and trademark, Biosuisse has established relationships with the European control bodies in such a way that the same control body, that already certifies the company as under Regulation (EC) No. 834/07, can verify compliance with the Bio-Suisse directives.
ICEA is a body authorised to monitor the conformity of products with Bio-Suisse directives.
What it is certified
The certification process is divided into 3 phases:
- The operator wishing to request compliance can send a written request to ICEA regional offices, which estimate costs, carry out the inspection and submit the relevant checklist to Bio-Suisse.
- Following the successful outcome of the evaluation process, Bio-Suisse sends a letter of confirmation and acknowledgement of conformity.
- The acknowledgement shall be renewed every year following the same procedure. The operator with Bio-Suisse accreditation may apply to other Swiss importers interested in using the trademark.
Documents and downloadable files
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