Table 1 Characteristics of the group of operators and verification procedures to be applied by the control body

(a) Only be composed of members who are farmers or operators that produce algae or aquaculture animals and who in addition may be engaged in processing, preparation or placing on the market of food or feed;

(b) only be composed of members:

 (i) of which the individual certification cost represents more than 2% of each member’s turnover or standard output of organic production and whose annual turnover of organic production is not more than EUR 25,000 or whose standard output of organic production is not more than EUR 15,000 per year; or

 (ii) who have each holding of maximum:

  five hectares,

  0.5 hectares, in the case of greenhouses, or

  15 hectares, exclusively in the case of permanent grassland;

(c) be established in a Member State or a third country;

(d) have legal personality;

(e) only be composed of members whose production activities take place in geographical proximity to each other;

(f) set up a joint marketing system for the goods produced by the group; and

(g) establish a system for internal controls comprising a documented set of control activities and procedures in accordance with which an identified person or body is responsible for verifying compliance with this Regulation by each member of the group

The control body carries out an annual inspection of each member of the group of operators (group ≤ 10 members);

The control body carries out an annual inspection only on 5% of the total number of members of the group (group > 10 members);

The sampling carried out by the control body shall be performed on at least 2% of the members composing each type of group;

The conformity check carried out by the control body shall include the verification of the establishment and functioning of the ICS implemented by the group of operators;

If previous controls have not detected any non-compliance that compromises the integrity of organic or in-conversion products (i.e. that these operators or group of operators have not received suspensions or withdrawals for at least three consecutive years and that these operators or group of operators have been assessed as having a low probability of non-compliance), the time interval between two physical on-site inspections carried out by the control body shall not exceed 24 months (within this time interval, the control body may still carry out documentary checks)