Becoming Certified - Six Simple Steps

When you produce healthy organic foods, you make a commitment to your customers. CCOF honors your commitment, offering certification your customers can trust. In just six simple steps, you can be on your way to earning "Certified Organic" recognition. CCOF provides certification services throughout North and South America to processors, farms, private labelers, retailers, restaurants, brokers, and more.

The Organic Certification Process:

1. Complete and Submit the Application. Complete your Organic System Plan (OSP) and application. The CCOF certification application guides you through the required organic standards and helps you document your organic operation. Applications are available for download as PDFs, by emailing ccof@ccof.org, or by calling (831) 423-2263. Get started now!

Mail your application to the CCOF home office and include the one-time $275 application fee. If you have any questions or require clarification, please don’t hesitate to contact us or visit our certification FAQs.

2. Review Stage 1. Your application will be reviewed by a CCOF certification specialist to assess whether you are ready to move forward towards organic certification. If so, you will be assigned to a Regional Service Representative (RSR) who will arrange for a trained inspector to come to your operation to perform an on-site inspection.

3. Inspection. The purpose of the inspection is to verify that what is detailed in your Organic System Plan and application is what is happening in practice. Our certification FAQs include information about the inspection process and preparing for inspections. The inspector will submit an inspection report to CCOF.

4. Review Stage 2. CCOF certification specialists will review the inspection report alongside your initial application and OSP. Any issues of non-compliance or requests for further information will be addressed with you.

5. Certification Status Notification. Upon successful completion of the review process, you will receive a letter from CCOF to inform you of your certification status and any requirements for ongoing certification.

6. Annual Renewal Process. To remain certified in good standing, every operation must be re-inspected annually. Each year your certification will be renewed and annual certification fees are due. When CCOF grants an operation a status of Organic Certification, it issues a federal license that will be held by you, the client, until it is withdrawn, suspended, or revoked.

For more information about becoming certified, including the timeframe of the certification process, visit the Certification FAQs. For information about the cost of certification, view the Fees and Renewal information. Read more about reasons to choose CCOF as your certification agency.