Organic Application - Information

Things you may need for your Application

Thank you for choosing Southern Cross Certified for your certification needs. We know you don’t have a lot of time so in order to help you complete the application process as quickly (yet accurately) as possible, we have put together a list of the information you are likely to need to complete the application. May we suggest you get this information together before you start your application? You will find it much easier and faster and make it faster for us to assess your application.

The following information will vary depending on what standard and category you are being certified to so collect what you think you may need. If you miss something, don’t panic, the application process can be saved and you can exit safely at any time and return later. If you still have problems, please call the Southern Cross Certified office on 07 3088 2808.

Please don't be put off with the extent of the information that you require. In a first for the Organic Industry, as you complete your application, you are also completing your Organic Management / Handling Plan. Two time consuming tasks rolled into one simple task.

Everyone will need to have:

Your legal name and Trading Name (if it is different)
ABN
Postal address
Your contact details; email, phone(s) number, fax, website (if applicable)
Any additional properties / sites you have that you want included in your certification

Details of your land and vegetation types (not extensive)
A map of your property highlighting the main features such as:
- Boundary and internal fences, paddock sizes and names / numbers & internal tracks
- Watering points including dams, creeks, rivers, drain lines, bore drains. If your bores have been piped and troughed, no need to mark every trough, just make mention of it somewhere
- Remnant vegetation areas
- Cropping areas or hay paddocks
- Infrastructure such as yards, dips, sheds, homestead, outbuildings, glasshouses etc
- Windbreaks and animal shelters
- Any potential contamination sites
An overview of your Pest management and what pests you encounter
An overview of the Environmental risks to the organic integrity of your business and products.
Your current livestock numbers (cattle, dairy, sheep, alpacas, pigs, chooks, ducks…….you name it)
The total area of your property
The carrying capacity in either Dry Sheep Equivalents (DSE), Dry Cow Equivalent, Birds per Hectare, whatever measure you would normally use
Weaning and progeny management
Antibiotic, vaccines, veterinary chemical usage for the previous three years
If you are a dairy farmer, how you manage manure contamination and cleaning processes
If you are a wine grower, hay producer, grain (inc pulses), fruit or vege grower, what you grow and the area you use to grow it
A list of the inputs you have used on your property for the last three years
A quick overview of your record system; traceability, document retrieval etc. and how you keep a record of your farm inputs
And, have you been certified before? And do you have any other Food Safety certifications?

You can also add any other information you feel may support your application in the "Additional Information" section at the end of the application.

A Floor Plan of your Processing / Manufacturing / Repacking site highlighting the key features such as:
- Layout of the facility
- Main pieces of plant / equipment focusing on where he main organic processing will be done
- Areas where the organic product will be stored
- Areas where any non organic product will be stored
- Cool rooms and segregated areas within
- Plus a Flow Chart demonstrating how the raw product enters your facility, the direction it takes and methods used, to navigate through the facility, the stages of processing (if any) where it is packed / bottled / canned etc., and where it enters into storage or onto a truck.
An overview of your Pest management and what pests you encounter
An overview of the Operational risks to the organic integrity of your business and products.
A list of the inputs you have used in your processing business for the last three years
A list of the ingredients you use, and evidence the ingredients are certified or otherwise ok for use
A list of the recipes you use
An outline of what you make or repack and what your segregation processes are
If you have packaging, what type
A quick overview of your record system; your complaints register,(if applicable) traceability, document retrieval etc. and how you keep a record of your farm inputs
And, have you been certified before? And do you have any other Food Safety certifications?

You can also add any other information you feel may support your application in the "Additional Information" section at the end of the application.

A description your processing methods.
A list of the inputs you have used in your processing business for the last three years
If you have packaging, what type
A quick overview of your record system; your complaints register,(if applicable) traceability, document retrieval etc. and how you keep a record of your farm inputs
And, have you been certified before?

You can also add any other information you feel may support your application in the "Additional Information" section at the end of the application.

More Information on Getting Certified :

Becoming Organic - A Summary of organic requirements
Understanding the organic standards
How to apply for certification
Certification fees

Things you may need for your Application

Everyone will need to have:

Rural producers

Processors, Manufacturers, Repackers, Wholesalers or Retailers

Manufacturer of inputs that can be used by organic operations

Let's Get In Touch!