The certifying bodies that wish to carry out the ESTA audits shall contact one of the ESTA Agents. Upon written application of a certifying body, the Agent verifies whether the applying certifying body complies with the following criteria as defined in the ESTA Standard:
- be an accredited certifying body accredited or accepted by the competent national accreditation services of its registered offices;
- be accredited to ISO/IEC 17065 (Conformity assessment requirements for bodies certifying products, processes and services); and
- have proven competence and experience in the field of agriculture, forestry and fishing, group 01.01, 01.02, 01.61 as defined in NACE Rev. 2 – Statistical classification of economic activities in the European Community. 2008. European Commission
At the moment of application, the Agent must request the applying certifying body to prove fulfilment of the above criteria with documentary evidence.
Any certifying body that complies with the ESTA criteria and provides the required documentary evidence shall be allowed to become an ESTA certifying body. The Agent shall not impose additional criteria than those listed above.
Any certifying body that has been accepted as ESTA certifying body by an accredited Agent shall be allowed to operate before all accredited Agents without any further condition.
The Standard Agreement that needs to be signed between the Certifying Body and an ESTA Agent can be found here.
The list of the certifying bodies that are accredited to carry out the ESTA audits can be found below:
