Procedure for requesting inclusion in the list of third countries
Article 8
1. The Commission shall consider whether to include a third country in the list provided for in Article 7 upon receipt of a request for inclusion, from the representative of the third country concerned. 2. The Commission shall only be required to consider a request for inclusion which meets the following preconditions. The request for inclusion shall be completed by a technical dossier, which shall comprise all the information needed for the Commission to ensure that the conditions set out in Article 33(1) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 are met for products intended for export to the Community, namely: (a) general information on the development of organic production in the third country, the products produced, the area in cultivation, the production regions, the number of producers, the food processing taking place; (b) an indication of the expected nature and quantities of organic agricultural products and foodstuffs intended for export to the Community; (c) the production standards applied in the third country as well as an assessment of their equivalence to the standards applied in the Community; (d) the control system applied in the third country, including the monitoring and supervisory activities carried out by the competent authorities in the third country, as well as an assessment of its equivalent effectiveness when compared to the control system applied in the Community; (e) the Internet or other address where the list of operators subject to the control system can be found, as well as a contact point where information is readily available on their certification status and the product categories concerned; (f) the information the third country proposes to include in the list as referred to in Article 7; (g) an undertaking to comply with the provisions of Article 9; (h) any other information deemed relevant by the third country or by the Commission. 3. When examining a request for inclusion in the list of recognised third countries, and also any time after its inclusion, the Commission may request any further information, including the presentation of one or more on-the-spot examination reports established by independent experts. Furthermore, the Commission may, based on risk-assessment and in case of suspected irregularities organise an on-the-spot examination by experts it designates. 4. The Commission shall assess whether the technical dossier referred to in paragraph 2 and the information referred to in paragraph 3 are satisfactory and may subsequently decide to recognise and include a third country in the list. The decision shall be taken in accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 37(2) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007.