When an inspection goes wrong, or a certificate is refused, or Tracenet blocks a transaction certificate, the useful question is who actually decides. NPOP has a defined chain, and knowing it tells you where to take a problem.
The chain, top to bottom
- DoCDepartment of Commerce — the apex body under NPOP
- NSCNational Steering Committee, chaired by the Commerce Secretary
- NABNational Accreditation Body — accredits Certification Bodies
- APEDAThe NPOP Secretariat, and the operator of Tracenet
The Operational Setup
NPOP lists eight elements in its operational set-up: the Department of Commerce, the National Steering Committee, the National Accreditation Body, a Technical Committee, an Evaluation Committee, APEDA as the NPOP Secretariat, the Certification Bodies, and the Operators.
(apex body)"] --> B["National Steering
Committee"] B --> C["National Accreditation
Body (NAB)"] B --> D["APEDA
(NPOP Secretariat)"] C --> E["Certification Bodies
(accredited)"] D --> F["Tracenet"] E --> G["Operators — producers,
processors, traders,
grower groups"] F --- E F --- G
| Body | What it does |
|---|---|
| Department of Commerce | Operates NPOP under its overall guidance and direction; the apex body |
| National Steering Committee | Apex policy formulation, chaired by the Commerce Secretary; responsible for implementation and administration of NPOP, with APEDA as its secretariat |
| National Accreditation Body | Accredits certification programmes; decides which categories each Certification Body may certify in |
| Technical and Evaluation Committees | Technical input and evaluation of certification bodies' programmes |
| APEDA | NPOP Secretariat; developed and runs Tracenet |
| Certification Bodies | Inspect and certify operators; issue scope and transaction certificates on Tracenet |
| Operators | Producers, processors, traders and grower groups registered and certified under NPOP |
The Steering Committee's membership shows how many ministries an organic export touches: alongside Commerce, it includes the Director General of Foreign Trade, the CEO of FSSAI, and joint secretaries from Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Cooperation, and Food Processing Industries. Your certificate is a Commerce instrument, but your label and your food safety obligations are not.
Tracenet Is Not Optional
Tracenet is APEDA's web-based certification-cum-traceability system for the export of organic products, and NPOP is explicit that it is mandatory for all Certification Bodies and Operators to operate through it for inspection and certification. Only authorised registered stakeholders can access it.
Everything that proves your product's status is issued there:
- Scope certificates and transaction certificates, including provisional ones, are issued through Tracenet — each with a unique verifiable code.
- The system covers monitoring and surveillance of the certification process, not just record-keeping: risk identification through data analytics, real-time monitoring and predictive analytics.
- Where the system's risks and alerts show deviation from NPOP requirements or wilful violation of standards, enforcement action follows.
Read that last point carefully. Tracenet is designed to notice patterns — volumes that do not reconcile, certificates that do not match production, transactions that arrive in improbable shapes. Your records are not filed and forgotten; they are analysed.
Why the Accreditation Layer Matters to You
You will never deal with the NAB directly. You will deal with a Certification Body — and the NAB is what stands behind it. A Certification Body may only certify in the categories it has been accredited for, and that accreditation is granted on the NAB's assessment.
The practical consequence: before you sign with a Certification Body, confirm it is accredited under NPOP for your category — crop production, processing and handling, aquaculture, or whichever applies. The certification body's own verification duties give a sense of what they are obliged to check on their side.
Which category applies to you, and whether you certify as an individual producer, a grower group, a processor or a trader, is the subject of the next episode. KrushiFlow validates these fields and submits farmer records to the portal in bulk.