View Procedure

Procedure Name

Product Certification Scheme for Tea (PCST)

Description

Category	Permit
Responsible Agency	Sri Lanka Standards Institution 17 Victoria Place (Lane adjoining Telecommunication Regulatory Commission) Elvitigala Mawatha Colombo 08. Phone: 94 11 2671567-72
Legal base of the Procedure	Sri Lanka Standards Institution Act
Processing Fee	Application Fee: Rs.2000 application processing fee : as stipulated in the “Fee Structure”.

Required Documents

No.	Type	Note
1	Application Form	The application form and other necessary documents such as Guidelines, Rules and Procedures, the fee structure, the condition of the use of the Tea product Certification mark are available for purchase at the SLSI Head Office, No.17, Victoria Place, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo – 08. Applicants having more than one manufacturing/processing unit located at different places and separately managed shall submit separate applications for each establishment.
2	Manual detailing out the policies established as per SLS 1315:2007	Manual Should include, Scope of the process, policy of PCST Objectives of the company HACCP plan & the process flow diagram for each product Control of Documents and Records Responsibility and Authority Non-Conforming Products Corrective Action Management Review Training, Calibration The requirements addressed in the relevant standards
3	Other necerssary Documentations

Process Steps

No.
Step1	Any manufacturer who is interested in obtaining the Product Certification Scheme for Tea (PCST) shall obtain the required set of application forms from the Sri Lanka Standards Institution- SLSI (Contact point), by making a payment of LKR 2000.00.
Step2	Duly filled Applicaction and Documentations should be submitted application processing fee as stipulated in the “Fee Structure”. Application fee and application processing fee are non-refundable.
Step3	SLSI will appoint a competent and impartial auditor to evaluate the applicants’ manual for its adequacy against the applicable standard and other connected documents.
Step4	A detailed report is sent to the applicant highlighting deficiencies in the documented system for correction.
Step5	On-Site assessment is scheduled when the applicant confirms readiness after the completion and submits the corrective actions to the institute, for the deficiencies raised in the Manual.
Step6	Prior to the On-site Assessment, the Audit Plan and the details of the Audit Team are sent to the applicant for approval. Selections of number of auditors depend on the size and sites of the organization. The applicant is free to raise objections to the audit plan and to the inclusion of any member in the audit team giving reasons.
Step7	The audit team performs a thorough audit to ascertain whether all requirements in the manual and specified standards have actually been identified and addressed. During the audit, the team shall draw tea samples in duplicate from tea batches or families according to the sampling procedure. One sample is tested against all the parameters specified in Sri Lanka Tea Board Standards/Guidelines for tea. The other sample is tested for specified parameters as identified in the Sample Procedure.
Step8	Upon completion of the audit, the audit team submits a detailed report on non-conformities observed.
Step9	The applicant shall propose corrective actions for all non-conformities raised during the on-site assessment. Considering the nature and degree of non-conformities, the applicant shall propose the time required for implementation of corrective action.
Step10	The applicant shall confirm in writing that the corrective actions for the non conformities reported in the on-site assessment report are completed.
Step11	On receipt of confirmation by applicant, SLSI will confirm that the completed corrective actions are fully implemented, by reviewing the documents or with a follow up audit as appropriate. In case of major non-conformities the applicant may agree with the audit team a time frame not exceeding two months to implement corrective actions but the certification is recommended only after verifying the effectiveness of the action taken by the applicant through a follow-up audit. The two samples drawn shall necessarily have to be in compliance with the relevant standard /other requirements. In case of failures in the test report re-sampling will result.
Step12	On completion of a satisfactory result of on-site audit and satisfactory results of the samples, a summary report will be submitted to the SLTPCC for approval of granting certification.
Step13	Before awarding the certificate the applicant is expected to sign an agreement with SLTPCC, which includes conditions related to certification requirements.
Step14	Upon approval by the committee, a Certificate along with permit condition will be issued to the company which is valid for three (3) consecutive years subject to compliance with the requirements of the scheme.

*The permit shall be valid for a period of three years

* Certificate will be renewed every three years (3) time from the date of issue of the Certificate.

* The decision for renewal will be based on the results of the re-certification of the whole process and test results of the sample.

Name	Measure Type	Agency	Description	Comments	Legal Document	Validity To	Measure Class
Product Certification Scheme for Tea (PCST)	Technical Regulation		Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) in association with the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) operates a Product Certification Scheme to certify the manufacturing process and the final product, i.e. Black Tea.	This scheme is essentially voluntary in nature	No. 14 of 1975 Sri Lanka Tea Board Act	31-12-9999	Good
Product Certification Scheme for Tea (PCST)	Technical Regulation		Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) in association with the Sri Lanka Tea Board (SLTB) operates a Product Certification Scheme to certify the manufacturing process and the final product, i.e. Black Tea.	This scheme is essentially voluntary in nature	Sri Lanka Standards Institution Act	31-12-9999	Good