Importing organic produce
For an imported product to be sold as organic, it must conform to equivalent standards as EU produced goods. To ensure this, there are procedures that all importers have to follow when they wish to market a product as organic. These procedures depend on where the goods have originated.
For products which originated in
- Argentina
- Australia
- Canada
- Chile
- Costa Rica
- India
- Israel
- Japan
- Tunisia
- Republic of Korea
- New Zealand
- Switzerland
- United States of America
Inspection and certification of most organic products is carried out by the national authorities of the country of origin. This is because arrangements for the imports of organic products are in place with these countries as their standards and control measures have been assessed as equivalent to those in place in the EU. They are often referred to as ‘equivalent’ countries.
Concerning the import of organic products from the United Kingdom into the European Union, the Commission has published a notice to stakeholders, outlining the legal situation after the end of the transition period, certain relevant separation provisions of the Withdrawal Agreement, and the rules applicable in Northern Ireland after the end of the transition period.
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom and EU rules in the field of organic production methods
English Download
For products which originated in any other country
In all other countries, inspection and certification is the responsibility of ‘control bodies or authorities’. These are independent bodies appointed by the Commission to ensure that organic producers in their area of responsibility follow standards and control measures equivalent to the EU ones.
If you wish to import a product from one of these countries and market it as organic within the EU, you must contact the appropriate national control body.
There may be additional controls or requirement on products imported from some non-EU countries. Currently, this includes products from the Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, the Russian Federation and China.
Guidelines for additional controls on products from Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Turkey and Russia 06 January 2021 English (218,5 КБ - PDF)Download
Guidelines for additional controls on products from China 06 January 2021 English (352,2 КБ - PDF)Download
Additional advice is available for products imported from the USA. Advice on EU-US equivalence 14 February 2012 English (148,4 КБ - PDF)Download
Certification
All organic products imported into the EU must have the appropriate electronic certificate of inspection (e-COI). These are administered through the Trade Control and Expert System (TRACES).
- Equivalent countries: certificates are issued by the control bodies designated by the countries national authorities.
- All other countries: the certificates are issued by the control bodies designated by the EU.
If you do not have an electronic certificate of inspection, your products will not be released from their port of arrival in the EU.
Guidelines on imports of organic products into the EU English (59,1 КБ - PDF)Download
Information for third country control bodies
Organisations that assess and inspect organic producers or distributors from non-EU countries can apply to be recognised as control bodies by the EU. This allows them to certify that products intended for import into the EU are produced organically.
Submission of requests for the recognition of control authorities and control bodies
The entry into force of the new organic legislation was postponed to 1 January 2022. Consequently, access to the platform for the submission of requests for the recognition of control authorities and control bodies will reopen until 30 June 2021. This applies to:
- New control authorities and control bodies, which will able to submit their requests for recognition by the Commission for the purpose of equivalence, in order to carry out controls and to issue certificates in third countries to import products with equivalent guarantees.
- Already recognised control authorities and control bodies, which will be able to submit a request for extension of the scope of their recognition.
Requests for recognition can be submitted using the the Agricultural web application interface (AWAI), to gain access to the Organic farming information system (OFIS).
Related information
Commission implementing regulation (EU) 2021/461
A source: ec.europa.eu