The European Union has rules and regulations in place to determine whether products are considered to be organic. Products must conform to equivalent standards to those produced in the European Union. The European Union has agreements with countries that have standards and control measures that are equivalent to those of the European Union. Most inspections and certifications are done in the Country of Origin in these cases. This holds for products from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, India, Israel, Japan, Tunisia, Republic of Korea, New Zealand, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the United States.
If you want to import from other non-EU countries, the products need to be inspected and certified by independent bodies appointed by the European Commission. If you're going to import non-EU products marketed in the European Union as organic, you need to contact the appropriate national control body. You can find that list here.
Additional measures may be in place for products coming from Ukraine, Kazachstan, Moldova, Turkey, Russia, China and India.
What is a Certificate of Inspection?
A Certificate of Inspection certifies that the products are organic. As described above, these inspections can, in some cases, be done in the country of origin and sometimes by control bodies designated by the EU.
All organic products imported into the EU must have the appropriate electronic certificate of inspection (e-COI). Without this electronic certificate of inspection, your products will not be released from their port of arrival in the European Union.
Inform your Customs Agent if the Products are Organic!
It is crucial to inform your customs agent that you want to import certain products as organic. Your customs agent needs to import the organic products as such and follow the relevant procedures. Once your products are imported without the designation ‘organic’, you can’t market your products as organic in the European Union.
If you have any questions about importing organic products into the European Union, contact one of our specialists.
