Amendments to organic control bodies – equivalence regime

Draft Commission Implementing Regulation amending Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 as regards the recognition of certain third countries and control authorities and control bodies for the purpose of importing organic products into the Union

Update

The European Commission proposes amendments to Regulation 2021/2325 in response to new information received.

Annex I establishes a list of non-EU countries, and their control authorities and control bodies, with systems of production and control measures for organic production that are recognised as equivalent to those in the EU according to the old organic regime (Regulation 834/2007). India, which is recognised for unprocessed plant products only, has informed the Commission of changes to the control bodies officially recognised by its competent authorities: seven control bodies are newly recognised, and two are suspended.

Changes are also proposed in relation to Annex II of Regulation 2021/2325, which concerns control authorities and control bodies recognised as competent to carry out controls and issue certificates in non-EU countries under the old “equivalence” regime.

Impacted Products

Organic products

What is changing?

The Commission proposes changes to Annex I of Regulation 2021/2325 according to new information and requests received. This includes the entry for India (point 5).

India has informed the Commission that its competent authority has:

suspended recognition of the following control bodies:

• Sikkim State Organic Certification Agency
• Reliable Organic Certification Organisation

and recognised the following control bodies:

• ISCOP (Indian Society for Certification of Organic products)
• GSCI Service Private Limited
• MS Agroland Services Private Limited
• Krushi Certification Private Limited
• CERT ID India Private Limited
• Andhra Pradesh State Organic Products Certification Authority (APSOPCA)
• Chhattisgarh State Organic Certification Agency (CGOCERT).

The Commission also proposes changes to Annex II of the Regulation concerning lists of recognised control authorities and control bodies. Among others, the following changes are made:

• ‘Bureau Veritas Certification France SAS’ (BIO-165) has informed the Commission of its change of address
• the Commission received a request from ‘CCOF Certification Services’ (BIO-105) to withdraw its recognition for all non-EU countries for which it is currently recognised.

Changes to the Annexes are also proposed for several other countries that are not covered by the AGRINFO programme, including Australia, Japan, Korea, and the USA.

Annex I is relevant only until the end of 2026, or until countries recognised as equivalent renegotiate the terms as bilateral trade agreements.

Annex II is relevant only until the end of 2024. From 1 January 2025, control bodies must be officially recognised under Regulation 2021/1378 in order to conduct controls and certification in non-EU countries according to the new EU organic compliance rules.

Why?

The changes are proposed in response to new information and requests received by the Commission from certain countries and control bodies that are listed under the Regulation.

Timeline

The changes will come into force on the third day after the Regulation is published (likely December 2024) in the Official Journal of the EU.

Recommended Actions

There is an opportunity to comment on the draft Regulation via the EU’s Have your say webpage until 20 November 2024.

Background

The Organic Regulation 2018/848 is the basic Act that lays down the EU rules on organic production and labelling of organic products. It revised and strengthened the controls system, trade regime, and production rules that had been in place since 2007. It brought in a fundamental change to the regulatory approach, moving from the principle of equivalence to the principle of conformity. The earlier Regulation 834/2007 recognised that organic goods could be produced in ways that were different, but equivalent in terms of their outcome and alignment with organic principles. Under the new Regulation, this changes to a system of compliance: producers in non-EU countries will have to conform with the same set of rules as in the EU. For further information see New EU Organic Regulation explained.

Resources

Sources