Insights in international trade for EU and third country operators

On Monday 11 March, the European Organic Certifiers Council (EOCC) and IFOAM Organics Europe united experts providing insights into two important topics:

• The implementation of Regulation 2018/848 in third countries from 2025, and
• Control body recognition for the purpose of compliance with EU organic regulations.

Two experts, Aurélie Quintin, EOCC representative and Antoine Faure, EOCC Board member and Vice President, shared what they have learnt from the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DG AGRI) Organic Unit on the state of play and on specific implications for organic operators in the EU and third countries.

Control bodies’ technical dossiers

During the latest digital meeting, on 28 February, the Commission informed the EOCC that 47 control bodies submitted their technical dossiers and more than half of them had been already assessed. The Commission continues to evaluate the others, having accelerated work on the dossiers. It is confident to finalise the task this year and be ready to start the new system on 1 January 2025.

Control bodies will receive individual letters as soon as they are fully or partially recognised. The list of recognized control bodies (for the purpose of compliance) will be published as an implementing regulation. In March, the draft proposal with the first part of the list will be known. It will be voted by Members States in the Committee on Organic Production (COP) in early June.

Regular regulatory updates will follow

It is important to be aware that this will be only the first part of the list and will be followed by regular updates by the Commission during the year on a monthly basis (voted and then published in July, September, November and December). Knowing about this continuous procedure is important to avoid switching from one control body to another due to fear of loss of certification continuity.

If a control body is not or only partially recognized in the first or second etc. list, it does not mean that it will not be recognized by the end of the year! The EOCC has published a letter confirming this gradual recognition process to the CBs.

In the first few months of 2024, operator certificates are still issued on the basis of equivalence under Reg. 834. These certificates originally should last to be valid for one year. Therefore, there will be a period while certificates issued under Reg. 834 and under Reg. 848 coexist. Even though CB recognition is given priority, the Commission confirmed to be working on a solution establishing a transition period and proper transition measures ensuring a smooth switch between the two systems.

Our members have early information to this information and can also read more in detailed minutes on our Member Extranet.

IFOAM Organics Europe’s work on the EU Organic Regulation

Since March 2022, we are offering guidelines to help practitioners interpret the EU Organic Regulation. These guidelines help readers to navigate the regulation, its implementing and delegated acts and links to definitions, recitals, other EU legislation and more. We will update the guidelines in the first quarter of 2024.

For more information on the EU organic regulationand IFOAM Organics Europe’s work on this issue, please visit our website or contact [email protected]. Do note that we prioritise our members’ requests.

IFOAM Organics Europe members have early access to information on the EU Organic Regulation through our Interest and Expert Groups and our member extranet. They also have one free access to the EU Organic Regulation guidelines.

For information about what you can gain from being a member, read our membership page and contact [email protected].