Publication
Organic Food and Farming: Importing from outside the EU
From Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine
Published on
Last updated on
The following list of European legislation governs organic imports and is in effect since 1 January 2022.
This is a non-exhaustive list and is intended as a guide only.
Council Regulation 2017/625 (OCR: Official Controls Regulation on food and feed)
Council Regulation 2018/848 (Organic Basic Act)
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2307 – Rules on documents and notification
Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/2325 – Recognised control authorities and third countries
Commission Delegated Regulation(EU) 2021/2305 – Cases where organic products are exempt from BCP controls
Commission Delegated Regulation(EU) 2021/2306 – Official controls on organic imports
As the importer, you must decide who the operator responsible for the consignment will be.
You may decide to carry out these functions yourself, within your own business, or you may decide to engage an agent to do this on your behalf.
These are the below tasks to carry out for importation from outside the EU
1. Register with the Brexit Unit
2. TRACES
3. INIS portal
As the Competent Authority DAFM wishes to advise importers and first consignees of the requirement to check that there is a valid and endorsed Certificate of Inspection (COI) for each consignment, whereby the status of the COI is ‘consignment verified’.
Importers and first consignees should be aware that following reception of advance notification,
DAFM, as Competent Authority, carries out relevant checks and completes Box 30 of the COI,
declaring whether the consignment is:
• Clearable – whereby the product is free for circulation as organic
• Clearable as conventional – whereby the consignment is released for free circulation as
• conventional, NOT as organic
• Not clearable – Consignment cannot be released for free circulation in the EU
There is an obligation on the first consignee (company listed in box 24), as set out in Article 13 of
Commission Regulation 1235/2008, to complete box 31 of the COI, to certify that:
1. The COI has been validated by the Competent Authority (Box 30)
2. The consignment is in appropriate packaging or container, closed in a manner preventing
substitution
3. There is identification on the consignment that includes details of the exporter and other
marks and numbers that identify the lot with the certificate of inspection
Once box 31 of the COI is complete, the first consignee shall then send the original hard copy
certificate to the importer mentioned in box 11. Please note that due to COVID-19, there is
derogation as regards the obligation to have a paper version of the certificate of inspection. This is
set out in Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/977.
Goods cannot be sold as organic until such time as the Certificate of Inspection status is as First
Consignee Declaration Signed (Box 31).
The importer must retain the certificate for a period, not less than two years, and make available on
the request of the organic control authority or the control body.
Advance notice of all imports of organic products from third countries must be submitted to DAFM
via the Import Notification Inspection System (INIS) Portal from 1 June 2022. The operator responsible for a consignment will have to register their details on the INIS Portal. The operator responsible for a consignment shall give prior notification at least one working day before the expected arrival of the consignment, as set out in Article 1 of Commission Implementing Regulation 2019/1013.
All Importers should be aware that all third country consignments may be red routed through
Customs for inspection by DAFM staff and potential sampling. If your consignment is ‘red routed’
you will be notified of same in advance. Your COI will not be verified by DAFM on TRACES until such
time as the inspection has been completed and all results are clear of any irregularities.
In addition, the following documentation should be uploaded on both the TRACES portal and on the
INIS Portal for each COI:
a) The results of analyses or tests carried out on the samples taken, and all other supporting
documents such as the travel plan where relevant.
b) Commercial transport documents such as bill of lading, invoices and packaging list.
**Failure to adhere to the above specified criteria of advance notification may result in delays in the
verification of the COI on TRACES, which may in turn result in delays in the clearance of the
import consignment.**
In addition, please also be aware that there are additional control requirements on products
imported from certain non-EU countries. Details of these additional controls can be found here:
PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS PAGE COVERS THE ORGANIC SIDE OF IMPORTS YOU MAY NEED OTHER DOCUMENTS FOR YOUR IMPORTS
For further information on Import procedures and CHED information can be found here: