Export companies for organic produce have also to be covered by inspection and certification
The control of separation and commodity flow aims to guarantee that only those quantities enter the organic market, which are produced organic according to the regulation.
All producers, processors and importers of organic food within the EU must be registered in their Member State and certified by any certification body accredited in the EU. Such certified produce is for free sale within the EU.
For
Imports from outside the
EU, there are two systems:
Firstly exporting countries may demonstrate to the European Commission that they have certification systems meeting the requirements of the EC Regulation. So far, only six countries have achieved this: Australia, Argentina, Czech Republic, Hungary, Israel and Switzerland. Imports may take place freely, though the producer must be registered with an accredited organic certifier.
The second system is that the importer must make an application to the authority in the Member State concerned providing copies of the standards and control procedures applied by the overseas certifier. Equivalence to EN 45011 and to Regulation 2092/91 must be demonstrated.
In this given context, article 11 of the EU regulation - Imports from third countries - sets the frame for importing organic products from countries outside of the EU. The most important condition is that, wherever an organic product may have been produced, the equivalence with the requirements of the EU regulation is assured by certificate of an accredited certification body as BCS.
According to article 11.6, importers from those countries have to apply for individual permits for imports. As this is the ‘normal’ case, certification agencies -as BCS- admitted for the control of exporters and importers normally help to prepare the application forms.
Therefore it is important for exporting and importing companies to choose a certification body with the necessary competence, experience and established international network.
In Germany, for example, state authorities require for the usual procedure valid certificates, the confirmation by a recognized certifier and the actual specific inspection report, with at least a summary added in German.
When applying for individual import authorization, special constructions have to be installed: The exporter commissions can instruct an accredited and recognized Certification authority -as BCS- with the initial inspection, if possible with local inspectors, according to the EU control system. An inspection contract is then drawn up with the inspection authority which has to conduct follow-up inspections on annual basis.
Once the import authorization has been given, the exporter with each delivery into the EU must present an individual export-form. this could be done with the assistance of the certification body. Lack of import authorization or of this individual export certificate automatically leads to disqualification as an organic good.
BCS supports the transfer of organic products from third countries into the EU by certifying the agricultural production/processing/exporting units in the third countries (in case they have not been certified yet and are interested in our service)
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certifying the German importers (in case they have not been certified yet and are interested in our service)
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assisting to fill out the application forms for the import authorisation
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confirming the equivalency of the BCS-controlled projects in the respective third countries with
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the requirements of the EU Council Regulation (EEC) 2092/91
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issuing corresponding EU-import certificates
Furthermore BCS supports the transfer of imported organic third country products from Germany to other EU-member states (e.g. Italy) or non-EU-member states (e.g. Switzerland) by issuing corresponding transaction certificates.
Finally BCS supports the transfer of organic third country products directly from the third country to other non-EU-member states (e.g. Japan, USA, Australia, New Zealand) by issuing corresponding transaction certificates.
Supervision of commodity flow by BCS
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The exporter sends a copy of the bill of lading, certificates and commercial invoices to BCS headquarter
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BCS verifies the commodity flow, origin, certificates, destination
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BCS checks the certified quantities, export documents and import certificate
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BCS issues the transaction certificate
Other Legal Stipulations for the Trade with Foodstuffs in General
Besides the special conditions prescribed above, specific regulations for the trade with foodstuffs must be observed when importing. The importer is liable for the observation of all these regulations, too. The rules apply to various areas such as:
- • labeling
- • packaging
- • details on weight or quantity
- • unauthorized additives,
- • content of harmful substances
- • grade
- • pesticide residue
- • radioactivity
- • micro-biological contamination
- • others
- • packaging
State inspection authorities constantly monitor foodstuffs. To fully observe their duty of care, importers should import goods tested by food chemist.
