US-EU Equivalency arrangement
20.02.12
US and EU have reached an historical agreement to permit to EU operators certified to the EU organic standard (REC 834/2007 and implementation rules) to label and sell as organic their products in US and to US operations certified to the National organic standard to label and sell their products as organic in European member states without mandatory certification according to the standard of the destination country.
This arrangement’s application will start 1st of June 2012.
On EU side, it is ruled by REU 126/2012 amending annex III of RCE 1235/2008 which include USA in the list of third countries whose system of production and control measures for organic production of agricultural products are recognized as equivalent to EU organic standard. It also includes a list of certification bodies recognized to carry out controls in USA including Ecocert SA.On US side, it has been posted on USDA website with interesting FAQs and additional information.
PRODUCTS CONCERNED
Export from US to EU:
- Live or unprocessed agricultural products (with the exception of aquaculture products), propagating material and seeds for cultivation that have been grown in USA or that have been imported into the USA in accordance with US legislation.
- Processed agricultural products for use as food or feed, the organic ingredients of which have been grown in USA or that have been imported into the USA in accordance with US legislation. This includes products processed or packaged in the US that contain organic ingredients from foreign sources that have been certified to the USDA organic standard.
- Only one exception: on pears and apples no treatment with antibiotics (such as tetracycline or streptomycin) must have been used to control fire blight ( a specific certification on that subject delivered by the CB of the exporter must be presented).
Export from EU to US:
- Organic products (with the exception of aquatic animals), that have been either produced within the EU or whose final processing or packaging occurs within the EU.
- This includes products processed or packaged in the EU that contain organic ingredients from foreign sources that have been certified to the EU organic standard.
- Only one exception : Agricultural products derived from animals treated with antibiotics shall not be marketed as organic in the US.
LABELING CONCERNS
Both EU and USDA organic seals may be used on products traded under the terms of this arrangement. When using the other country’s seal, products must meet all labeling requirements in the destination country.
IMPORT CERTIFICATES
In order to confirm that products comply with the terms of the equivalency arrangement, accompanying import certificates will be mandatory for all exports between US and EU (and vice versa). Those import certificates will be issued by certification bodies and will be shipped together with the products. For example, import certificate for animal products from EU to US will have to include an attestation that no antibiotics were used.
What happens if I am certified by Ecocert in a third country for both EC and NOP regulations?
The control according to the standard of the country of destination is still mandatory. For example, an operator located in Turkey must be certified according to NOP to export its products directly to US and must be certified according to EC regulation to export its products directly to EU. This also applies to operators located in countries with a third country equivalence determination (e. g. Tunisia standard recognized as equivalent to EC but not recognized as equivalent to NOP).
What happens if I am certified by Ecocert in US for EC regulation or in Europe for NOP regulation?
If your products fall in the scope and comply with the terms of this equivalency arrangement, you will not need to be certified anymore according to EC regulation in US and according to NOP in Europe but only to your local standard.
We are planning to continue to clarify some points of this arrangement in the coming weeks (notably precisions about wines) so share with us any concern you can have.
