EN   EN 
 
 
 EUROPEAN  
COMMISSION   
Brussels, XXX   
[…](2021) XXX  draft  
 
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council, the list of third countries and the list of control authorities and control 
bodies that have been recognised under Article 33(2) and (3) of Council Regulation  (EC) 
No 834/2007 for the purpose of importing organic products into the Union   EN 1  EN COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) …/...  
of XXX  
establishing, pursuant to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of 
the Council,  the list of third countries and the list of control authorities and control 
bodies that have been recognised under Article 33(2) and (3) of Council Regulation (EC) 
No 834/2007 for the purpose of importing organic products into the Union  
THE EUROPEAN COMMI SSION,  
Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union , 
Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
30 May 2018 on organic production and labelling of organic products and repealing Counci l 
Regulation (EC) No 834/20071, and in particular Article 48(3) and Article 57(2) thereof,  
Whereas:  
(1) In accordance with Article 45(1) , point (b)(iii), of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, a 
product may be imported for the purpose of placing that product on the mark et within 
the Union as an organic product or as an in -conversion produc t, if that product 
complies with the equivalent production and control rules of a recognised  third 
country and is imported with a certificate of inspection confirming this compliance 
that was issued by the competent authorities, control authorities or control b odies of 
that third country.  Article 48(1) of that Regulation clarifies that, in that context, a  
recognised third country is a third country that has been recognised for the purpose of 
equivalence under Article 33(2) of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/20072.  
(2) That recognition expires on 31 December 2026.  Those third countries continue to be 
recognised until that date , in order  to ensure a smooth tra nsition to the scheme of 
recognition under  a trade  agreement pursuant to Article 47 of Regulation  (EU) 
2018/848 , provided that they continue to ensure that their organic production and 
control rules are equivalent to the relevant Union rules in force and t hat they comply 
with all requirements relating to the supervision of their recognition by the 
Commission  in accordance with Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/ 13423. 
(3) The list of recognised third countries established by this Regulation is based on t he list 
as published in Annex III to Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/20084, with the 
exception of Chile , Switzerland  and the United Kingdom, as the trade in organic 
products with  those countries is covered by specific agreements . However , in the light 
                                                 
1 OJ L 150, 14.6.2018, p. 1.  
2 Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 of 28 June 2007 on organic production and labelling of organic 
products and repealing Regulation (EEC) No 2092/91  (OJ L 189, 20.7.2007, p.  1). 
3 Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/ 1342  of 27 May 2021  supplementing Regulation (EU) 
2018/848 of the European Parliament and of the Council with rules on the i nformation to be sent by 
third countries and by control authorities and control bodies for the purpose of supervision of their 
recognition under Article 33(2) and (3) of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 for imported organic 
products and the measures to be taken in the exercise of that supervision (OJ L 292, 16.8.2021, p. 20 ).  
4 Commission Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 of 8 December 2008 laying down detailed rules for 
implementation of Council Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of 
organic products from third countries  (OJ L 334 12.12.2008, p. 25) . EN 2  EN of new information received by the Commission from certain third countries since the 
last amendment  of th at list, certain changes  should be taken into consideration and the 
list should be adapted accordingly . 
(4) According to the information provided by Argentina,  the name of  the control body 
‘Argencert ’ has been  changed to ‘Ecocert Argentina SA ’. 
(5) As regards India, s ince October 2020, a large number of consignments totalling to 
thousands of tons of allegedly organic sesame seed contaminated with ethylene oxide 
(‘ETO’) have been imported from that third country , in particular from operators 
controlled by control bodies supervised by India, and resulting in about 90 
notifications i n the Organic Farming Information System (OFIS). ETO is carcinogen 
for humans  and while the levels of contamination have varied depending on the 
consignment, they have usually by far exceeded the maximum residue level 
established for th at pesticide . This h as led both to consumers being misled and to a 
significant health risk . The occurrence of the ETO contamination and the high 
concentrations found, as well as the lack of response on the root causes of the failure 
of the control system from the control bodi es involved in th ose contaminations , which 
are under the supervision of the Indian competent authorit y, and the inappropriate 
corrective measures taken by those control bodies and the competent authorit y, 
jeopardise the robustness of the controls and the s upervision itself. In addition, on the 
basis of information received by the Commission, it appears that some of the control 
bodies involved in those  OFIS cases did not respect the scope of recognition of India 
as regards the products that may be imported  into the Union . For all those  reasons and 
in accordance with Article 3, point (a), of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2021/ 1342 , the 
following control bodies  should not appear in  the list of control bodies recognised by 
the India n competent authority : ‘CU  Inspections India Pvt Ltd’, ‘Ecocert India Pvt 
Ltd’, ‘Indian Organic Certification Agency (Indocert)’, ‘Lacon Quality Certifications 
Pvt Ltd’ and ‘OneCert International Private Limited ’.  
(6) Annex III to Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008 as amended by Commission 
Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/21965 erroneously attributed the code number 
JP-BIO-038 to the control body ‘Japan Agricultural Standard Certification Alliance’, 
while that code number had already been assigned to the control body ‘Akatonbo’ by 
Commissio n Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/256. ‘Japan Agricultural Standard 
Certification Alliance’ should therefore be assigned a different code . 
(7) The Republic of Korea has informed the Commission that its competent authority has 
added the control body ‘ORGANIC PROMOTION’ to the list of control bodies 
recogni sed by that competent authori ty. 
(8) The scheme of control authorities and control bodies recognised by the Commission 
under Article 33(3)  of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007  to carry out controls and to issue 
certifi cates in third countries for the purpose of importing products, while  provid ing 
                                                 
5  Commission  Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2196 of 17 December 2020 amending Regulation 
(EC) No 1235/2008  laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulatio n (EC) No 
834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of organic product s from third countries (OJ L 434, 
23.12.2020 , p. 31 ). 
 
6  Commission  Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/25 of 13 January 2020 amending and correcting 
Regulation (EC) No 1235/2008  laying down detailed rules for implementation of Council Regulation 
(EC) No 834/2007 as regards the arrangements for imports of organic product s from third countries (OJ 
L 8, 14.1.2020 , p. 18 ). 
 EN 3  EN equivalent guarantees , is being phased  out by Regulation (EU) 2018/848. As those 
control authorities and control bodies should be given sufficient time so that they can 
prepare themselves to obtain recognition for the purposes of the import of products 
that comply with Union rules , their recognition expires on 31 December 2024, 
provi ded that they comply with  all requirements relating to the supervision of their 
recognition by the Commission in accordance with Delegated Regulation (EU) 
2021/ 1342 . 
(9) The list of recognised control authorities and control bodies e stablished by this 
Regulati on is based on the list published in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 
1235/2008 . However, i n the light of new information and new requests for inclusion 
received by the Commission since the last amendment  of th at list, certain changes 
should be made to the list. In accordance with Article 11(1) of Regulation (EC) No 
1235/2008, o nly complete requests submitted by 30 June 2021 under Regulation (EC) 
No 834 /2007 were taken into account.  
(10) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘A CERT European 
Orga nization for Certification S.A.’ to amend its specifications. Based on the 
information received, it is justified to extend  the scope of its recognition for all third 
countries currently listed in point 3 of its entry in Annex IV to Regulation (EC) No 
1235/ 2008 , to product categor ies B, C, and E. 
(11) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘AfriCert Limited’ to 
amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to exte nd the 
scope of its recognition to Côte d'Ivoire , Egypt , Ethiopia  and South Africa for product 
categories A, B and D, and to extend the scope of its recognition for Burundi, the 
Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda to  
product category D.  
(12) The Commission has received a nd examined a request from ‘Albinspekt’  to change its 
name. Based on the information received, the Commission has concluded that it is 
justified to replace the name of that control body by ‘Albinspekt bio.inspecta ’. 
Furthermore, the Commission has been inf ormed that some details in the address of 
that control body have changed.  
(13) ‘Australian Certified Organic’ has notified the Commission of the change of its 
address.  
(14) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘BaŞak Ekolojik Ürünler 
Kontrol ve Se rtifikasyon Hizmetleri Tic. Ltd ’ to amend its specifications. Based on the 
information received, it is justified to extend the scope of its recognition to the United 
Arab Emirates  for product categories A and D . 
(15) The Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European 
Atomic Energy Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Northern Ireland, of the other part, concluded by Counc il Decision (EU) 
2021/6897, establishes a reciprocal recognition of equivalence  of the current organic 
legislation and control system of both parties to that agreement. As a consequence, the 
                                                 
7  Council Decision (EU) 2021/689 of 29 April 2021 on the conc lusion, on behalf of the Union, of the 
Trade and Cooperation Agreement between the European Union and the European Atomic Energy 
Community, of the one part, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, of the 
other part, and of the Agreeme nt between the European Union and the United Kingdom of Great Britain 
and Northern Ireland concerning security procedures for exchanging and protecting classified 
information (OJ L 149, 30.4.2021, p. 2).  EN 4  EN recognition of the control bodies ‘Biodynamic Association Certification’, ‘Organic 
Farmers & Growers C. I. C’, ‘Organic Farmers & Growers (Scotl and) Ltd’, ‘Organic 
Food Federation’, ‘Quality Welsh Food Certification Ltd’ and ‘Soil Association 
Certification Limited’ for the purpose of importing organic products from the United 
Kingdom granted by Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/2196 should be with drawn.  
(16) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘ Bio.inspecta AG’  to 
amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the 
scope of its recognition to Benin  for product categor y D, to Egypt for product 
categories  A, B, D, E and F,  to Thailand for product categories A, B, D and E, and to 
Turkey for product category B . 
(17) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Bureau Veritas 
Certification France SAS’ to amend its specifications. Based on the i nformation 
received, it is justified to withdraw its recognition for product category A for 
Madagascar  and to withdraw its recognition for Mauritius, Monaco , Morocco  and 
Nicaragua.  
(18) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘CCPB srl’ to amend its 
specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the scope of 
its recognition to Libya for product categories A, B and D, and to extend the scope of 
its recognition for  Vietnam to products categories A, B, C and  E. 
(19) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘CERES Certification of 
Environmental Standards GmbH’ to amend its specifications. Based on the 
information received, it is justified to extend the scope of its recognition to Angola, 
Guinea Bissa u, Jordan, Oman, Trinidad and Tobago for product categories A, B and 
D, and to Afghanistan and  Sri Lanka for product categories A and D , and to extend the 
scope of its recognitio n for Iran to product category B , for Colombia and Peru to 
product category C and for Turkey to product categories C and F.  
(20) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Certificadora 
Biotropico S.A ’ to amend its legal status. Based on the information received, the 
Commission has concluded that it is justified to replace the name of that control body 
by ‘Certificadora Biotropico SAS ’. 
(21) ‘Certisys’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address.  
(22) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Control Union 
Certifications’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is 
justified to extend the scope of its recognition to Samoa , Saudi Arabia, Solomon 
Islands  and Vanuatu  for product categories A, D and F, to Argentina for product 
categories C and D, and to extend the scope of its recognition for Bangladesh to 
product category A, for El Salvador , Guatemala, Kenya and Nicaragua  to product 
category C, and for Costa Rica to product category D . 
(23) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘ CTR Uluslararası 
Belgelendirme ve Denetim Ltd. Şti. ’ to be included in the list of control authorities  and 
control bodies  recognised for the purpose of equivalence under Regulation (EC) No 
834/2007 . Based on the information received, it is justified to recogni se that control 
body for Turkey  for product categor ies A and  D. 
(24) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Ecocert SA’ to  amend its 
specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the scope of 
its recognition to Bahrain for product categories A and B, to Bhutan and Gabon for 
product categories A and D , to the Maldives for product category D,  to Qatar for EN 5  EN product categories A, B and D and to Saint Barthélemy for product categories A, B, D 
and E . It is also justi fied to extend the scope of its recognition for Armenia, Cameroon, 
Lesotho, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 
Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia to product category F, for Bangladesh, India, Saudi 
Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Togo to pro duct category B, for Botswana, Eswatini, Ethiopia, 
Malawi and Tanzania to product categories E and F, for Egypt and Kuwait to product 
category E, for Jordan, Oman and Pakistan to product categories B and E, and for 
Nigeria to  product categor ies B, E and F . In addition, based on the clarification 
received from ‘Ecocert SA’, it is necessary to withdraw its recognition for product 
category C in respect of Bangladesh.  
(25) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Ecoglobe’ to amend its 
specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the scope of 
its recognition to Egypt  and the United Arab Emirates for product categories A, B and 
D. 
(26) The Commission has been informed by ‘Ecogruppo Italia’ of the change of its  address.  
(27) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘EGYCERT Ltd’  to be 
included in the list of control authorities  and control bodies  recognised for the purpose 
of equivalence under Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 . Based on the information 
received, it is justified to recognise that control body for China, Egypt, Ghana, Kuwait, 
Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates for product 
categories A a nd D.  
(28) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘EKO -CONTROL SK 
s.r.o.’ to be included in the list of control authorities  and control bodies  recognised for 
the purpose of equivalence under Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 . Based on the 
information  received, it is justified to recognise that control body for Moldova, Serbia , 
and Russia for product category A.  
(29) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Food Safety SA’ to be 
included in the list of control authorities  and control bodies  recognised for the purpose 
of equivalence under Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 . Based on the information 
received, it is justified to recognise that control body for Paraguay and Uruguay  for 
product categories A, B and D , as well as for Argentina  for product  category D . 
(30) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘ IBD Certificações L tda.’ 
to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend 
the scope of its recognition for China to product category B.  
 
(31) The Comm ission has received and examined a request from ‘Kiwa BCS Öko-Garantie 
GmbH’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to 
extend the scope of its recognition to Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago for product 
categories A,  D and F , and  to extend the scope of its recognition  for Costa Rica to 
product category B and for Nicaragua, Panama, Peru and Venezuela to product 
category C . 
(32) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘LACON GmbH’ to 
amend its specifications.  Based on the information received, it is justified to withdraw 
its recognition for Brazil, Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Mexico , while it is 
justified to extend the scope of its recognition to Iran for product category A, B and D . EN 6  EN (33) Based on the information received from the accreditation body IOAS and, in particular 
the decision of th at accreditation body to suspend the entire scope of its accreditation 
and surveillance regime of ‘LETIS S.A. ’ in all third countries where the control body 
operates  given the strong deficiencies detected in the control system applied, the 
Commission  has decided to withdraw the recognition  of ‘LETIS  S.A.’ in accordance 
with the requirements under the scheme of equivalence  for all product categories and 
all third count ries.  
(34) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Mayacert’ to amend its 
specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the scope of 
its recognition to Ecuador, Iran and Turkey for product  categories A and D  as well as 
to India for category D . 
(35) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘ NASAA Certified 
Organic Pty Ltd’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, the 
Commission has concluded that it is justified to extend the scope of its recognition to 
Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Hong K ong, Kiribati, 
Laos, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Myanmar/Burma, Nauru, New Caledonia, 
Palau, the Philippines, Thailand, Tuvalu, Vanuatu , Vietnam , and Wallis and Futuna 
for product categories A, B and D, as well as  to India for product categories B an d D. 
(36) ‘Oregon Tilth’ has notified the Commission of the change of its address.  
(37) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Organic Control System’ 
to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend 
the sco pe of its recognition for Montenegro and North Macedonia to product category 
B, and for Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbia to  product categories B and E. 
(38) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Organic Standard’ to 
amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the 
scope of its recognition for Georgia and Moldova to product categories C, E and F, 
and for Kazakhstan to product categories C and F.  
(39) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Organizaci ón 
Internacional Agropecuaria’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information 
received, it is justified to extend the scope of its recog nition to China product 
categories A and D . 
(40) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘Organska Kontrola’ to 
amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the 
scope of its recognition to Azerbaijan for  product categories A, B and D.  
(41) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘ORSER’ to amend its 
specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the scope of 
its recognition to Moldova , Russia, Serbia , Ukraine and U zbekistan for product 
categories A, D  and E . 
 
(42)  The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘SRS Certification 
GmbH’ to amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to 
extend the scope of its recognition to Burkina Faso, Congo , Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, 
Senegal, Singapore, and Togo for product categories A, D and E , as well as to 
Armenia, Cambodia, Cameroon , Central African Republic, Chad,  the Democratic 
Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Malaysia, EN 7  EN Myanmar/Burma, Niger, Pakistan, the Philippines, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Thailand and 
Vietnam for product categories A and D . 
(43) The Commission has received and examined a request from ‘The First Agricultural 
Co., for Registration , Inspection and Certification Limited Liability (TAWTHIQ )’ to be 
included in the list of control authorities  and control bodies  recognised for the purpose 
of equivalence under Regulation (EC) No 834/2007. Based on the information 
received, it is justified to recognise that control body for Egypt, Saudi Arabia and 
Uzbekistan  for product categories A and D . 
 
(44) The Commission has recei ved and examined a request from ‘TÜV Nord Integra’ to 
amend its specifications. Based on the information received, it is justified to extend the 
scope of its recognition to Gambia for product categories A and D.  
(45) In the interest of clarity and legal certain ty, this Regulation should apply from the date 
of application of Regulation (EU) 2018/848 . In accordance with Article 48(1) of 
Regulation (EU) 2018/848, the recognition of third countries  for the purpose of 
equivalence under Article 33(2) of Regulation (EC ) No 834/2007  is to expire on 31 
December 2026. In accordance with Article 57(1) of Regulation (EU) 2018/849, t he 
recognition of control authorities and control bodies granted under Article 33(3) of 
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 is to expire by 31 December 2 024 at the latest. The 
measures provided for in this Regulation are in accordance with the opinion of the 
Organic Production  Committee , 
HAS ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:  
Article 1  
List of recognised thir d countries  
The list of third countries recognised for the  purpose of equivalence under Article 33(2) of 
Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 is set out in Annex I to this Regulation.  
Article 2  
List of recognised control authorities and control bodies   
The list of control authorities and control bodies recognised for the purpose of equivalence 
under Article 33(3) of Regulation (EC) No 834/2007 is set out in Annex II to this Regulation.  
Article 3 
Entry into force and application  
 
This Regulation shall enter into force on  the third day following that  of its publication in th e 
Official Journal of the European Union . 
It shall apply from 1 January 2022.  
Article 1 shall apply until 31 December 202 6.  EN 8  EN Article 2 shall apply until 31 December 202 4. 
This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.  
Done at Brussels,  
 For the Commission  
 The President  
 Ursula VON DER LEYEN  
  
 