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EU Organic products – Requirements, Certification, and labeling

Latest info

Due to the growing preference for food quality, consumers are leaning towards products where pesticides and any other growth support substances are used in minimal amounts. With the introduction of Regulation (EU) 2018/848, the European Union has provided rules on producing and labelling organic products. This regulation replaces Regulation (EC) No 2007/834 from 1 January 2022 onwards. The aim of the regulation is to define production, certification, and labeling rules for products in order to receive an EU organic logo. What does this mean in practice?

  •  Respect the natural systems and the natural cycles; 
  •  preserve the elements of natural landscapes; 
  •  use energy and natural sources responsibly;
  •  produce a wide variety of high-quality products to meet consumer demand;
  •  ensure the integrity of organic production at all stages of the production, processing, and distribution processes of food and & animal feed;
  •   restrict the use of external inputs; and
  •   design and manage biological processes using methods based on risk assessment and the use of precautionary and preventive measures.

All these parameters, including pesticides residues and production/warehouse requirements, are checked and approved via the organic certification process performed by a European Union certification body. Each EU country has a list of approved EU Commission companies that can provide organic certification. The individual certification body will provide their unique organic code, which can be for instance DE-BIO-001, where the first part is an abbreviation of the country of certification and the remainder of the code is characteristic for the specific certification body. A full list of certification bodies is available in the EC Database.
An organic code is not the only information which will confirm that the product is organic. The organic regulation also requires the addition of a symbol – Euro leaf under the code, origin (exact country or EU/non-EU indication), “organic” in the product name and a listing of the exact ingredients used in the product. All these elements help the consumer to make an informed choice regarding the quality of the product and the way it has been produced.
If you plan to use any organic raw materials or have a question regarding how to introduce an organic product to the market, please contact knoell at: FFCM.NA@knoell.com

Below are a few examples of how knoell can assist:

  •   Obtaining an organic certificate
  •   Approval of organic raw materials
  •   Cooperation with Organic Certification Bodies
  •   Selling organic products across different countries (EU & outside EU)
  •   Organic labeling requirements